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THE NASHAWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NEWSLETTER

Five Questions with

Dr. Anthony Masiello DMD, Owner and Practitioner Masiello Orthodontics

By Miranda Sullivan, Communications Director

Since 1994, every publication of Market Print has included at least one Q&A interview with a Chamber member who’s making exceptional contributions to the Nashaway County business community. I recently sat down for a late lunch with Dr. Anthony Masiello, DMD at the Black Goat Tavern in Prudence. Dr. Masiello has provided cosmetic and family dental care for over two decades in the town of Prudence and is now expanding his practice to serve three additional municipalities in Central Massachusetts. He is currently partnering with Dr. Eleanor Zhao, DMD of Shirley to merge and implement growth, while continuing to treat patients on a day-to-day basis. I asked Dr. Masiello about how he became interested in dentistry, the ever changing business of healthcare, and the role of local government in fostering commerce. Below are highlights from my interview with Dr. Masiello. They have been edited for length and clarity.

1 Your practice has been thriving for more than twenty years now. What made you consider a merger and expansion at this specific point in time?

I’ve always thought about growing the business but giving optimal care to patients has been my passion and priority from the start. I knew from high school on that I wanted to do this and I’ve always done my best to keep a patient centered practice and approach to dentistry. I didn’t sacrifice my early years to learn how to run a business, although a few courses on that in my dental program would have been helpful. I went there and worked my tail off to get there in order to help patients. That being said, the lessons from history are clear. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. Without dentistry in my life-aside from my family it’s been the biggest and best part of my life- I’m as good as done too. Now, as I grow older, I’m starting to better understand my limitations. I know the need for quality, affordable dental care is greater now than ever, but I’m able to see fewer and fewer patients. With the Affordable Care Act and Medicare expansions, whether we wanted them or not, we also knew there’d be increased demand. As we start to come out of the housing recession more and more, there’s been an uptick in demand for cosmetic procedures and products as well. So, the question really becomes, how can I best help my patients? And for me, the answer was finding a trusted partner who can really handle on the ground business operations while I begin my transition to becoming somebody who can take a step back and work on the big picture issues with greater clarity and the attention they deserve. I was lucky enough to know of Dr. Zhao and even had some positive interactions with her and that sort of thing at conferences over the years. When it became clear that we both have the same patient is king mindset and a lot of shared values, I knew this was the natural way forward. Probably because of that, it took very little effort on my part to convince her to roll our practices into a regional provider network. I couldn’t be more pleased that Dr. Zhao is the medical professional I’m starting this new adventure with.

2 How has working with your patients changed over the years?

You know, one of the great thrills of this work is that you get to see patients across several generations of the same family. You get to watch not just your own kids, but the town’s kids really grow up. I mean, there aren’t many better coming of age milestones than visits from the tooth fairy. And I get to be there front and center. I would say, patients advocate for themselves much more than in the past. Now, this can be a good thing. I love it when patients take interest in their care and ask questions to keep themselves informed. I’ve been banging this drum for years and don’t plan to stop even when I’m in my grave. Dental care is healthcare. That’s why I send out our hygienists to all the area elementary schools each fall, and this is something I’m helping Dr. Zhao incorporate into her practice. I so love that part. What I could do without is all the internet stuff. People come in with these self-diagnoses that more often than not are just really off the wall. They get these crazy ideas in their heads after a little online research from who knows what sources. Are they reputable? I doubt it. And once they think they know what it is or what’s going on, you cannot seem to change their minds no matter how much expertise and experience you have. I’m not a fan of self-diagnosis or online medicine period, full stop. In dentistry, though, it’s especially dangerous and misguided. Even if you had all the knowledge and experience you needed to arrive at the correct conclusion, you don’t have the tools! You don’t have any way at home to properly examine the inside of your mouth and see what’s going on. These are living systems folks. Teeth, bone, gums and other soft tissues, nerves. Not to mention how they connect to and impact the rest of your body. It tends to be the older crowd who are like me too that are causing themselves the problems. We aren’t even good with the online stuff to begin with. That trend has been frustrating. Sadly, I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon.

3 Aside from raising a family and running your practice, you’re very well known in local political circles as an activist, donor, and fundraiser. How important is it for small business owners to participate in local government?

