Creating ‘paradise:’ Missoula-based dental tool business strong

Eliza Carey

(Missoula Current) Linda Miller grew up hating the dentist. At every visit, the cold gleam of metal tools and the rough scrape of instruments made her cringe. She never could have imagined decades later that she'd be the founder and CEO of Paradise Dental Technologies (PDT) — now the second-largest dental instrument company in North America.

Miller founded PDT in February 2000 out of her two-car garage in Missoula. After years working for other dental companies, she sensed a gap in the market for ergonomically designed, high-quality instruments. With a budding interest in metallurgy, she began experimenting with metals and crafting new tools by hand. For over two years, she built the business from that garage, gradually refining a product line that would revolutionize the field.

Her hard work paid off. Today, PDT operates out of a 30,000-square-foot facility just outside Missoula near the Wye, and employs more than 80 people — not including Spud, her red heeler who comes to work almost every day. They’ve also expanded their reach through a network of sales representatives across the country.

The path to PDT began with necessity. Miller needed a stable job to support her then-husband through college and found work in manufacturing at American Dental. The job wasn’t love at first sight — she was an outdoorswoman who preferred backpacking, horseback riding, and motorcycles. But something clicked.

“I completely geeked out,” she said. “I would spend my breaks reading instrument journals and textbooks, trying to learn what makes the best instrument.”

What started as a job became a passion, and eventually, a company.

Miller launched PDT with her then-husband, but after a difficult experience in their relationship, she became even more determined to lead with empathy and integrity. That commitment shows in how she treats her team.

Despite a $250,000 increase in insurance costs in 2023, she refused to shift the burden onto her staff. Employees still pay just $100 a month for healthcare, and Miller adds $100 to each person’s health savings account monthly.

“So it’s just a wash, basically,” she said. “People deserve to be treated well and with respect, and I’ve worked too many places where they didn’t do that.”

And then there are the paid Fridays off.

In 2018, Miller piloted a summer project where employees worked 32 hours a week but were paid for 40. Productivity stayed high. Sick days dropped. Hiring became easier. So the change stuck.

“If it is paradise to have my own business,” Miller said, “it should be paradise for our employees, and it should be paradise for our customers.”

Austin Hobza, 33, has been the HR manager for eight and a half years. “I was thrilled the day I was hired and still am,” he said.

“The thing about Linda is she doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk. If innovation needs to happen, it will, and it does,” Hobza said.

That culture has created fierce loyalty. “Where passion meets purpose. That’s PDT,” Shiloh Peters, who works the front desk, said.

Miller said she’s been offered countless times to sell her company, but she refuses every time.

“At Linda’s age, most people are drinking on a golf course enjoying their retirement, but she’s here maintaining local Missoula jobs,” Hobza said.

One of these happy employees is Laura Schoening, Miller’s 29-year-old daughter and the company’s marketing manager. She got her degree from the University of Montana, but her experience with PDT goes back further, all the way to age three, when she helped package instruments in the garage.

“Keeping her employees healthy and able to have opportunities is something you don’t see often in Montana and in manufacturing,” Schoening said. “And she just does it because she thinks it’s the right thing to do.”

PDT was debt-free and growing when COVID hit. Dental offices were suddenly closed, considered nonessential unless dealing with emergencies.

She paid employees to stay home at first, then installed plexiglass and safety measures to bring people back gradually. PDT survived, never even touching the line of credit.

In 2023, PDT expanded again, building a new 25,000-square-foot manufacturing space on its campus outside Missoula near the Wye.

In February, they celebrated its 25-year anniversary with cake, decorations and a video of the employees congratulating and thanking Miller.

“We had a big celebration but, honestly, it's kind of an all year thing,” Hobza said. Employees rave about “PDT days” once a month with snacks and games.

“It’s really cool that she’s becoming so passionate about the people that the instruments help — not only hygienists, but patients too,” said Crane.

And for Miller, the impact goes beyond tools or profits.

“What a difference it makes for people to be able to smile,” she said. “To help their mental health in that way. It feels good.”