Our guest this week on Dentology is Shabnam Zai, co-founder of West House Dental, a private squat practice in Middlesex.

Shabnam talks to Chris and Andy about her childhood, her time at dental school and the reasons why she decided to study dentistry over everything else.

She talks about her early career working as an associate, her experience and the learnings gained along the way and the reasons why she decided to set up her own practice.

She tells us about the decision process she went through when deciding to become a practice owner, why she decided that the Pinner Memorial Park was the ideal location, and what the journey to practice ownership was truly like.

A great listen for all those looking to set up their own dream practice.

Topics:

- Tell us about your childhood

- Why you chose to study dentistry

- Tell us about your associate career through to the decision to become a practice owner

- Your experience and learnings gained along the way

- Setting up a new practice

- The importance of location

- Being a practice owner

Andy and Chris are joined this week by Gemma Barker, founder and managing director of Barker PR.

As many of you will know, Gemma has been bravely documenting her breast cancer treatment and sharing her experiences with us all.

In this episode, she talks openly about her experiences, and everything she has had to contend with whilst being a wife, mum, multiple pet owner and business owner!

She talks about her work in the world of dentistry, how she started out her career, what the inspiration was to start her own company, Barker PR, and the many challenges she has faced along the way in the world of business.

Topics:

- Documenting your breast cancer treatment

- The reasons why you decided to record and share your experiences

- Pathway into dentistry

- What was the inspiration to start Barker PR?

- How tough did you find setting up a business from scratch?

- How do you manage the work/life balance?

- Dealing with your cancer diagnosis

Andy and Chris are joined this week by Kaival Patel, dentist and director of the Kana Health Group and Kana Dental Academy.

In this episode, Kaival chats to Chris and Andy about his dental career, working as an associate for the first seven years and completing a Masters in dental implants during that time.

He goes on to talk about his decision to buy his own practice – the first of many – and how he coped with the shift from being an associate to practice owner.

Kaival now owns a growing group of practices and leads a Dental Academy providing post-graduate diplomas so spends 100% of his time focusing on the businesses. He talks about his decision to step away from clinical work and the steps he had to take to get to where he is today.

A great episode – well worth a listen.

Topics:

- Your time at dental school and early career

- Your decision to buy your first practice

- The shift from associate to practice owner

- Why did you decide to step away from the clinical work?

- The stepping stones to get to where you are today

- Tell us about your current group of practices & the Dental Academy

Barry Oulton joins us this week on the podcast.

Barry is a dentist and leading inspirational business coach/mentor specialising in helping dental professionals bridge the communication gap.

Chris and Andy chat to Barry about his early career, what prompted him to study dentistry and look back on his career pathway through to practice ownership. Barry has worked in both NHS and Private practices and having owned two practices, he has a wealth of experience to share.

Barry talks about his transition from associate to principal, reflects on how well he was prepared for the change and whether it was all he dreamt it would be.

He goes on to talk about his current coaching business, The Confident Dentist Academy, and the how the training he offers for both associates and practice owners.

Topics:

- A look back at your childhood

- Studying dentistry at Leeds University

- Tell us about your career pathway to practice ownership

- How did you find the transition from associate to principal?

- What did you enjoy most about owning a practice?

- The Confident Dentist Academy

- What advice would you give to improve someone’s communication skills?

This week Andy and Chris are joined by Christian Henrici, founder of Opti Health Consultancy, the largest dental consultancy in Germany.

In episode, Christian gives us an insight into his career, how he found himself working with the dental profession and his decision to set up the Opti Health Consultancy some 20 years ago.

He outlines some of the key services the company offers to the German dental profession, reflects on how that offering has evolved over the years to match the market and talks about the Opti summer school programme that offers supports to the next generation of dental practice owners in the country.

Finally, he goes on to explain how the German market compares to the UK market and shares some interesting stats with Chris and Andy!

Topics:

• Tell us about your background and career journey to date

• How come you found yourself working with the dental profession?

• Your decision to set up Opti 20 years ago.

• Can you tell us the range of services you offer to the German dental profession?

• Was there the existing demand for your services back then or did you create the market?

• Market comparison: Germany v UK

• Explain more about the OPTI Summer School programme designed to support the next generation of dental practice owners

Our guest this week is Dr Victoria Sampson, co-founder and principal at The Health Society in Mayfair, a multi-disciplinary health centre with oral health at its core and the first oral diagnostic centre in the world putting the mouth back in the body.

Victoria chats to Chris and Andy about her inspiration for becoming a dentist and her dental school experience, having obtained her Bachelor in Dental Surgery from Barts and the London.

