Meet Dr. Hoang 89032
Background and Credentials
A first-generation American born in Stockton, California after the emigration of her parents from Vietnam, Dr. Lisa Hoang was raised by her mother, Thi Le, who stressed education to her children as the way to ensure a better future.
Following high school, Hoang matriculated at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, majoring in biological studies. Though interested in the health profession, it wasn’t until late into her undergraduate years that dentistry piqued her interest as a career. Drawing on a sense of civic duty instilled by her upbringing and her family’s close ties with the local Vietnamese expat community, Hoang investigated opportunities that would benefit the greater good.
“I volunteered at various places, including a clinic in Stockton that provided free dental care to the community,” she says. “I completely fell in love with dentistry, and I knew that’s what I wanted to gear towards.”
Hoang continued onward to the University of the Pacific’s Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, which would later come to have a serendipitous significance in her career. Following her graduation, Hoang entered the job market fray of the central valley and found the opportunities not quite what she had hoped for.
“I ended up working a bunch of part-time jobs and I didn’t like not being able to work at just one practice,” she recalls.
Relocating with her fiancé Phong Nguyen to the Lone Star state, Hoang practiced full-time in Beaumont and Houston over the course of a year, relishing the chance to apply her abilities to a single practice at a time. Though content in Texas, the pull of family ties interceded for both Hoang and Nguyen at the dawn of 2013, leading to relocation to an equally arid climate.
“My sister had just had her first child, and we didn’t want to be the aunt and uncle that only came home for the holidays,” she says. “Las Vegas is a lot closer to Stockton and it’s where Phong’s family lives, so we decided to relocate and check out the job market here.”
Beginning in April 2013, Hoang started working at Cheyenne Dental, before a tenure at Image Dental. Since joining, Dr. Hoang has established a reputation among her patients not only for the quality of her dental work, but for her knowledge, warm bedside manner, and thorough explanation of treatments.
This open communication goes both ways, with Hoang educating patients on dental health and the impact oral bacteria can have on overall health, especially linking to heart disease. This comprehensive approach extends to Hoang taking the reins of checking in on her patients as much as she is able.
Patients really appreciate it and many have said they’ve never had a doctor personally call to check up on them,” she notes.
In 2014, Dr. Hoang began working at North View Dental and Orthodontics and became a partner at the office.
“Being a partner has that extra responsibility to not just the patients, but to the practice to ensure it runs smoothly,” she notes.
“Dr. Hoang strives for success in everything, whether trying to make her patients floss more or helping the team to be the best at their job. You will always find her doing something productive,” says dental assistant Cassie Gyllenskog.
James Moon, the dental assistant has had the most interaction with, remarks, “Dr. Hoang is amazing and a very professional doctor. She’s gentle and caring with her patients, and brings out the best in me.”
“I like being able to have the autonomy as a doctor, being able to do what I want to do, while also having the support of the group practice,” she says.
Energetic and outgoing in personality, Hoang and her husband indulge in snowboarding as often as the winter season and their schedules allow, with trips to Utah, Colorado, and Lake Tahoe. Their extracurricular excursions will likely have to be postponed for the near future, with Hoang currently expecting the couple’s first child, a daughter, due in late October 2017.
“For the last several years, I’ve been focused on work, so to be able to focus on starting our family has been the most exciting thing in my life so far,” says Hoang. Planning to work as long as she can, her pregnancy has already led to some humorous encounters with patients as she nears her due date. “My belly’s starting to get big and I accidently tapped a patient’s head the other day,” she says, laughing. “I’m expecting that to happen a lot more often.”