Dental Studio of Pine Lake celebrates first anniversary in La Porte and looks ahead at January expansion

The City of La Porte is always making a push to bring businesses to the area that can have a lasting impact and build relationships within the community. One business that has been doing that recently is Dental Studio of Pine Lake, which just recently celebrated its one-year anniversary in November.

Dr. Vivienne Zhang and Dr. Shane Harmon are not only husband and wife, but also co-owners of the dental office. With a year under their belt, they have admired how the La Porte community has invited them in with open arms.

“We really appreciate the support from the local community,” Zhang said. “The past year has been quite busy. We started with just three staff members, and we’ve grown to seven members. It might not seem like a lot, but it makes a huge difference in dental work. We’re blessed to have this opportunity.”

The decision to open up Dental Studio of Pine Lake came from the couple having more than a dozen years each of dental experience, along with recognizing the need for a space like this in La Porte.

“There’s multiple practices in the area, some of which are corporately-owned,” Zhang said. “The way that we see health care and dental care is more of an individualized, personal approach. We decided this was a great place to build that. Dr. Harmon and I have extensive and advanced training. We do specialty procedures, surgeries, implants, orthodontics, and also pediatric. We collaborate with any specialists when needed, but our goal is to incorporate evidence-based dentistry and be a comprehensive practice.”

Prioritizing the patients is the first objective for Dental Studio of Pine Lake. It’s one thing to provide the care that a customer needs, but it’s another to make them feel like this location can be the home for all of their appointments long-term.

“When people go to the dentist or the doctor, you have to check in with a date of birth and other personal information,” Zhang said. “Sometimes, they don’t even get a greeting or have a very personable experience. We want to know the histories of our patients, their families, their kids, their grandkids, and even their vacations. Everybody is different, so we try to relate to the patients and get them on board with their overall care.”

With more than 90% of its Google reviews in the five-star category, putting the patients first has built a strong reputation in such a short amount of time already for the dental office.

“We share reviews every time we get one internally through our messaging apps, and it makes our day,” Zhang said. “That’s what we’re here for. We’ve seen more than 1,000 patients in the past. For me, I rarely leave reviews. In most cases, people are leaving a review to critique something. It means so much to us that patients are passing on the good word to their friends and families. They trust us to do that, and we couldn’t be happier.”

One of the next big steps for Dental Studio of Pine Lake is expanding, which is expected to take off in January.

“We’re due to expand two more treatment rooms,” Zhang said. “It’s exciting because we’re always looking at ways that we can grow. Right now, we can only schedule one patient at a time, and we don’t double book patients. Sometimes when we’re busy, we can’t get a patient in because we don’t have enough room. This expansion in the middle of January will help solve a lot of those problems.”

You can call the Dental Studio of Pine Lake at (219) 380-0029 or schedule an appointment online. The office also has a 4-year-old mini golden doodle named Benji, who is the therapy dog that helps the patients feel comfortable. Patients are also welcome to bring their dogs in and have play dates with Benji.

For more information on the City of La Porte, you can visit cityoflaporte.com.