Dentist, entrepreneur and youth mentor, Dr. Mohammed Naji is a consummate professional who brings his vision and values to every field he approaches. Some are blessed with a cavalry-like straight row of pearly whites. Dr. Mohammed Naji enjoys fame uncharacteristic to his somber profession. Dr Mohammed Naji handles Liberty Dental Clinic, has his own medical reality show, a sizeable social media following, an entrepreneur across multiple industries, and will now play mentor under GADHA to inspire the youth.
Dr. Mohammed Naji’s arena where he changes smiles and lives every day is the Liberty Dental Clinic. Established in 1998 by his family, it remains the primary choice for celebrities and several royal families from around the UAE and other countries for 24 years. Dr. Mohammed Naji, who serves as Executive Director, achieved a long-standing goal to make Liberty the first internationally accredited dental clinic in the MENA region by the ACSH accreditation. Evidently proud of the clinic, he eagerly talks about its expansion.
“We have our own Liberty Dental Lab, Liberty Charity Initiative, and Liberty Research and Training Center that trains dentists from all over the world. While we’re growing these as much as possible locally, we do have plans to open up internationally. We’re expanding into Saudi Arabia and Egypt next, and also possibly into Morocco and Algeria. And what we’re looking into now is dental hospitals, not just dental clinics.”
As an industry insider, Dr. Mohammed Naji is a keen observer of the shifting trends in dentistry beyond teeth and gums. “While our parents always went seeking dental care only when their tooth hurt, today’s younger generation is intrigued by the concept of conservative dentistry. So now you have people visiting the dentist every 3-6 months to check if everything is in order. We see it with younger parents with their children as well. We’re delighted that people are progressing this way.”
Given some of the prejudices he endured as a young professional, Dr. Mohammed Naji is attuned to the obstacle of the youth. “A lot of the younger generation is taken for granted. No matter where they go looking for work, they expect 5 or 10 years of experience, which is not realistic, especially in Medicine and Dentistry.” He points out that when it comes to doctors, people are reassured by those with gray hair and wrinkles because we assume they have more experience and thus know better. But newer technologies have come to the fore, such as laser or 3D scanners, making dreaded dental work a relatively painless process. Mostly these are handled by the newer batch of dentists, having become familiar with these techniques while in dentistry school.
It is perhaps his keen insight into matters that the youth deal with that shapes how he projects himself to the youth. For the cause, he uses social media platforms to invite the world into his life, displaying with ease and confidence how a young person embodies all the markers of success typically associated with those who are older and more distinguished – how a young person can be successful, dress professional, even participate on the world stage, everything curtailed to the older generation. To him, social media is communication, and he uses it to communicate one thing – that you are never restricted by your age, only by your effort and ambition to get things done.
This desire to carve a path for the youth, to raise awareness about societal issues, and to channel the energy and potential of the youth, akin to the one he traversed himself, is what propelled him to join hands with GADHA.
