1. Home
2. 
3. Lifestyle
4. 
5. Personalities
6. 
7. Celebrating the Doyenne: Dr. Kshama Chandan

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” ~ Virginia Woolf. On this International Women’s Day, GlobalSpa recognizes and celebrates the women in the industry as we delve into their success mantra they follow, mistakes that have helped them grow, and of course, their WELLNESS philosophy.

Dr. Kshama Chandan is a Celebrity Dentist and Founder of House of Tooth, Mumbai.

What is your wellness philosophy?

Wellness is embracing harmony and balance between all aspects of your life. It’s about being the happiest, healthiest and the best version of yourself by prioritising rest, having the stillness to recharge and knowing there’s an inner self to nurture and grow.

Your success mantra?

I was one of the first dentists who took social media to create awareness for dental care. Whenever you’re the first to do something, you’re always ridiculed and that’s exactly what happened. There were naysayers that said I’m too ‘unprofessional’ as a medical professional because who knew the impact of dentistry on your overall well-being, I had my own friends who unfollowed me because they did not want to see ‘teeth’ all the time. I had a vision of what I’d set out to do, a vision only I believed in and when ‘No one believed in me, I did and that’s my mantra for life.

A lesson you learned from making a mistake?

As a dentalpreneur, I’m playing multiple roles and there’s a natural sense of ownership- To do anything and everything I can and as much as possible to do it ‘on my own’. I learnt the hard way to unlearn trying to be a jack of all trades and it took a series of burnouts and brain fogging to make me finally delegate work. Fun fact- I haven’t looked back ever since.

Any piece of advice for all the women out there?

As women were constantly under an umbrella of judgements, opinions, criticism and unwanted advice. If we’re working all day, people assume we don’t have a personal life, if we’re at home voluntarily taking care of the family, people assume - She’s not ambitious. People talk either way. I read this somewhere and it stayed with me- ‘Baat unki hoti hai jinme koi baat hoti hai’ so cut the crap and you do you.

What has been your biggest pride as a doyenne?

Being a pioneer for the ‘All India Dental tour’ has been my biggest accomplishment. In the lockdown I had a diary full of online consults- people from different cities and states who did not have the access or the monetary leeway to make it to my clinic so I thought if they can’t come to me why can’t I go to them? This made me initiate the All India dental tour -I’ve tapped Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune and Nagpur and there are so many more cities still in the pipeline. I remember there was a woman when I went to Delhi who waited for 2 years to get her smile corrected and she had tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks when she first saw her new smile. She held my hand and told me ‘I bless you with all my heart’- That’s when I realised this is actually what I work for - This is my pride and no amount of money or awards can replace this blind trust.