When Cecilia Mescain, COO at Smile Central Dental, P.C. in Paterson, N.J., lists off her many responsibilities it makes you wonder how one person can achieve so much. From handling payroll, billing, accounting, training, marketing, and compliance issues, to managing more than 80 staff members between the practice’s four locations, she has her hands full. Cecilia is a reminder of how integral the office manager is to the success of a practice.
With a background in economics and an MBA that she’s currently completing, Cecilia has the skills to handle the finances, lead her team, make informed decisions and handle many of the administrative duties. But it’s her membership with the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM) that she says provides the support she needs. “AADOM has helped me in a sense that I know I’m not alone,” she said. “I have an entire army of other office managers that might be going through the same issues.”
A member since 2008, Cecilia has completed a series of courses and gained the credits necessary to become an AADOM Fellow. She says it’s important to her because being a Fellow means that she’s a professional in this industry and that she has gone through the steps to educate herself to be the best she can be in the field. “I have a thirst for knowledge,” said Cecilia. “I am always trying to find ways to do things better and make a bigger difference in any way I can.”
She credits the annual AADOM conferences as a source of information that has helped her become better at what she does. After being nominated by her territory representative, Cecilia attended the 2013 conference on a scholarship from Patterson Dental. “It’s great to get that support,” she said. “As a Diamond Sponsor of AADOM, Patterson is very much involved in supporting what the office managers do.”
Cecilia has the skills, experience and knowledge to lead and inspire her entire staff to be the best they can be as they serve their community by providing dental services to underserved kids. As a practice that accepts all kinds of insurance, including Medicaid, they treat patients who otherwise might not have access to dental care. “Our mission is to help people,” said Cecilia. “We are taking care of this community one cavity at a time.” With Cecilia’s help the practice is reaching as many children as possible, proving that one person really can make a big difference.
