Dental Leaders Podcast

In this week’s extended episode, Prav sits down to chat with one of the profession’s larger than life characters, Amit Patel.   In a wide-ranging conversation recorded shortly before the Association of Dental Implantology (ADI) Team Congress in Manchester, ADI president Amit reveals how and why a specialist periodontist now leads the association.   Amit also chats about real-life Vs online networking, imposter syndrome and why skydiving is now his preferred method of relaxation.   Enjoy!     In This Episode 01.22 - Sartorial style 03.37 - Backstory 08.16 - Social media and real-life networking 19.28 - Confidence and imposter syndrome 31.17 - Political correctness 35.21 - School life and deciding on dentistry 45.32 - Dental school 56.52 - Specialism and practice ownership 59.41 - Connecting with experts 01.03.30 - Practice ownership and mindset 01.16.01 - Blackbox thinking 01.21.57 - Treatment longevity 01.36.17 - The Association of Dental Implantology 01.50.29 - Skydiving 02.00.40 - Last days and legacy 02.03.08 - Fantasy dinner party About Amit Patel Dr Amit Patel is the president of the Association for Dental Implantology. He graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1997 and gained membership of the Royal Faculty of Dental Surgeons in 2000.   He went on gain a master's in periodontology and clinical dentistry at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Dental Institute.   He is a specialist in periodontics and an honorary clinical lecturer at the University of Birmingham Dental School.   Amit is an ambassador for the Clean Implant Foundation, which aims to establish a science-based quality benchmark for implants.   In 2018, he was voted one of dentistry’s 50 most influential figures.

Niall Hutchinson’s red wine social media posts are designed to provoke discussion on some of dentistry’s thorniest topics.   So get ready for a robust and full-bodied discussion as Payman chats with one of dentistry’s most outspoken and engaging characters.   Niall and Payman take crack open a red to take on everything from the saturated dental courses market to NHS dentistry, the role of corporates, and much more.   Cheers! In This Episode 01.44 - Red wine 07.31 - CPD and profitability 26.28 - NHS - the second coming? 36.23 - Skills Vs soft skills 39.42 - Going private 44.13 - Price increases 47.28 - Corporates - a force for good? 57.50 - A little backstory 01.03.58 - Staying engaged 01.07.51 - Specialism Vs generalism 01.11.38 - Invisalign 01.15.47 - Business secrets 01.24.29 - Choosing associates 01.28.29 - The labour market 01.30.24 - Black box thinking 01.40.55 - Best and worst days 01.45.15 - Fantasy dinner party 01.48.13 - Last days and legacy  About Niall Hutchinson Dr Niall Hutchinson qualified from Queen’s University Belfast in 1987 and spent four years as an associate in Northern Ireland before moving to the UK.   He is the owner and clinical director of Cherry Tree Dental Care, near Wantage, Oxford

Fresh from the opening of her brand new squat practice, Martina Hodgson chats with Prav and Payman about the rationale behind opening a squat after years of successful ownership with Wakefield’s The Dental Studio.   Martina also talks about her insatiable drive and ambition, being an Invisalign Diamond provider and why she teamed up with Andrea Ubhi to start the Inspiring Women in Dentistry event. In This Episode 02.04 - Backstory 05.42 - The squat and practice ownership 13.03 - Leadership style 18.27 - Hiring and firing 23.53 - Practice structure and patient journey 37.37 - Invisalign Vs? 47.45 - A controversial offer 52.06 - The Dental Architect 59.10 - Sinking moments and project management 01.04.39 - Creative 01.06.56 - Black box thinking 01.11.02 - Mistakes and weaknesses 01.12.54 - Women and motherhood in dentistry 01.19.08 - Plans, confidence and inspiration 01.23.55 - Finally, a black box thought 01.28.37 - Last days and legacy 01.32.00 - Fantasy dinner party About Martina Hodgson Dr Martina Hodgson owns Wakefield-based The Dental Studio and The Dental Architect in Leeds.      She is a Diamond Invisalign provider, a speaker for Invisalign and Aligner Consulting and a key opinion leader for Dental Monitoring.   Martina was listed in Dentistry’s Top 50, 2021. She sits on the editorial advisory board of the  Private Dentistry Journal Editorial and is a prolific contributor to the general and dental press.   Martina is the co-founder of Inspiring Women in Dentistry organisation with Andrea Ubhi. 

