In 2004, sisters Haleh and Golnar Abivardi opened Swiss Smile, a private dental clinic, in Zurich. Today, they have clinics in St. Moritz and London, employ 200 people and, with a turnover of £10m, have plenty to smile about.

After working together in a small practise in Zurich for ten years, the sisters decided it was time for a change.

“We found it was getting boring. We wanted to give the best service to our customers, but we realised that to do that, you need to bring many dental specialists together under one roof. That’s where we got the idea for Swiss Smile,” says Haleh.

The sisters recruit a range of dental specialists – from orthodontists to dental aesthetic specialists – from Zurich to work at their Swiss Smile clinics, offering patients a one-stop service.

And they’ve taken a completely different approach to the dreaded visit to the dentist: “It’s no secret that people don’t like going to dentists. We created a five-star hotel atmosphere in the clinic so that when you come in, you forget that you’re in a dentist."

"Our patients say it makes them feel as if something exciting is going to happen to them,” says Haleh.

Realising their glamorous, luxury take on dental clinics was proving a huge success in Zurich, the Abivardis decided to roll out the model in London late last year.

Haleh explains, “Our vision is: if you’re a businessman going travelling in London and you need to see a dentist, you’ll look for a Swiss Smile clinic because you know you’ll get good quality. When it comes to your teeth, you really need to have someone you can trust.”

And, confidence bolstered from the success they’re experiencing in London, the sibling entrepreneurs have set their sights on other international hubs. Golnar says: “This year we’re buying another clinic in Geneva. We’ve got our hands on a place in Dubai, and a place in Spain, and now we’re looking for premises in Tokyo and New York – it’s moving very fast!”

While the Abivardis are both trained medical dentists, they spend more of their time flying around the world for business meetings than they do performing root canals.

“We are more focused on running the business. We don’t really miss being dentists because what we’re doing is so exciting. I can say, for both of us, this is our dream job,” says Haleh.

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