She talks about her career to date, her decision to move fully into private work, and the dental practice in Mayfair she has recently opened with her sister. She explains what makes the practice different from others and reflects on what it’s like being a new practice owner.

She also talks about her decision to specialise in developing salivary diagnostics, microbiome testing and incorporating artificial intelligence into everyday care, an area in which she is now well-known both in the UK and worldwide.

Topics:

• Was dentistry on the cards from a young age for you given you had your sister for inspiration?

• In what ways did you parents set you up for the person you are today?

• Is artistry featuring more heavily than ever before in dentistry?

• What was your dental school experience like?

• Was it a push (away from the NHS) and a pull towards private for you?

• Your work on the oral microbiome and salivary diagnostics.

• Where did you interest in this speciality area come from?

• Owning your practice, The Health Society.

Our guest this week is Nathan Welch, Practice Principal at Y Bont Faen Dental Centre.

Nathan chats to Chris and Andy about his career choice, why he settled on a career in dentistry and his time spent studying at Cardiff Dental School.

He goes on to talk his work, both private and NHS, and his decision to buy his practice back in 2021.

Having been a new practice owner for the past 2 years, Nathan talks about his time as a new owner, shares some of the many lessons/experiences he’s had to date and talks about his work as an educational supervisor for dental foundation training.

Finally, Nathan chats about his latest project setting up a new NHS squat practice and the activities that keep him busy away from dentistry.

Topics:

- In what ways did you parents set you up for the person you are today?

- If you had your time again would you still choose dentistry?

- Time spent studying at dental school

- Becoming a practice owner in 2021

- What has practice ownership taught you so far?

- Being an educational supervisor for dental foundation training

- Tell us about your latest project, setting up a new NHS squat practice

- What keeps you busy away from dentistry?

Cally Walker, founder and director of Connect my Marketing joins us this week on the podcast.

Cally is also a co-founder and director of Dental Mavericks, a UK based charity taking dentistry to areas where children and adults how no access such as Morocco, Lebanon and Greece.

In this episode, Cally talks about her career and marketing work with dental clients located in the USA, Canada and UK and chats about her experiences working remotely from her base in Malaga, Spain.

She tells Chris and Andy more about the data behind the marketing activities and campaigns she is working with her clients on, reflects on how she feels the use of social media has changed over the years and shares her thoughts on how she believes campaigns, and in particular dental marketing, will evolve in the future.

Topics:

- What was your pathway into supporting dentists?

- How come you have broadened your reach to both sides of the pond?

- When Covid hit, were you more prepared for ‘remote working’?

- Tell us about your marketing activities and campaigns.

- What sort of data do you have?

- What are the key areas dentists should focus on based on this data?

- How have you seen the use of social media use change over the years?

- How do you help your clients grow through increased conversions?

- Do you see culture featuring more heavily in campaigns these days?

- Where do you see the future of dental marketing going?

Our guest this week is Dr Sam Jethwa, award winning dentist and principal and founder of Bespoke Smile Cosmetic & Implant Clinic in Buckinghamshire. Sam is also Vice President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD) and founder of the Bespoke Smile Academy.

Sam talks to Andy and Chris about his dental career journey and what inspired him to become a dentist - or more importantly, what inspired him to become an innovative cosmetic dentist delivering the highest level of aesthetic dentistry.

He chats about his years at dental school, how he spent his foundation year in Cornwall and his journey setting up the Bespoke Smile Academy in 2018, which now offers a full post-grad diploma, and also the Bespoke Smile Clinic in 2019.

Sam also chats about his positive use of social media, predominantly Instagram, to share details and information about his work.

Topics:

- Your early years

- Why did you become a dentist?

- Studying at Kings in London & your foundation year in Cornwall

- Setting up the Bespoke Smile Academy

- Starting the Bespoke Smile Clinic

- The Training Academy

- Are we moving more towards a profession of specialists?

- How do you find time away from your professional life to relax?

This week in the Dentology Podcast Andy and Chris discuss the best time to sell and exit your dental practice.

They chat about why there’s not one rule that fits all and why, in their opinions, the right time is purely dependent on you and your personal circumstances.

They consider the key factors that you should take into account when you are planning your exit strategy and discuss why it’s important to plan so that you exit your business when the time, and value, are both right.

To hear more from Chris and Andy about why you should always have a robust plan in place for selling your dental practice, have a listen to this episode.

Our guest on the podcast this week is Adrian Dray, leading dental GDPR expert in the UK.

In this episode, Adrian chats to Chris and Andy about the new world of AI and shares his views on how it is impacting dentistry and our everyday lives.

