Love From Crown to Root: Four GSDM-affiliated Couples Share their Dental Love Stories
The dental profession is filled with technological innovation, passionate people, and—for some—true love. In celebration of Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing four BU Dental love stories. From our love stories to yours, Happy Valentine’s Day.
Adar Finkel DMD 12 and Alex Vasserman DMD 11
Together since 2009, Married since 2015
Alex Vasserman is living proof that “love at first sight” can really happen.
He met Adar Finkel, now his wife, in 2008 at GSDM. They kept running into one another around the Medical Campus, and he knew she was the one.
“I saw her and knew that was it,” Vasserman said. “[That’s] the girl I’m going to be with. I’m going to marry her.”
Their official first date was a memorable one. Vasserman’s Zipcar battery died after they lost track of time, but it did not deter the two from seeing the potential in their pairing. It wasn’t until Finkel saw a promising sign at a Cambridge bar, where she was watching him play the drums with his band, that she decided to take a chance on a long-term relationship.
“The most fateful finding was in the bathroom of that bar,” she said. “There was a sticker of the Tenafly Vipers. Tenafly is the town I grew up in. It just felt very serendipitous that there was a sticker referencing my hometown in that random bar. Plus seeing him there, it felt like the stars were aligning and I had to pay attention.”
Vasserman graduated from GSDM in 2011 and relocated to New York for a residency program. A year later, Finkel also got matched to a residency program in New York, and the pair moved in together. After they finished their respective residency programs, Vasserman proposed during a sunrise hot air balloon ride in upstate New York.
The couple now lives in New Jersey, with Vasserman running his general dentistry practice in Manhattan and Finkel running her orthodontic practice in River Vale, New Jersey. They have three children: Ava (8), Oliver (6), and Henry (4).
The pair might not work in the same office together, but both agree that it’s incredibly helpful to have a spouse in the same profession.
“’Teeth’ is frequently our ‘pillow talk,’” Finkel said. “It’s really special to be able to collaborate and bounce ideas off of each other, while also being able to empathise with the daily challenges of treating patients and running your own practice. To have your spouse actually ‘get it’ is really amazing and adds another layer of connection.”
Dario Gonzalez Maestracci AS 26 and Stephany Buitrago Aguirre AS 26
Dating since 2024
The couple met at the start of their DMD Advanced Standing program in 2024. Dario Gonzalez Maestracci said he had an almost-immediate feeling that he and Aguirre were meant to be a couple.
“She was in a group of friends who were from my country (Venezuela), so I [decided] I needed to get to know her more,” Maestracci said. “I was approaching the group to get to know her better and see if my heartbeat, my feeling, what I felt was truly thought it would be when I first met her.”
Stephany Buitrago Aguirre didn’t share the instantaneous romantic spark but said she was open to fostering a friendship first.
“I was like, ‘Why me? There are a lot of other women here. Pay attention to them,’” Aguirre said. “I said ‘Let’s hang a little bit as friends and that’s it.’”
Their friendship later evolved into a romantic relationship. Fate would later prove to Aguirre that the couple worked well as a pair. The two were randomly placed in the Patient Treatment Center in the same practice groups for every rotation except one. With all the additional time spent together–plus seeing each other’s dental passions in practice—Aguirre said it’s been wonderful having a significant other support her in her professional development.
“We try to help each other,” Aguirre said. “It is a blessing that we have each other in the clinic because we have been able to do a lot together as a team.”
As the couple approaches graduation later this year, Maestracci said he is looking forward to planning the next phase of their personal and professional lives alongside Aguirre’s nine-year-old daughter Juanita, whom he views as his own.
“The greatest thing that had happened to me is having the two of them in my life,” Maestracci said. “It’s more than a blessing; It’s destiny.”
Hardik Dholakiya DMD AS 23 and Virali Soni DMD AS 23
Together since 2008, Married since 2016
Over the nearly two decades since Hardik Dholakiya and Virali Soni started dating, their relationship has been filled with numerous adventures, yet Dholakiya credits their GSDM educational experience as one of their high points.
He said he feels incredibly fortunate that they were able to complete the DMD Advanced Standing program at the same time.
“We lived on the main campus of BU on the Charles River campus in a studio apartment, but we were very happy with our studio apartment,” Dholakiya said. “It was a very beautiful time for both of us. We have very good memories of our time at GSDM. We realized that we were lucky that we got a chance to pursue the program together.”
Their love story began long before they landed in Boston, going back to 2008 during the early years of their initial dental school education in India. They went to different, but nearby, dental school in India and bonded early over their shared passion.
After two months of friendship, they began dating. In 2013, Dholakiya began a periodontology residency while Soni started practicing as an associate dentist in a private clinic. Dholakiya finished his residency in 2016, and he couple got married that December.
After getting married, Dholakiya and Soni opened and ran a private practice for a few years. They ultimately decided their next career step would be to relocate to the United States. Dholakiya and Soni began applying to U.S.-based schools at the same time, but GSDM was always their top choice.
“The next day after our interview, we both received our acceptance,” Dholakiya said. “We were lucky [being] husband and wife getting accepted in the same program. It was very nice.”
Dholakiya and Soni had to defer the start of their program due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but once they started their program in 2021, the couple quickly worked to make Boston their new home.
In their second year, Soni was pregnant with their first child and gave birth two months after commencement. Dholakiya said having their journey into parenthood overlap with their dental education made the experience even more beautiful. Their daughter, Aashvi, is now two-and-a-half years old.
Even from the beginning of their relationship, Dholakiya said he knew Soni was his perfect match.
“For us, we dated for almost eight years,” he said. “We were in a long-distance relationship because I was pursuing my master’s and was practicing in different states [in India]. We got married. We share everything. Even now if there’s something, the other person doesn’t have to say it, you can [tell] it from their face. You just know.”
Maria Alsabagh DMD 26 and Firas Abbas DMD AS 24
Together since 2022, Married since 2024
When reflecting on her first day of dental school, Maria Alsabagh said she would never have predicted that she would fall in love, get engaged, plan a wedding, get married, and have a child—all before she received her GSDM diploma.
“It’s been a beautiful addition to my life,” Alsabagh said.
Alsabagh and Firas Abbas met in summer 2022 on the last day of the predoctoral matriculation week for their respective programs. The pair was part of a larger group who decided to get pizza after the Professional Ceremony. Following dinner, they exchanged phone numbers, both thinking it was nice to make a friend from the same home country of Syria.
Alsabagh and Abbas got closer when they were in the same ethic class that fall. From there, they started dating. In April 2023, they were officially engaged and began planning their wedding. In September 2025, they were married.
“We have the same dreams,” Alsabagh said. “We are from the same country, have the same culture, same way of thinking.”
Alsabagh said it was delightful to overlap at GSDM for two years with her now husband.
“It was so helpful having him because he already has some dental experience because he graduated from dental school [in Syria,]” Alsabagh said. “He used to help me a lot with studying, practicing, and work in the SLC. He was the perfect resource for me.”
While Alsabagh is juggling her dental school responsibilities and nearing her commencement day, she is also embarking on a new challenge, motherhood: The couple’s first child, Karam, was born three months ago. It may be a lot of change in a short amount of time, but she said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I loved [Abbas] the moment I met him, and I liked his personality and his way of thinking,” Alsabagh said. “I felt it like matched my energy.”