DENTOLOGY - The Business of Dentistry

In this week’s episode of Dentology, Chris and Andy chat to Dr Alex and Tim Otto, co-founders of the Alcan Dental Cooperative offering practice support solutions for paediatric practices throughout Texas, USA. They discuss the landscape of dentistry in the United States and specifically in Texas, sharing insights about the beginnings of their careers. They also explore what it's like to be both business partners and spouses and the ground rules they have set for working together. They continue by explaining how Alcan assists owners of paediatric practices, detailing its origins as a resource for practices aiming to stay independent while ensuring a work-life balance for the owners. They also share their views on the importance of being entrepreneurial and business-minded to succeed in dentistry today. Topics: -  What’s your secret to getting the important stuff done and not burning out? - Talk us through what the USA dental scene looks like and what it’s like in Texas - Outline your career beginnings - What it’s like to be business partners and spouses - Do you have rules around when you turn off the business switch? - Alcan Dental Cooperative – what support does it offer? - Do you need to be more nimble, entrepreneurial and business-minded to succeed in dentistry today?

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In this week’s episode of Dentology, Chris and Andy chat to Julie Dale, dentist and Global Sales Manager at Boutique Whitening. Julie talks about her dental career and how a short spell of work experience prompted her to decide that dentistry was for her. She chats about her time working in the NHS for some 14 years after qualifying, shares some of the highs and lows from this time and talks us through the steps she went through before deciding that there were other career opportunities in dentistry aside from the clinical work. She talks about her short stint at Dental Monitoring and how from there, moved on to work at Boutique Whitening and is now looking after global sales for the company.  She shares her thoughts on whether whitening can be used as a practice/profit builder and talks about future plans for Boutique outside of the UK.   Topics: - Tell us about your early career days - How did work experience help you decide that dentistry was for you? - Where did you qualify from and was your dental school experience good? - Working in the NHS – what were some of the highs and lows? - What steps did you go through to decide on a career away from the clinical work? - Did Covid create the reflection time to consider a new path? - Working at Dental Monitoring - Taking on the role of global sales at Boutique Whitening - Can whitening be used as a practice/profit builder? - Are there any global plans for Boutique outside of the UK?

This week Andy and Chris are joined by Murray Welch, Sales and Marketing Director at Anglian Dental, surgery design and equipment suppliers. In this episode, Murray talks about the family business his grandfather started over 30 years ago and his decision to officially join the team back in 2012. He talks about the charity work he is involved with for the Rapid Relief Team and how this saw him support the fire crews on the fateful day of the Grenfell Tower Disaster. He reflects on how much dental engineering has changed over the past 15 years or so and how the company has evolved today to also offer build and design services alongside equipment supply and servicing. He talks about some of the projects his team have been involved with, explains more about some of the challenges they often face, especially during refurbishment projects or when working with clients to set up new squat practices, and shares his top tips for anyone thinking about taking this route for practice ownership. Topics: - Your charity work with the Rapid Relief Team -  Tell us about the family business -  Joining the business in 2012 -  Has dental engineering changed much over the past 15 years - What other services does Anglian now offer? - Why did you branch out into the building/design side of things? - Tell us about some of the projects you’ve worked on. -  What are the hidden problems when you take on projects? -  What are some of the pros and cons of looking after refurbishments and squats? - Any top tips for anyone considering a squat practice?

In this week’s episode of Dentology, Chris and Andy chat to Ahmad Nounu, principal of the Black Swan Dental Spa and Bristol Dental Suite. Ahmad chats about his early career days, the reasons why he decided to pursue a career in dentistry and buying his first dental practice back in 2011, just 3 years after qualifying!  He talks about how he has fully embraced digital technology in the practice, the influences that affected his decisions to adopt this approach and the impact it has had on efficiency. He goes on to talk about his decision to take over a failing corporate practice during the Covid lockdown period back in 2020 and what he has done differently to ensure that practice is now thriving. Finally, he chats about the private dental education programme, Private Dental Mentor, that he is a course director for which is designed to ensure associates have everything they need to quickly thrive in private practice.   Topics: - Your early career days and decision to follow a career in dentistry - Buying your first dental practice -  Was there a conscious plan to become a principal swiftly? -  How significant was your studying in the USA in developing your practice? - Did you have an approach to CPD that covered both business and clinical learning? - Describe your practice and the inspiration for it -  Your reasons for embracing digital technology in your practice - How has this impacted the efficiency of running a dental practice? - Why did you decide to take over a failing corporate practice? - What have you done differently to ensure the practice thrives? - The Private Dental Mentor Programme

Our guest on Dentology this week is Pav Khaira, dentist, and CEO of the Academy of Implant Excellence. In this episode, Pav talks about his time at dental school, his early career days and working as an associate.  He goes on to explain about the extensive training he has undertaken in prosthodontics and his focus on implants that has resulted in him being referred to as ‘The Titani-Nerd’, the Chat GPT of implants and the Wikipedia of Implantology! He explains what drew him towards this element of dentistry and shares his thoughts on how he thinks the world of implants has progressed. He goes on to talk about his current clinical work and his role as the CEO of the Academy of Implant Excellence.  He discusses the approach the UK has taken to implants and explains about some of the common hurdles that you come up against when focussing on implants and the methodology used to manage this. Topics: - Early career days - Were there other options beyond dentistry? - Your time at dental school - How did your dental career start? - Your training in prosthodontics and implants - What drew you in to this element of dentistry? - How far into the evolution of digital dentistry has the world of implants got so far? - The Academy of Implant Excellence: Why did this come about and who is it aimed at? - Has the UK adopted a different approach to implants? - Are there common hurdles that come up when focussing on implants? - Is there a proven methodology to managing this?