I think it’s critical for all citizens to get engaged and stay engaged in the political process. That’s how democracy remains for the people and by the people. I really believe it’s the only way. Over the years, I’ve given and helped raise campaign funds for candidates from both major parties, and a handful of independents. The biggest consideration for me is always are they going to be good for business. That’s the litmus test. If they’re good for business, if they support policies that support and improve commerce, then they’re good for our communities overall. Small businesses are the lifeblood of this country and always have been. We need to make sure that candidates at all levels of government understand this and are committed to making sure that small businesses will continue to be the lifeblood of this country. Small businesses provide our cities and towns with jobs and jobs help people meet their basic needs. Look around the world. Anywhere and everywhere, including sadly parts of America, where there are not jobs and people aren’t meeting their basic needs- it’s hell in a handbasket. But small businesses don’t just give us the food on our tables and the roofs over our heads. They also give us a sense of community and a sense of purpose. So, when times are tough, people know they can still trust one another and help each other make it through. They’ve always been our greatest asset, our greatest strength. When it comes to exercising my right to free speech, I don’t shy away from reminding our elected leaders about the importance of small businesses. And when I exercise my greatest right, the right to vote, I vote for small businesses each and every time.

4 Along those lines, you were an early supporter of Prudence’s current mayor Ralph Butler. He’s now facing a recall election in November and also lost a unanimous (excepting Butler who opposed) non-binding vote from the other members of the town council asking for his resignation. How do you rank his leadership, and will you continue to support him?

When Chap came into office, he did some great things for business. Things that he promised to do and things that made me want to back him in the first place. Once all is said and done, even his greatest detractors will have to admit he did a great job taking on non-profits that never should have been given tax exempt status in the first place. So, securing a future for Prudence where small business can compete on an equal playing field with these false charities was a really big accomplishment. That being said, he also did some really strange things right from the get-go. He’s always been a bit of a showman. I’ve known this about Chap from working with him for the [Prudence] Historical Society. Like the bit where he ate too many Hors-d’œuvres at a funeral. He’s always pulled stunts like that, but stunts get attention and attention gets votes. What we thought was going to happen, and it seems we were wrong, is that once he became elected, he’d take the showman out of the spotlight. Well, he didn’t. The weekend after he’s sworn in, he’s using taxpayer money and some quirky misinterpretation of the town charter to throw a luau for his biggest donor. It was the easiest invitation to turn down I’ve ever received and not because I was the second largest donor. It didn’t sit right with me.

5 It’s true that you were at the event that later led to the Prudence town council’s vote calling for Butler to resign. Are you concerned that your political activism might have a negative impact on your business now or in the future?

Not at all. If anything, I welcome this chance to clear the air. I want my patients to understand that I know what’s fair is fair. This latest thing he’s gotten himself into I can’t speak to in an informed way. I was at the dinner he hosted where he allegedly took in campaign contributions for his personal accounts. That is undeniable. In fact, we were excited to go to that one because we thought he was going to make a run for the state senate seat [Rep. Dana] Hilbert vacated. We thought it was serious business and some literal pork giveaway thing. Once we got to his home, it was obvious I would not be taking my checkbook out. For me it came down to the silverware of all things. I noticed right away that the place settings were using silverware from the [Prudence] Historical Society. He was using Reverend Wadleigh Bell’s 18^th century silverware. I asked Ralph if he’d ordered a replica set from the collection. He got offended and shot back that he wouldn’t have anything to do with replicas. That these were the real deal. Butler knows the society’s bylaws require a member vote on usage. He knew this because he was there for plenty of them in the late 80s and 90s under Bill Goodhew. Goodhew held votes all the time to make replicas for his own use. He’d have items appraised for insurance, restoration estimates done, and then carried out at his own expense if a majority of the board approved. Each step required a quorum and a publicly recorded vote. That’s not the type of thing that slips your mind one day. You can’t just show up and take whatever artifacts you’d like home with you. The point of creating and maintaining a collection is to have it for public display. You keep it to educate the public about the past. Wadleigh Bell is one of the most important figures in this town’s history. No one [at the Prudence Historical Society] would have voted for him to take home arguably the most valuable asset in our collection. He knew this. He knew all of this. You know the conservative ideal is for government to align with our own self-interest, like how it provides for mutual defense. Or when it builds roads, so that people can reach the businesses that serve them. This is government providing someone with access, with the freedom he or she needs to pursue what matters to them. When it doesn’t or can’t align with our own self-interests, a conservative does not turn around and pretend that those interests are the purpose of government. A conservative doesn’t tell the people what’s supposed to matter to them. That’s tyranny. That’s what Butler is creeping towards. I saw all of that in the silverware on that table. The lack of respect for rule and order. So, no, I didn’t take out my checkbook that night for Ralph and never will again.