Two coworkers turned business partners have brightened the smiles of the population of Grand Falls with the success of their dental hygiene clinic. 

Co-owners Mika Dionne and Sonia Cyr opened Grand Falls Dental Hygiene in November 2021 after working hard to make their entrepreneurship dreams a reality.  

“I always wanted to be my own boss and have my own clientele, and I knew in Grand Falls there was a need for that so that’s why we did it here in my hometown,” Mika said.  

The pair met in 2017 when Mika started her career at a dental office in Edmundston, where Sonia had been working for nearly 20 years.  

She trained Mika on the job and the two grew close working in neighbouring rooms at the dental clinic. Mika started talking to Sonia about her aspirations to someday own her own dental hygiene clinic.  

Though Sonia already had her certificate to operate as an independent dental hygienist, she wasn’t sure business ownership was the path for her.  

“I was okay with my boss. I was 22 years with him. I had a good salary, a good team,” she said of her hesitation to start a business.  

The more Mika talked about how the business would work, and the demand there was for dental hygiene services in her hometown of Grand Falls, the more Sonia could see herself making the move both to the community and to business ownership.  

“I said I'm going to try and that’s it. And I’m very happy. Very grateful and happy,” Sonia said of the decision.  

In 2020, they started the journey into entrepreneurship, first with Mika obtaining her certification to become an independent dental hygienist.  

Sonia had consulted with the CBDC many years before when she got her independent dental hygienist certification but decided not to pursue a business at that time.  

“When Mika told me that she wanted to start a business with me, I said we were going to go to the CBDC,” she said.  

They started looking for a location and reached out to CBDC Victoria Madawaska-South for guidance in building a business plan and the steps to take for the initial phases of starting a business. 

Starting out was full of ups-and-downs, finding potential locations and creating floor plans and renovation plans, only for the buildings to be rented or sold to someone else.  

“We had some things that discouraged us a few times, but we never gave up,” Mika said. “That’s one thing – never give up and believe in yourself, because when you want to do something, you can.” 

Once they found the perfect location on Broadway Boulevard, the partners inquired about a loan from the CBDC Victoria Madawaska-South to renovate the space and purchase major equipment.  

They also used the Self-Employment Benefit program to help ease the financial transition into business ownership.  

“It really comforted us,” Mika said of the program. “Without it, it would have been really hard and stressful.” 

The pair did a lot of promotion during the early days of the business to attract clientele — from social media, flyers and door-to-door visits, to visits to schools and daycares.  

“We put ourselves out there so people could see us,” Mika said. 

Despite the promotion, opening during the COVID-19 pandemic added extra challenges to the journey into entrepreneurship. After a busy first two months in business, pandemic measures in place at the time saw their number of client appointments dip for two months before they were able to pick back up again.  

“After that it went well,” Sonia said. “Now we’re full. If you want an appointment ... we’re booking six months out.” 

Until recently, the pair handled all aspects of the business from booking appointments to sterilizing tools and everything in between. They just hired their first employee – an administrative assistant - and aspire to grow the Grand Falls office with more hygienists in the future.  

With the success they’ve seen locally, Sonia and Mika aspire to open clinics in other parts of the province to meet the demand for service.  

“I would recommend working with the CBDC to anyone that wants to open a business,” Mika said. 

“We couldn’t have done it without them.”