Dental Leaders Podcast

FMC’s Craig Welling discusses his journey from sales rep to managing director at the leading dental communications organisation.   Craig gives the lowdown on the equity-backed management buy-out at FMC, gives his view on the group’s hotly debated awards and Top-50 list, and reveals why you should never play ping pong with Payman Langroudi.  In This Episode 03.56 - Backstory 09.50 - Education Vs experience 13.54 - Starting at FMC 22.18 - The media landscape 25.10 - FMC buyout 51.23 - Awards and Dentistry’s Top 50 01.02.23 - Motivation and culture 01.09.53 - Dealing with large and small organisations 01.13.13 - Looking back 01.14.27 - The competitive landscape and the future of FMC 01.21.33 - Black box thinking 01.26.25 - Fantasy dinnerparty 01.29.12 - Last days and legacy About Craig Welling Craig Welling is managing director at FMC Media - a leading global multichannel media and communiations company serving the dental community.

Fitness fashion and lifestyle content creator Henry Wade shares his journey to success, navigating controversy online, and the search for validation. They discuss social media, mental health, monetizing, trolls, and haters. Henry also opens up about his darkest moments, marathon running, alternative therapies, imposter syndrome, and high points.

Since leaving Greece in the mid-90s to study dentistry in London, Kostas Karagiannopoulos has carved a name as one of the leading practitioners of injection-moulding composite bonding.   He chats with Payman and Prav about the experimentation and ‘painful mistakes’ that helped him find his way and how a hedonistic year at university almost stopped his career before it started.   Enjoy! In This Episode 04.14 - Injection moulding - indication and limitations 15.23 - Patient communication and technique development 22.23 - USPs and differentiation and techniques 44.09 - Backstory 49.01 - Advice to young dentists 55.25 - NHS 58.30 - Outside the clinic 01.01.40 - Blackbox thinking 01.15.41 - Referrals and organic patients 01.22.58 - The front edge 01.26.43 - Last days and legacy 01.29.47 - Fantasy dinner party About Kostas Karagiannopoulos Kostas Karagiannopoulos is a specialist prosthodontist and honorary consultant at King’s College London, where he has taught since 2008.   He is a proponent pioneer of the injection-moulding composite technique, which he teaches through his Prosthoworks training academy.  

The last time we spoke with dental sisters Victoria and Ariane Sampson, they discussed tentative plans for practice ownership.   Fast forward two years and those plans are now a reality as Victoria and Ariane open the doors of the Mayfair-based Health Society.   Payman catches up with the pair as they explain why their holistic approach to oral and general health makes The Health Society no ordinary practice and why the clinic’s opening party could go down as one of the best of all time.   Enjoy!    In This Episode 01.24 - Becoming a principal 07.23 - Project management 11.30 - Scaling and growth 19.46 - Mayfair patients 23.34 - Health Society plans 27.39 - Health and aesthetics 34.23 - The vision 44.56 - What the future holds 49.10 - Management, careers and subliminal messaging 54.41 - Location About Victoria & Ariane Sampson Sisters Ariane and Victoria Sampson are perhaps known on Instagram as @thedentalsisters. They recently opened The Health Society—a multidisciplinary health centre in Mayfair, London.  

You don’t have to be a driver to be driven. So says this week’s guest, Tanay Kulkarni, who took a national sales rep role with Bryant in his first year of dental school—before even earning his driver’s license.   Tanay chats with Prav about how boredom with the first-year dental syllabus at King’s College led to him pursuing the role and his subsequent involvement with Bryant’s AI-powered note-taking software, TapNote.   Enjoy! In This Episode 03.11 - Backstory 11.01 - The dental syllabus 16.10 - Bryant Dental 28.15 - Selling to dentists Vs patients 33.15 - TapNote 43.49 - The US, clinical dentistry and flexibility 50.15 - Black box thinking 57.39 - Confidence and articulation 59.20 - Fantasy dinner party 01.02.54 - Last days and legacy About Tanay Kulkarni Tanay Kulkarni is a recent King’s College graduate currently practising as a foundation dentist in Surrey.   He is a partner at the Bryant Group of disruptor companies. He is currently bootstrapping Aura AI, which uses AI to automate clinical record-keeping and diagnostics.  

