Dr. Cathy Benson Laws ’02, DDS, the recipient of Pfeiffer University’s 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award, majored in Chemistry at Pfeiffer and later earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from West Virginia University’s School of Dentistry on a Health Professions Scholarship from the U.S. Army. After fulfilling her service commitment in Landstuhl, Germany, she is now making her mark, not only as a dentist but as a businesswoman.

In 2014, she purchased a practice in Lincolnton, N.C., where she was working as an associate dentist, and Carolina Dentistry and Dentures was born. The business has since become a thriving regional provider, having expanded to include six additional offices in as many North Carolina cities: Salisbury, Mint Hill, Albemarle, Asheboro, Greensboro, and Charlotte. All told, 11 dentists work in the offices of Carolina Dentistry and Dentures (including Laws), as do 55 auxiliary staffers, with Laws serving as Clinical Director and her husband, Keith, managing business operations.

Laws, who resides in Concord, N.C., can come up with a mouthful of reasons to explain this success. One is the genuine enthusiasm she brings to her work, which rubs off on her colleagues. “I really do enjoy working with teeth,” she said. “I know some people think that sounds really bizarre, but it is fun.”

Her love of dentistry aside, Laws traces the quality of her work — and, by extension, the quality of her colleagues’ work — to important lessons she learned from her professors at Pfeiffer.

“At Pfeiffer, my professors taught me the importance of an attention to detail and an attention to the scientific process,” Laws said. “I think that has helped me a lot. I don’t jump to conclusions at the latest research without scrutinizing things, and that’s something I also learned directly from these professors.”

The professors whom Laws credits with providing her educational foundation have become the stuff of legend with many Pfeiffer alumni: Dr. Mike Riemann ’70 (Hon.) ’10 (Hon.), Professor Emeritus of Chemistry; Dr. Don Jackman ’78 (Hon.), Professor Emeritus of Chemistry; Dr. Steve C. Dial ’59 (1937-2012), Professor Emeritus of Biology; Dr. Mark McCallum, Professor of Biology and Director of Academic Initiatives; and James M. Haymaker ’95 (Hon.)  (1934-2020), Professor Emeritus of Art.

Another factor working in favor of Carolina Dentistry and Dentures is that all of its practices realize added revenue from on-site labs that provide many same-day services like dentures and night guards. This may seem like a no-brainer, but combining traditional dentistry with dentures services under one roof has become a lot less common than it once was. That’s because many dentists, having failed to gain sufficient experience with creating dentures in dental school, feel more comfortable farming out that work to businesses set up for that purpose only.

“I am comfortable doing dentures work and I very much enjoy it,” Laws said. “We put the word dentures in our name so that people know that they can come see us for that. It shows that we’re getting back to basics. Historically, dentists were expected to be full scope and able to attack anything and everything in the mouth. We’re doing that.”

Laws, incidentally, has an amusing way of helping clients decide which type of dentures to go with, as she illuminates the pros and cons of each, including aesthetics (e.g., “Are you going to be able to smile better with this one or that one?); function (e.g., “Are you going to be able to chew better with this one or that one?”); longevity; and cost.

She begins each explanation by saying, “We have this Honda Civic way that we can handle it or a Rolls-Royce way.”

“Clients usually giggle,” she said. “But at the end of the day, they’re well informed about their options and then, they just go with the one that they’re most comfortable with. They seem to appreciate that.”

In Laws’ view, the success of her enterprise derives from sound interpersonal dynamics between her and her employees as well as between her and her husband. Inspired by the servant leadership ethos espoused by Pfeiffer, she strives not to be “above my employees by acting like I’m the boss and they’re underlings who work for me.”

“Let’s create an environment where you are on our team because you believe in the mission and you feel comfortable with me, your leader,” she added. “How are we going to create our mission together, achieve it as a team, and create an environment where everyone has ownership in our work?”

As for the dynamics underscoring Laws’ business partnership with her husband, they each strive to keep their emotions in check and communicate issues transparently. And they trust each other’s ability to take on various responsibilities.

“Somebody’s going to have to be the boss of certain parts of the business; you’re not both going to be equal at all times,” Laws said. “I have to be able and willing to step back and say, ‘Yes, I’m going to let you decide that and I’m not going to fight you on this.’ Otherwise, it would just be a big power struggle.”

Finally, a little bit of compartmentalization goes a long way: “At work, my husband and I get down to business. Then, when we get home, we switch gears and focus on family and marriage. We have found a way to make it work, and it’s lovely. I love it. I wouldn’t change it for the world, actually.”