Dentistry is a family affair in the Ganji household: Dr. Amir Ganji is married to a dentist. His wife Jennifer was practicing but now is a full-time stay-at-home mom with their two kids.

Dr. Ganji was born in New Orleans but when he was four his parents returned to their native country of Iran. His father, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, wanted to practice in his homeland, but was thwarted by the country's lack of a technological infrastructure.

The family returned to the U.S., and Dr. Ganji spent his childhood between Spokane and Philadelphia.

He took an indirect route to a career in dentistry.

After graduating from the University of Washington Dr. Ganji enrolled in a doctorate program in Immunology and Microbiology at the Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). Everything kept pointing Dr. Ganji toward dentistry, though, and after two years in the doctorate program he jeft OSU to attend dental school at Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia.

Dr. Ganji worked at the Veteran Affairs Hospital from 1997-2000, before entering private practice in September, 2000. At that time, he went into practice with Dr. Sledge, who retired in December, 2007.

Before joining Cannon Hill Dental, Dr. Ganji had a clear idea of the type of practice he wanted to join: "I wanted to find someplace I enjoyed going to work, where my practice philosophy was the same as what was already in place."

Dr. Ganji has a conservative, patient-oriented style: "The ideal treatment is the one that makes sense for the patient", he says. "We work with people and give them options."

He was also drawn to the atmosphere: "There are not many offices where you can walk in and hear people laughing."