Things have come a long way for Kailesh Solanki since he last joined his brother Prav for a chat on the podcast and talked about winding down his clinical hours to focus on business.    So how are things going?   Kailesh has been busy since his last podcast appearance, finalising an exit deal for his Manchester-based Kiss clinics that will see him staying on with the brand to open and develop ten new practices.   Kailesh talks about his ambitions for Kiss, discusses the challenges of exit and reveals big aspirations for the next ten years.   Enjoy!  In This Episode 01.15 - Catching up 04.26 - The exit 09.54 - The Ten Clinic plan and the partnership model 14.00 - Loss and control 20.29 - Changing challenges 24.24 - Ideal partners 33.07 - Purpose 35.44 - The next ten years 39.01 - Structure 47.38 - Existing practices Vs squats 52.23 - Patient offer and processes 59.19 - Maintaining the vision About Kailesh Solanki Kailesh Solanki graduated from Manchester University in 2003 and went on to gain implantology qualifications.   In 2005, Kailesh purchased a practice in central Manchester, which he rebranded under the KissDental moniker and quickly expanded the clinic to a group of three.   

In 2017, Hannah Burrows and Jay Shah set out to solve a problem that takes up hours of dentists’ time and designed a platform to automate clinical note-taking.   Some five years on and Kiroku is going from strength to strength. Jay and Hannah chat to Payman about the challenges of starting out and their vision for Kiroku’s for the future.   Enjoy!  In This Episode 01.20 - Kiroku 07.20 - Meeting and incubation 11.56 - Early days and getting feedback 17.07 - Dentistry Vs changing the world 20.42 - Influence and impact 22.42 - Day to day running 25.44 - Motivation 28.36 - The mom test 33.14 - Scale, pricing 40.12 - Future vision 43.17 - Blackbox thinking 47.18 - Weaknesses 53.13 - Mistakes 55.06 - Investors 56.55 - User stories 58.14 - Backstory 01.03.21 - Exit dreams 01.04.56 - Last days and legacy 01.07.43 - Fantasy dinner party About Hannah Burrow and Jay Shah Dentist Hannah Burrow and machine learning engineer Jay Shah are founders of Kiroku automated note-keeping platform.   

This week’s guest is the closest thing in dentistry to a media mogul. Ken Finlayson launched his first dental magazine in 1995, which quickly expanded to more than 20 digital and print titles under the FMC umbrella.   Ken chats to Payman about how it all started, discusses the challenges of hosting and judging awards, Dentistry’s Top 50 List and much more.   Enjoy!    In This Episode 01.39 - Starting in publishing 04.00 - Backstory 08.36 - Dentistry Magazine 14.44 - Ruffling feathers 17.38 - Independent Dentistry 22.14 - Education and events 28.21 - Risk, ops and ideas 32.39 - Copy and processes 34.50 - Teambuilding and culture 39.28 - Buying and selling the company 46.25 - Awards 56.37 - The top 50 list 01.03.39 - Blackbox thinking, strengths and weaknesses 01.05.28 - The future of dentistry 01.11.40 - Remembering Kimberley 01.14.19 - Fantasy dinner party 01.15.38 - Last days and legacy About Ken Finlayson Ken Finlayson is the CEO of FMC, which publishes more than 20 dentistry related digital and print titles.

Adam Naughton is one of the thousands of dental students whose academic life was rudely interrupted by the COVID pandemic.   In his fourth year of study, he’s yet to get hands-on with impressions, crowns, root canal and other treatments.   But that hasn’t stopped Andrew from putting his name out there and finding his niche on social media early on. His Positive Smile Club Instagram channel pitches five questions on dentistry, mindset and self-development to both new and established names in the profession.   Adam chats about dental school, his Instagram channel and hopes for the future, and reveals his own answers to Positive Smile Club’s five questions.   Enjoy!         In This Episode 02.38 - Being a dental student 07.14 - COVID 10.19 - Backstory 14.29 - Instagram 16.03 - Why dentistry 19.22 - Content creation 25.25 - Mindset and self-development 27.27 - Five questions 38.11 - Soft skills 42.28 - Black box thinking 46.44 - Dental school 55.01 - Positive Smile Club 01.00.57 - Inspiration and specialisation 01.08.46 - Last days and legacy 01.11.45 - Fantasy dinner party 01.14.17 - TikTok About Andrew Naughton Andrew Naughton is a fourth-year dental student at the University of Leeds’ School of Dentistry.  He runs the Positive Smile Club Instagram channel.

