Today we’d like to introduce you to Moe Hakim.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I knew pretty early in my training that I was drawn to the more complex side of oral and maxillofacial surgery. I trained at NYU, where I graduated in the top 5% of my class, and then completed my oral and maxillofacial surgery residency in Washington, DC. Residency gave me a strong foundation in oral surgery, particularly dental implants and orthognathic, or double jaw, surgery. But I also felt that my training was not complete. I wanted to develop a deeper understanding of TMJ surgery, which is one of the more challenging and often misunderstood areas of our specialty.
After residency, I completed a fellowship at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital with Dr. Joseph McCain, who is widely recognized as the father of advanced TMJ arthroscopy in North America. That experience was formative for me. For two years, I spent part of my time practicing independently and the other part learning directly from Dr. McCain. It refined my skills in oral and jaw surgery and opened an entirely new area of expertise in TMJ surgery. It also shaped the clinical standards I still try to hold myself to today.
I later joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, where I co-created the second fellowship of its kind in North America focused on TMJ and orthognathic surgery. During that time, I taught residents, fellows, and surgeons advanced TMJ and jaw surgery. Over the years, I have been fortunate to publish, lecture nationally and internationally, and teach surgeons from around the world.
Eventually, my wife, Dr. Heather Hoffman, and I decided to take a different path. Rather than stay in a traditional academic setting, we wanted to build something of our own. We entered the entrepreneurial world and created a family run practice in Arlington, Virginia. Our goal was to take the level of care and expertise people often associate with major academic centers and deliver it in a setting that feels personal, warm, and human.
That is how The International Center for TMJ & Jaw Surgery came to life. My practice focuses on advanced TMJ surgery, jaw surgery, sleep apnea surgery, dental implants, wisdom teeth removal, and the full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery. A major part of my work is helping patients with TMJ problems who have often been searching for answers for years. I am especially passionate about TMJ arthroscopy because it allows us to treat certain joint problems in a minimally invasive way while still respecting the complexity of the condition.
At the same time, I never wanted the practice to feel like a typical doctor’s office. We want patients to feel that they are being cared for by real people who know them, listen to them, and take responsibility for their experience. My wife runs Mama’s Pediatric Dentistry in the same space, so the practice has become a blend of advanced surgery, pediatric dentistry, family, entrepreneurship, and a lot of real life.
Looking back, the path makes sense, even though it was not always linear. I started in academic surgery, became deeply involved in teaching and complex TMJ and jaw surgery, and then chose to build a practice that reflects both my clinical standards and my personal values. Today, I see local patients from Arlington, McLean, Falls Church, and Washington, DC, while also caring for patients who travel from other states and countries for specialized TMJ and jaw surgery. That balance is really the heart of what we are building: advanced surgical care, delivered in a way that still feels personal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a perfectly smooth road. I think from the outside, people sometimes see a new practice, a nice office, a strong brand, and assume it all came together easily. The reality is very different.
Arlington and the greater DC area are among the most competitive healthcare markets in the country. In oral and maxillofacial surgery, there are excellent surgeons all around us. That can make growth slower in the beginning, especially when many dentists have been referring to the same offices for years. But I have always believed that if we provide a great experience, communicate well, and deliver strong surgical outcomes, the rest will come with time.
I actually like competition. It keeps you sharp. It forces you to keep improving. And ultimately, that is in the best interest of the patient.
A friend told me early on, “You have a national and international reputation. Now it is time to build your local reputation in the DMV.” That was a wake up call. I had spent years teaching surgeons, lecturing, publishing, and building credibility in academic and surgical circles. But opening a private practice meant learning how to earn trust locally, one patient and one referring dentist at a time.
In some ways, my TMJ background helped us get started. There are very few surgeons in the country who focus heavily on advanced TMJ arthroscopy and complex jaw surgery, so patients began finding us for those problems. Many of them had been searching for answers for years. When they had good experiences, they told their friends, families, and dentists. Over time, that helped local dentists get to know us and begin trusting us not only with TMJ and jaw surgery, but also with wisdom teeth, dental implants, and the full scope of oral surgery.
Another major challenge has been staffing. The DMV is a strong, competitive economy, which means there are a lot of businesses hiring and a limited pool of great people. But for us, the standard was never just “can this person do the job?” We are building a premier practice with a very specific culture. Patients feel the difference the moment they walk in, and that only happens when the right people are on the team.
So we decided to hire for culture first. Skills can be taught. Character, attitude, humility, and ownership are much harder to teach. That approach slowed us down at times, but it protected the environment we wanted to create. Our team is still evolving, and we are always working to improve our systems and efficiency, but we are much closer now to the kind of team we envisioned.
The other challenge is one that every small business owner understands. From the outside, a small business may look polished and organized. Internally, especially early on, it is often held together by one or two people working constantly behind the scenes. I am good at setting a vision, defining goals, and pushing toward them, but I had to learn how to build actual business operations, create systems, and lead a team outside of an academic institution.
