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Lisa Hilpl ’98 stands in the lobby of Comfort Care Dental, the Mansfield, Mass. practice she opened in 2024, where she brings a hospitality-inspired approach to creating a welcoming patient experience.

Lisa Hilpl ’98 wants her patients to feel so at ease when they walk into her growing dental practice that some forget they’re even at the dentist.  

The check-in area is designed like a boutique hotel lobby: Friendly staff greet patients by name, diffused lighting softens the space, noise-dampening floors and panels create a calm atmosphere, and a 200-gallon saltwater fish tank immediately draws the eye. When she’s between appointments, Hilpl steps into the lobby to welcome patients and chat about their lives.  

“I pulled a lot from my hospitality experience,” she says. “When someone walks in, I want it to feel like home — warm and welcoming — but also a little upscale without being intimidating.”  

Hilpl grew up in Portland, Maine, and was drawn to hospitality at a young age because she enjoyed hosting, cooking, and consistently interacting with people. She says the University of New Hampshire business school, now the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, was an easy choice because of the hospitality program’s strong reputation. 

Once she arrived in Durham, Hilpl gained a firm grasp on the wide-ranging nature of hospitality. She enjoyed market research, analytics, and how businesses use physical space and branding to shape the customer experience.  

“How you design an entrance, how you build an overall brand, how you bring branding and management into a company, and how that affects the customer experience, as well as how the staff feel when they’re there. It was all fascinating,” Hilpl says. “We looked at everything from fast-food restaurant layouts to major hotel chains and how they branded themselves within a region.”  

During an internship at Canterbury Shaker Village, Hilpl conducted market research as the nonprofit explored converting one of its historic buildings into an inn. The work included talking with visitors, evaluating the building’s logistics, and developing recommendations.  

“We found that an inn was not going to be as viable, but doing catering, catering services, weddings, and event management would be viable,” Hilpl says. “That experience pushed me down a road of consulting and looking at market research from a hospitality perspective and growth management strategy.”  

After graduating, Hilpl joined the Convention & Visitors Bureau in Portland, where she worked with local businesses to boost tourism across Maine. Within a year, she transitioned into consulting, helping clients in hospitality and healthcare to develop and analyze marketing strategies and growth opportunities. Some of her most meaningful projects involved the American Cancer Society and breast cancer support groups, where she conducted research on screening and access to care. 

During interviews and focus groups, she heard countless stories from women undergoing chemotherapy who struggled with oral health, including tooth loss, bone deterioration, dry mouth, and sores that made eating, talking, and sleeping difficult. 

While Hilpl enjoyed consulting, those experiences inspired her to seek a more hands-on career where she could help people directly. 

“This was the start of my career down the dental care path, and it was when I reached out to dental care facilities about how they managed patients undergoing cancer treatment,” Hilpl says. 

The lobby at Comfort Care Dental reflects owner Lisa Hilpl's hospitality-inspired approach, with warm design elements and a calming environment for patients.

She soon shadowed and later worked for a dentist in Hanover, New Hampshire — first at the front desk, then assisting chairside — and everything clicked. 

“I didn’t realize how much dentistry blends engineering and art until I was in it,” she says. “And it turns out a lot of dentists are artists — painting, drawing — all of that carries over. I loved discovering that something from my personal life could become such a big part of my career.” 

Hilpl returned to school to complete her science prerequisites at Colby-Sawyer College before being accepted to Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 2010. At Tufts, Hilpl once again tapped into her hospitality experience to balance the demands of dental school.  

“I was warned about the pace and rigor of dental school, and I learned a lot that first semester,” Hilpl says. “Luckily, I was used to long hours, especially in the hotel and restaurant business. That all prepared me.”  

The last two years at Tufts were almost entirely clinical, with daily patient care as part of the school’s in-house practice. After graduating in 2015, she worked at practices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  

Hilpl says it was always her dream to run her own business, but she wanted to gain experience working at other practices first. Finally, in August 2024, she realized her dream when she opened  in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

The practice is the perfect blend of her two careers, according to Hilpl. Its physical and sensory details draw from her UNH and hospitality experiences, while her clinical approach reflects her training at Tufts and in the field.  

“Patients often tell me it feels like home here and that they feel at ease and are not as afraid of coming to the dentist,” Hilpl says. “I’m very education-focused because it’s their body. I explain what’s going on and talk them through procedures, letting them know what to expect before I do anything.” 

That attention to all details is paying off as her practice continues to attract new patients.  

“Some of my friends still say, ‘I can’t believe you went back to school for dentistry — where did that even come from?’ But my point is always the same: If you want to change careers, you can carry so many of your past experiences into what you do next,” Hilpl says. “The hospitality program at UNH set me up for success in my current role. I reflect on that experience quite a bit.”