Dr. Tak (otherwise known as Dr. “Tic-Tac”) is the only known Japanese Pediatric Dentist with a smooth southern accent. Growing up in the foothills of Tennessee, Dr. Tak quickly developed his hand skills in his yearly years by catching crawdads in the wilderness with his bare hands.As Dr. Tak loved to see people smile and at the same time wanting to share his artistic skills, Dr. Tak decided to pursue his career in dentistry.

Dr. Tak received his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from the University of Tennessee where he graduated with highest honors, a distinction given only to the top graduates of the class. After dental school, Dr. Tak completed an additional two-year residency program to specialize in pediatric dentistry at the University of Texas in Houston. Throughout his pediatric residency, Dr. Tak received extensive training in behavior management and special-needs care, and performed numerous full-mouth reconstruction surgical cases at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Throughout his dental career, Dr. Tak has been bestowed with many honors. He is an inductee of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society and the Richard and Marguerite Dean Honorary Odontological Society, which are awarded to practitioners with high moral character who demonstrate exemplary leadership. He is a recipient of the Waterpick Hanau Best-of-the-Best Prosthodontic Award and the Dr. Maurice E. Petrovsky Prosthodontic Scholarship Award, which are awarded to practitioners who demonstrate exceptional clinical skills. He is also a recipient of the Dr. Malcom Overbey Leadership Award and the Cecily W. Tipton Scholarship Award, which are awarded to practitioners who demonstrate extraordinary compassion and care to the community. Dr. Tak has been a dental provider in Give-Kids-A-Smile and in the Special Olympics.

When away from pediatric dentistry, Dr. Tak can always be seen with his wife, Mika. Mika and Dr. Tak were once grade school classmates in Tennessee. They attended the same school for three years until Mika had to move back to Japan. After a long 15 years without any contact, Mika found Dr. Tak by fate, and the rest…is just history! Some things were just meant to be.