He gives a quick rundown on how AI has developed, how it has exploded onto the scene a few months ago and talks about ChatGPT, what makes it special, why it’s caused such a big noise and discusses some of the other AI platforms out there.

Adrian shares his thoughts on how you can keep up to date in this emerging area, so you don’t get left behind, and considers the reputational issues that relate to AI, in the context of using generated content and ensuring it matches your personal ethos, values and approach.

Topics:

- What does AI look like today?

- Will it be different tomorrow?

- Why the big noise now?

- What made ChatGPT special?

- Other good AI platforms?

- How can you get involved in this emerging area so you don’t get left behind?

- Will AI become part of everyday lives?

- Are there reputational issues with AI?

Our guest on the podcast this week is Dr Sandeep Sadana (aka Dr Sunny!).

In this episode, he talks about his dental career and why he chose dentistry over being a doctor or lawyer.

He chats about his time at dental school, shares his top tips, explains more about the struggles he faced when starting out, his highs and lows in business and what changed back in 2018 that made him fall back in love with the profession.

He goes on to tell us about how he currently splits his time working 2 days a week in a dental practice and spends the rest on an official education programme, DRE – Direct Restorative Excellence – that aims to help dentists overcome restorative problems so they have less stress, earn more, delight their patients and get home in time for dinner with their loved ones!

Finally, he chats about nearly buying a dental practice and the reasons why he didn’t go through with the purchase, being an army reservist while at university and his frightening first parachute jump experience!!

Topics:

- Why did you chose to be a dentist?

- Your dental school experience

- Top tip for those still at dental school

- Explain more about your struggles with dentistry for the first 8 years

- What changed to make you fall back in love with the profession?

- How do you split your time?

- The DRE programme

- Your highs and lows in business

- Almost buying a dental practice

- Is there pressure in the profession to move from an associate to a principal?

This week we are delighted to welcome Tif Qureshi as our guest.

Tif is Chairman of the IAS Academy, an International faculty that provides mentored education for general dentists on a pathway from appropriate simple to comprehensive orthodontics, International Speaker, and Pioneer of Align Bleach and Bond. He is also a past president of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry with a special interest in simple orthodontics and truly minimally invasive dentistry.

In this episode, Tif chats to Chris and Andy about why he chose to follow a career in dentistry and what it was like being at dental school in the mid-90’s.

He goes on to chat about his career pathway over the years, the highs and lows of being the owner of Dental Elegance in Kent, and his pioneering work of the concept of progressive smile design through Alignment, Bleaching & Bonding.

Finally, he talks about his current role as Chairman of the IAS Academy and his goal teaching and empowering fellow dentists.

Key topics:

- Looking back at your childhood

- Is there a strong line of Qureshi’s in dentistry?

- Did you choose dentistry or did it choose you?

- What was it like being at dental school in the mid-90’s?

- Your career pathway through to owning Dental Elegance?

- Tell us about the highs and lows of your career

- Pioneering the concept of ‘Align, Bleach & Bond’

- Your role as Chairman of the IAS Academy

This week we are joined by Amit Patel, principal at Birmingham Dental Specialists and President of the Association of Dental Implantology.

In this episode, Amit chats about his time studying dentistry at the University of Liverpool and his decision to become a specialist periodontist.

He reflects on how he started Birmingham Dental Specialists as a squat some 10 years ago now, what drove him to starting his own practice and the time he has spent lecturing across the globe.

Finally, Amit talks about his support for the Wells on Wheels charity….from the annual congress dinner of the ADI through to shaving his head after raising an amazing £16k+!!!

Key topics:

- Early years

- What was it that sparked your interest to study dentistry?

- Do you sense there is a desire among younger dentists to make a long-terms commitment in specialist areas?

- Starting a squat practice

- Lecturing international

- Charitable work in support of Wells on Wheels

This week we are delighted to be joined by Dr Jason Wong, interim Chief Dental Officer (CDO) at NHS England.

Jason is Dentist and Partner at the Maltings Dental Practice in Grantham and was awarded an MBE for services to dentistry and oral health in 2020.

In this episode, Jason talks about his early years in dentistry, his pathway from graduation through to being a partner at the Maltings Dental Practice, a 12-surgery practice with 14-15 clinicians and as many again in the support team, and how he successfully manages a practice of this size given his other roles within dentistry.

Jason goes on to talk about the MBE award he received at Buckingham Palace and his recent appointment in dentistry as interim CDO - what the role entails, where it sits within the NHS and who sets the agenda.

He outlines some of the key challenges currently being faced, how, as part of his remit as CDO, these are being addressed and how his practice experience is helping him to bring broader insights to the office of the CDO.

This is a great episode, so if you want to hear more from Jason, take a listen now!

