Dr. Malony L. Santos came from a family of lawyers from Bulacan: his grandfather, his father, and a cousin are all lawyers. Naturally, the interest ran through him as well, citing Social Studies and Current Events as his favorite subjects in high school and Jurisprudence in college. But during summer vacations, he would assist his mother in their fertilizer store as an errand boy. This sparked a passion in Dr. Santos and he has never looked back.
Years later, already a dentist, Dr. Santos chose to set up his practice in Manila not in the province, against what his family wanted. He believed that dentistry is more lucrative and sophisticated in the big city, and his room for growth as a dentist would be limited if he were to stay in Bulacan.
With a few basic dental equipment provided by his parents, Dr. Malony rented a small, existing clinic at the Virra Mall in Greenhills, together with a classmate and business partner. Neophytes as they were, they encountered many difficulties upon opening their clinic. They relied on walk-in customers, but there weren’t a lot of people that pass by their location. Soon enough, sustaining the clinic began to be a problem. His dental partner eventually got discouraged, gave up, and pursued another career.
Determined to see his dental practice come into fruition but still equipped with his basic dental equipment, Dr. Santos gathered what was left of his savings and searched for another possible location for his dental clinic. As luck and great talent would have it, he ended up at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. Armed with the lessons he learned from his previous venture, he slowly rose back up and ultimately became affiliated with the renowned hospital.
As the modest income from his clinic gradually grew, he was able to invest on the latest dental equipment to upgrade his facilities. He complemented this with various dental training courses to expand his expertise, all while running the clinic by himself, aided only by his secretary.
The hard work paid off, and his dental practice steadily flourished. Soon, he was able to expand his manpower resource. With more staff members to assist him in the clinic, Dr. Malony was able to open a branch at the SM Mall of Asia. Initially, He had difficulty maintaining the MOA branch, since it is a mall-based clinic rather than at a hospital. Some privileges and conveniences are unique to St. Luke’s. For example, Dr. Santos had to comply with stricter rules and regulations from the mall management, particularly with regards to clinic hours. In spite of this, he plowed on and soon learned the ropes of effective branch maintenance.
While the mall location had more walk-in customers, he wanted to market his clinic more aggressively. He was soon listed on the Yellow Pages, and Dr. Malony launched his own website promoting his services. These benefited him greatly. Balikbayans had read about his clinic. They came home for his dental services, and now comprise Dr. Malony’s main clientele.
Another opportunity for expansion opened up, this time, in Glorietta in Makati City called the Glorietta Dental Center. Adept and much more experienced now in handling a mall clinic, Dr. Malony re-upgraded his dental facilities and equipment, transforming his practice into a highly profitable business.
With 3 branches, 8 associate dentists, and 6 auxiliary staff members, Dr. Malony achieved his goal of a successful Manila dental clinic. He plans to open 3 more dental centers.
For Dr. Santos, success in the field comes from good dental office management skills and a keen eye for details. He shares, “At all times, do your best, and exhaust every possible means to make your patients happy and satisfied”.
Dr. Malony is a graduate of Centro Escolar University in Manila (1994). He took his dental externship at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and finished his preceptorship courses at The Asian-American Academy of Functional Orthodontics and TMJ (1996), and the Philippine Academy of Esthetic Dentistry (2004). By 2007, he had finished a 14-month course on Osseointegration Implants under the Philippine Society of Osseointegration.
He had his training on Implants at IMTEC SENDAX and learned of the Mini-dental Implant System. He also had his post-graduate course in Periodontics.