Dr Mahrukh Khwaja, founder and CEO of Mind Ninja, joins us again this week and chats to Chris and Andy about her recent work.  She talks about her book ‘Resilience and Well-Being for Dental Professionals’ and shares more about how she now spends her time working 2 clinical days a week alongside managing her many other projects. She explains more about her recent studies for a diploma in organisational psychology and gives an update on Mind Ninja, the well-being startup providing resilience and well-being training to dental professionals so they can thrive in any environment. Finally, she talks about the resilience programme she’s currently facilitating for NHS Health Education Midlands and her ‘Mission Mindful’ campaign.   Topics: - Your book ‘Resilience and Well-Being for Dental Professionals’ -  How do you split your time? -  Does working 2 clinical days per week help you stay empathetic to the needs of dentists who can find clinical work burdensome? -  Diploma in Organisational Psychology -  How is Mind Ninja going? -  Is there a shift towards the importance of building resilience? - Tell us about the Mission Mindful campaign - Do your toolkits easily transfer into other sectors?

In this week’s episode of Dentology, Chris and Andy chat to Gary Chapman, Director of Mergers & Acquisitions for the UK & Europe at Portman Dentex. Having started his career in dentistry over 40 years ago, Gary talks about his early career years, considers what the sector was like back in the 1980’s compared to now and reflects on how dentistry has changed during this time. He talks about the many different roles he’s been fortunate enough to work in from starting out as a lab technician and running a dental implant company, through to driving the Acquisition Programme at James Hull Associates, leading the growth of the Portman Group, and his more recent role working alongside CEO Sam Waley-Cohen to drive the mergers and acquisitions division at Portman Dentex that has seen the group acquire over 430+ private and specialist practices to date. Finally, Gary shares his thoughts on dentistry moving forward, considers whether the landscape for dental corporates is changing and lets us into a secret about his skills on the badminton court! To hear more from one of the leading authorities on the Corporate Private Dental Market, have a listen to this episode. Topics: - Tell us about your early years - Being in dentistry for over 40 years - What was dentistry like back in the 1980’s? - Tell us about your varied career and the many roles you’ve worked in - Has dentistry changed during your career? - Your early involvement in implants and running a dental implant company - Involvement in the James Hull Associates buyout - Driving the Acquisitions Programme and growth of the Portman Group - Working alongside CEO Sam Waley-Cohen - Is the landscape for dental corporates changing? - Has the competitive nature in sport helped you be so successful in business?

In this episode of the Dentology Podcast, hosts Andy and Chris delve into the realm of Business Fundamentals. They explore the essential factors crucial for business success, emphasising the importance of dental practice owners operating their practices with a business mindset. Throughout the discussion, Andy and Chris pose key questions that practice owners should ponder: · How is your business organised? · Have you assessed your practice's structure? · Is your team fully aware of the organisational structure? ·  Have all roles and responsibilities been clearly defined and understood? · Is every team member contributing to the advancement of the business? · Does your team know where to seek guidance? For invaluable insights into these critical business fundamentals and more, tune in to this episode to hear from Chris and Andy.   **This special episode of Dentology has been brought to you in partnership with Ultimate Dental Business – the ultimate dental business hub, offering top-tier business training for dentists.**

In this week’s episode of Dentology, Chris and Andy chat to Paul Abrahams, Owner of SmileMore Dental Care for over 30 years! Paul talks about his time spent studying dentistry at Guys, his early career days working as an associate and his bold decision to set up a squat dental practice in 1993.  He reflects on the challenges faced at the time and how shares his thoughts and opinions on how he feels the people in dentistry and the technology used have changed over the decades.  He also talks about well-being in the profession and also the business side of dentistry that is now considered a non-negotiable to running a successful practice. He goes on to chat about his decision to sell to Dentex, now part of the Portman Dentex Group, five years ago and explains about his new pattern of working now because of this.  Finally, he goes on to share a few top tips gained from his wealth of experience in dentistry and considers if there are any learnings from team sports to managing a dental team.  Topics: - Tell us about your early career & qualifying from Guys in 1989 - Setting up a squat practice in 1993 -  Owning SmileMore Dental Care for over 30 years -  What were the challenges faced back then? -  What are you thoughts on how the people in dentistry have changed over the decades? -  What about the change in technology? -  Well-being in the profession -  The business side of dentistry – is this a non-negotiable to running a successful practice? - The decision to sell to Dentex - Your new pattern of working -  What’s one thing you’ve figured out that most others probably haven’t from your wealth of experience in dentistry? - Any learning from team sports to managing a dental team?