I was fortunate to have my wife, Dr. Heather Hoffman, with me through that process. She is incredibly smart, grounded, and thoughtful, and she helped shape the practice in ways that go far beyond the clinical side. I also had a close friend and consultant who helped us organize our thinking, build systems, and create more structure around the business. That support mattered a lot.
The hardest part was probably the first year. We moved to a new state with no family nearby and very few friends. We had a newborn at home, one of our three children, and for a period of time we had no childcare. At the same time, we were starting a practice from scratch in one of the most competitive markets on the East Coast, without prior experience running a private practice or small business. It was a lot.
But looking back, I think those challenges helped define the practice. They forced us to be very clear about who we are and what we stand for. We could not compete by being the biggest office or the loudest office. We had to compete by being excellent, consistent, honest, and deeply personal.
That is still how we approach the practice today. Every patient interaction, every surgery, every referral relationship, and every team decision is part of building trust. The road has not been smooth, but it has been meaningful. And in many ways, the obstacles confirmed that we were building something worth protecting.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The International Center for TMJ and Jaw Surgery?
The business is The International Center for TMJ & Jaw Surgery in Arlington, Virginia. We are a boutique oral and maxillofacial surgery practice focused on advanced TMJ surgery, jaw surgery, sleep apnea surgery, dental implants, wisdom teeth removal, dental extractions, and the full scope of oral surgery.
What makes the practice different is the combination of advanced surgical expertise and a very personal patient experience. A lot of patients assume that if they need highly specialized care, especially for TMJ or jaw surgery, they have to go to a large academic medical center. My goal was to bring that level of care into a private practice setting that feels more personal, accessible, and human.
A major part of my practice is TMJ surgery, especially TMJ arthroscopy and TMJ replacement. TMJ disorders can be incredibly frustrating for patients because many of them have been searching for answers for years. They may have seen multiple doctors, tried different appliances, medications, physical therapy, or other treatments, and still feel like no one has given them a clear path forward. My role is to help them understand what is actually happening in the joint and then guide them toward treatment that makes sense for their specific situation.
I am especially passionate about TMJ arthroscopy because it allows us to treat certain joint problems in a minimally invasive way. It is a technically demanding procedure, and there are very few surgeons who focus heavily on advanced TMJ arthroscopy. That has become one of the major pillars of the practice, along with orthognathic surgery, also known as corrective jaw surgery or double jaw surgery.
At the same time, we are still a full scope oral surgery practice. We take care of wisdom teeth, dental implants, extractions, bone grafting, oral pathology, and IV sedation. Locally, we serve patients from Arlington, McLean, Falls Church, Washington, DC, and the greater DMV. Regionally and nationally, we see patients who travel for specialized TMJ and jaw surgery.
Brand wise, what I am most proud of is that the office does not feel like a typical doctor’s office. We wanted to build something that feels elevated but not cold. Patients should feel that they are in a premier surgical practice, but also that they are being cared for by real people who know them, listen to them, and take responsibility for their experience.
My wife, Dr. Heather Hoffman, runs Mama’s Pediatric Dentistry in the same space, so there is also a family element to what we are building. It is advanced surgery, pediatric dentistry, entrepreneurship, and real life all under one roof. That combination gives the practice a very different energy.
For readers who want to learn more about the practice, our main website is www.myjawsurgery.com. We also share longer reflections and educational pieces through the Insight section of the website, where I write about surgery, patient care, entrepreneurship, and the standards we are trying to build around healthcare.
Ultimately, I want people to know that our brand is built around excellence with integrity. We are not trying to be the biggest oral surgery practice in the area. We are trying to be the practice people trust when they want thoughtful, high level surgical care delivered in a way that still feels personal.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is excellence with integrity.
Not excellence as a marketing word, but as the daily discipline of doing things the right way when it is easier not to. In surgery, that means being prepared, being honest with patients, knowing your limits, continuing to learn, and taking ownership of outcomes. In business, it means building a practice that does not cut corners, does not chase volume at the expense of quality, and does not treat people like transactions.
The reason that matters so much to me is that everything else flows from it. If you pursue excellence with integrity long enough, you build trust. Patients trust you because they can feel that you are trying to guide them honestly. Referring doctors trust you because they know you will take care of their patients the right way. Your team trusts you because they know the standard is real, not just something written on a wall.
That is also how relationships are built. I have never wanted my practice to be transactional. Whether it is a patient, a referring dentist, a team member, a colleague, or another surgeon, I want the relationship to matter beyond the immediate interaction. I think people can feel when you are playing the long game and when you are trying to build something with substance.
On a personal level, my wife and I are building this practice while raising three children. That changes the way I think about the business. I want my kids to see that work can be meaningful. I want them to see that you can build something excellent without losing your values. I want them to be proud not just of what we built, but of how we built it.
So for me, excellence with integrity is the foundation. It shapes how I operate as a surgeon, how we run the practice, how we hire, how we teach, and how we show up for people. If we stay true to that, I believe the trust, relationships, reputation, and growth will follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://myjawsurgery.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetmjandjawsurgeon/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMyJawSurgery%2F
- Other: https://myjawsurgery.com/insight—oral-surgery-blog.html