Key topics:

- Early years

- Pathway from graduation to partner

- Secret to managing a practice alongside other roles in dentistry

- Receiving an MBE at Buckingham Palace

- Appointment as interim CDO

- What the role entails

- Current challenges being faced

- Has your practice experience helped you bring broader insights to the office of the CDO?

- Looking ahead

- Your eternal optimism

This week we welcome Dr Martina Hodgson, multi-award-winning dentist, practice owner (The Dental Architect and The Dental Studio) and Invisalign Speaker. She is also the co-founder of Inspiring Women in Dentistry.

In this episode Andy and Chris chat to Martina about her life story, background and what prompted her to follow a career in dentistry.

She talks about her journey from being an associate to buying her first practice and how she has since gone on to open her amazing private practice, The Dental Architect, in Leeds in 2022.

She shares advice and top tips for those who are just starting out on a similar ownership journey, talks about her work in orthodontics for the past 12 years and shares more on her dedication and passion to lift up and promote women in dentistry.

Martina also shares further information on her upcoming event, ‘The Aligner Launchpad’ that is taking place on 20th October – more information can be found here for those looking to book:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-aligner-launchpad-tickets-674667948997?aff=oddtdtcreator

Topics:

- Tell us about your childhood/background

- Your journey from associate to practice owner

- Working in Orthodontics

- How has this area of dentistry evolved?

- Opening the Dental Architect in 2022

- Advice for those thinking of setting up a practice

- Women in Dentistry

This week in the Dentology Podcast Andy and Chris discuss how a change to your business will always have an impact.

They look at how changes such as adding a new surgery, offering more high value treatments in-house or increasing your chair occupancy to name just a few could be ways in which you could double your dental practice value!

To hear more from Chris and Andy, have a listen to this episode.

Mark Topley, founder of Purpose Driven Business and UK dental industry leading authority on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy, joins us this week on the podcast.

In this episode Mark chats about his early days working as a teacher and how the skills he learnt in teaching have provided invaluable today.

He talks about his change of career and how this saw him enter the dental sector, albeit in an interesting way, and his work today helping people to become great leaders and build purpose driven businesses with strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies.

He reflects on what this looks like in a dental practice and considers, in his experience, how dentistry compares to the other sectors.

Finally, Mark lets us into a secret about his talents within the music world!

Topics:

- Tell us about your early days working as a teacher

- What skills did teaching gift you that have proved to be valuable transferrable skills?

- Explain your career move into dentistry

- Tell us about your role today helping people become great leaders & build purpose driven businesses

- Explain what is meant by a business with strong ESG and CSR strategy?

- What does this look like in a dental practice?

- How does dentistry compare to other sectors?

- Are we in a time where a modern-day business has to create success that positively impacts their stakeholders, the environment, and their wider community?

This week we welcome Suzy Rowlands to the podcast. Suzy is the Executive Administrator for the BACD (aka the engine that powers the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry).

In this episode Chris and Andy chat to Suzy about her childhood and why she chose dentistry as a career.

She talks about her time working at the FDI World Dental Federation back in 1995, how she came to live in France for 18 months because of this job and her experience setting up a wine importing company!

Finally, Suzy talks about the BACD - from how she joined back in 2005 when a ‘cosmetic’ focussed association was a pretty new concept, leading on the back-office operations through to how it has evolved and grown into the community it is today.

Topics:

- Tell us about your childhood

- Did dentistry choose you or did you choose it?

- Working at the FDI World Dental Federation

- Life in France for 18 months

- Running a wine importing company

- The BACD: early years

- Growth of the BACD and the community today

Saba Arif, founder and CEO of Smart Dental Compliance and Training joins us this week as our guest.

In this episode Saba talks about her time studying Biomedical Science at university after initially enrolling onto a dental nursing course and reflects on how she found her way into a career in dentistry by way of a Dental Service Manager role at Bupa managing multiple sites and dealing with compliance.

Saba shares more about whether the compliance issues that affect a large corporate provider are the same as for a smaller independently owned practice and goes on to tell us about her decision to start her own business, Smart Dental Compliance, and what the driver was behind the decision to go it alone.

Finally, she chats about what the business looks like today, how the team help dental practice owners and whether the compliance aspects of running a dental practice really are getting more and more complex today.

Topics:

- Back to the beginning – growing up/childhood

- Did you ever consider dentistry as a career?

- Are the compliance issues that affect a large corporate the same as for a small, independent practice?

- The trigger to start your own business?

- Would you do it again?

- How does Smart Dental Compliance help practice owners?

- Are the compliance aspects of running a dental practice getting more complex?