Photo by Erin Nelson.
Dr. Mollie Helf, owner and dentist at the Dental Boutique, in Hoover.
When she was in college at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Mollie Helf had the opportunity to study abroad in London.
While in London, she immediately became infatuated with art and called her dad to tell him she was going to be an art major when she got back to UAB, she said.
“He said ‘OK. Well, let’s talk about it whenever you get home from London,’” Helf said. “When I got home, he brought it up, and I think he had some time to get his feet back underneath him because I think I really shocked him. … He said, ‘Hey, I’ve been thinking a lot about what you talked about on the phone. You don’t have to be a doctor, that's fine, but you’ve already put in two years of undergrad classes for pre-med; you should consider doing something that you’re not going to start all the way over. What about dentistry?’”
She shadowed a dentist during her junior year of college and fell in love with dentistry, she said.
After practicing dentistry in various places for three years, Helf decided she wanted to open her own practice. She came across an opportunity to combine two practices that shared an office building after both of the owners were looking to retire, she said.
“The two practices that I purchased were Faith Dental and Charles Carter DMD,” Helf said. “They were actually working under the same roof on Old Rocky Ridge, but they were two different entities, so they had two different tax I.D. numbers, the whole shindig. Dr. Neale Rhea and Dr. Carter decided to retire and sell their practices at the same time. The Lord provided, and I was able to purchase them.”
Helf opened her practice, called The Dental Boutique, in April. She decided to bring both practices under the same name because she didn’t want to confuse the two groups of patients, she said.
She enjoys caring for her patients, she said.
“It’s so sweet; it’s absolutely wonderful,” Helf said. “I’d been out practicing three years, and I’ve really been able to get a taste of different offices — what works and what doesn’t work. I think my ultimate goal was to be my own boss and own a practice so I could love on my patients in a way that I know is best. It’s just been absolutely sweet. The Lord has provided the most perfect practice and the most perfect patients.”
The name, The Dental Boutique, fulfills one of Helf’s goals to have a practice that “feels different than any other practice,” she said.
“I thought that name was a good fit for the vibe that I wanted to have,” Helf said. “I wanted it to be something that’s a little luxurious and something that’s not like any other name.”
She offers her patients amenities such as blankets, light adjustments and neck pillows. Plus, she feels like she’s getting a chance to bring art into her work as well, she said.
“I didn’t realize all of the hand skills that you have to have to be a dentist,” Helf said. “You really are creating art; it’s in people’s mouths.”