We have the unpleasant smell of the farmyard to thank that Martin Wanendeya didn’t follow his early dream of becoming a vet.   But the animals’ loss is dentistry’s gain: Since graduating from Bristol in 1995, Martin’s gone on to found one of the most recognised brands in dentistry and build a name as one of the most skilled implantologists in practice today.   This week, Martin chats to Payman and Prav about his early days in Uganda, the shift in mindset it takes to become a leader in the field and how he came to set up the legendary Ten Dental with business partner Nikhil Sisodia.   Enjoy!    “Of course, there was fear…But sometimes if you have good fear, it's going to make you work harder, plan better, prepare more, do all that stuff so that at the time you open, you've done everything you can. And hopefully, it will then be a success.”   Martin Wanendeya In This Episode 01.38 - Backstory 16.16 - The dentistry decision 19.15 - Dental school 24.34 - Boarding school 28.01 - Early work, mentors and first implants 31.37 - Into private practice 34.14 - Meeting Nikhil Sisodia 37.00 - Shopfronts and squats 39.14 - Marketing 42.10 - Ownership and mindset shifts 52.22 - Partnerships 01.00.56 - Practice expansion 01.05.12 - Super associates 01.09.16 - Mastering implants 01.11.45 - On race 01.16.00 - Black box thinking 01.25.09 - Reputation and exclusivity 01.31.41 - What it takes to reach the top 01.37.01 - Referrals and relationships 01.41.06 - Last days and legacy 01.43.54 - Fantasy dinner party About Martin Wanendeya Martin graduated from Bristol University in 1995. He completed the Royal College of Surgeons’ diploma in implant dentistry at advanced level and was later invited to become a tutor at the college.   He is a member of the Association of Dental Implantology, the International Team in Implantology, the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and the British Dental Association.   He is the co-founder of London’s award-winning Ten Dental + Facial clinic and is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading implantologists.

Last time we spoke with Dev Patel in February 2021, he let us in on big ambitions to change UK dentistry through M&As and modernising old practices with the growing Beauty Partners group.    So how’s it going?   In this week’s episode, Dev reveals what he’s been up to since his last chat with Payman. He talks about Beauty Partners’ first big M&A venture north of the capital, talks about the challenges of scaling for practices and corporates and tells payman what keeps him up at night.   Enjoy!       “I want to change the whole model of corporate in the UK to make it dentist-led, patient-led and focus on getting stuff done like an entrepreneur.”   Dev Patel In This Episode 02.00 - Catching up 05.55 - The Kiss plan 07.54 - The funding model 10.07 - Unexpected challenges 17.44 - Culture, pay and scale 28.24 - Expanding the team 32.48 - Timescales, focus and frustrations 39.20 - Money Vs missions 43.03 - Growing grey hairs and recruiting from outside dental 49.03 - Internal, external marketing and targets 53.23 - What makes a successful partner practice? 58.18 - Buying blind and rebranding 01.05.06 - Mistakes, weaknesses and things that go bump in the night  01.13.15 - Thoughts on the future 01.16.51 - Fantasy dinner party About Dev Patel Dev Patel is the CEO and founder of Beauty Partners, now one of the UK’s fastest-growing dental groups.   He also founded the Brushlink smart toothbrush tech company and Dental Circle networking platform.   He was named 38th on a list of the UK’s most influential dentists. Dev lectures and mentors with the NHS’ Clinical Entrepreneur scheme and is also a member of the editorial board for Young Dentist magazine.

You wouldn’t know from chatting with Zain Rizvi that he used to be an average kid.    While studying at King’s, Zain took top awards, was invited to advise government policymakers and started a side hustle giving dental hopefuls a taster of life in the profession.   And he also found time to write and publish a book on what it takes to succeed at dental school.   In this episode, Zain reflects on his achievements so far and reveals what’s next for one of dentistry’s brightest young things.      “I want to be the best dentist in the world. I know it sounds ridiculous, but clinically, I want to be excellent and in that one per cent of dentists. That's where my passion and my ambition is at the moment”.   Zain Rizvi In This Episode 02.17 - Backstory 07.04 - University 11.46 - Politics 17.30 - Into dentistry and social media 23.03 - Downsides 26.33 - BACD 32.50 - Know the Drill: How to Succeed at Dental School 39.15 - Number 10 45.52 - Dental politics and impact 49.52 - Entrepreneurialism and future plans 59.53 - Blackbox thinking 01.08.39 - Last days and legacy 01.11.44 - On Islam 01.19.52 - Fantasy dinner party About Zain Rizvi Zain graduated from King’s College London, where he was named Dental Student of the Year and earned the Rising Star scholarship from the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.   Zain now practices at Greenwich-based Merivale Dental Practice. His book Know the Drill — How to Succeed at Dental School is available on Amazon.   Outside of dentistry, Zain is a keen cricketer and footballer with an interest in politics and current affairs.