Dentist have some of the highest rates of suicide, addiction and mental health problems. It is a stigma and a taboo both in the profession and in society Our guest is Sheetal Jain a dentist and mother of 3 young children who has suffered with an eating disorder and alcohol dependence and is now on a journey to recovery In a frank and sensitive discussion Sheetal goes into her childhood marked by her father’s untimely death, a trigger for expectations set for herself which led to her eating disorder and subsequently her addiction and recovery

Artur Zolkiewicz is one of the country’s most in-demand personal trainers.    In this week’s Mind Movers, he sits down for a chat with Rhoma and Payman on the discipline of martial arts, a lack of positive role models for young men, and how he deals with the stereotypes around being a fitness practitioner.   Artur, Rhona and Payman also chat about the power of emotional intelligence and dealing with trolls. Artur also gives some invaluable insight into practical steps listeners can take to improve health and well-being.   Enjoy!    In This Episode 01.38 - Growing up 05.30 - Discipline, martial arts and dentistry 14.09 - Empathy and emotional intelligence 21.19 - Body image, fitness and privilege 37.32 - Male role models, safe spaces and evolution 01.02.14 - Fitness and stereotypes 01.08.42 - Trolling and trauma 01.15.40 - Practical health and well-being About Artur Zolkiewicz Personal trainer Artur Zolkiewicz has over two decades of experience working with organisations and private individuals to help them improve fitness and well-being.

Few disciplines in dentistry divide clinicians like endodontics, but Asad Rahman knew it was his calling by year three of dental school.   In this week’s episode, Asad talks about falling in love with endodontics, the road to expertise and becoming qualified to the hilt as an antidote to imposter syndrome.   Asad also chats about his role with the Portman group, in which he straddles the corporate and clinical worlds, and his journey to mastering the business aspects of the profession by squeezing study for an MBA into a punishing work schedule.   Enjoy!  In This Episode 02.06 - Backstory, determination and mindset 09.28 - Race 11.12 - First job 16.40 - Advice to young dentists 24.11 - Choosing and training for endodontics 33.35 - Anaesthesia and sedation 36.01 - Latest developments 38.27 - Hero-dontics 41.02 - Pricing strategies 45.08 - Corporate and clinical leadership 01.00.09 - Psychometric testing 01.03.26 - Family life 01.09.56 - Black box thinking 01.27.53 - Portman 01.40.29 - Reflections on dad 01.43.52 - Fantasy dinner party 01.46.53 - Last days and legacy About Asad Rahman  Dr Asad Rahman graduated from the University of Leeds in 2015 and has devoted himself to postgraduate study alongside clinical practice in endodontics.     He has undertaken MJDF and MFDS qualifications to gain membership in the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He has also completed a year-long Post Graduate Certificate in clinical conscious sedation at the University of Bristol.    In 2020, Asad graduated from the University of Birmingham with a two-year postgraduate diploma in restorative dentistry.   He is currently studying for master’s degrees in endodontics and business administration.  

Known to friends and colleagues as The FMR Guy, Dr Devang Patel is considered an authority on the science of full mouth rehabilitation, whose courses and lectures have helped hundreds of clinicians get to grips with complex treatment.   In this week’s episode, Devang chats with Prav about how it all started, recalling his unorthodox entry into dental school in India and a reluctant move to the UK.   He gives his thoughts on what it takes to rise to the to provide full-mouth rehabilitation, gives advice for those just getting started, and reveals why even the fantasy kind of dinner party is an engagement he would rather avoid.   Enjoy!  In This Episode 01.55 - Implementation and execution 04.37 - Backstory 17.13 - University 28.26 - London and first work 37.06 - Holidays, time off  41.16 - Motivation, MSc and marriage 50.25 - Teaching, practice ownership and career development 59.39 - Delivering FMR and training 01.12.12 - Last days and legacy 01.20.37 - Fantasy dinner party About Devang Patel Dev graduated in 2004 and completed a one-year full-time MSc at Eastman Dental Institute, where he was awarded a distinction and the postgraduate prize for clinical and academic excellence.   He is an honorary senior clinical teaching fellow at UCL Eastman Dental Institute and has served as a deputy examiner for the GDC’s Overseas Registration exam.   Devang now provides training to fellow clinicians on full-mouth rehabilitation.

Payman goes live this week from the busy launch event of Mahrukh Khwaja’s new book, Resilience and Well-being for Dental Professionals.   He was lucky enough to catch Mahrukh for a whistlestop chat on the process of writing the book, the importance of factoring well-being into work and team culture, and it matters now more than ever.    In This Episode 01.42 - Writing and pitching 04.53 - The value of therapy 06.36 - Work culture and mental wellbeing 15.44 - Suicide rates in dentistry About Mahrukh Khwaja  Dr. Mahrukh Khwaja is a dentist, positive psychologist and mindfulness teacher. She founded Mind Ninja—a wellness startup dedicated to improving mental health and resilience among dental professionals.    Her book Resilience and Well-being for Dental Professionals is published by Wiley Blackwell and available from major book retailers.