DENTOLOGY - The Business of Dentistry

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?

Our guest this week on Dentology is Tom Chaston, co-founder of AllMedPro, experts in dental indemnity insurance. In this episode, Tom chats to Chris and Andy about his early career and how he started his own insurance brokerage alongside Adam, his business partner, at the age of 24.  He explains about the key challenges faced at the time when starting out in business, reflects on what he would do differently today and discusses some of the highs and lows faced to date. He goes on to talk about his current work leading AllMedPro, a well-known name within dentistry, the services offered to the profession, and the decision to take on a VC backer in 2021 and what this has since enabled the company to do.  Finally, Tom explains what the 3 core policies are that dentists should have as a minimum. Topics: - Tell us about your early career - What have you learnt from your involvement in sport that has helped you in business? - Starting your own insurance brokerage at 24 years old - What were the key challenges starting a business?  -  What would you do differently today? - What’s the toughest thing you’ve been through & what impact did it have on your life? - AllMedPro: what services are offered to the profession? - Taking on a VC backer in 2021 & what has this enabled you to do? - Are dentists good at keeping themselves well covered/protected? - Aside from PI, what are the 3 core policies dentists should have as a minimum?

In this week’s episode of Dentology, Chris and Andy chat to Michael Alatsaris. Michael is a dentist and founder of Ergoprox, the world’s first toothbrush designed for teeth next to dentures and large gaps. In this episode, Michael chats about his early career, what drove him to study dentistry and his time spent as a dental practice owner running a private practice for some 9 years before he decided to sell up. At this point, Michael’s career ‘took off’ in a completely different direction as he became a pilot and from there, he also took time to focus on his passion for product design which resulted in the development of the Ergoprox Toothbrush. Michael talks about Ergoprox, the approach he took to bringing a new product to the market and how the business has grown to date with the toothbrush now generally available in dental practices across the UK.   Topics: -  Tell us about your early career -  What drove you to study dentistry -   Did dental school equip you well for being a dentist? -   Being a practice owner -   Why did you decide to sell your practice? -   Being an airline pilot -   Foscusing on product design -  The launch of Ergoprox -  What is the Ergoprox Toothbrush and what problem does it solve? -  How big is education when designing innovative products like this? - Is the toothbrush now a generally available product in the UK? - Would you change anything about your career to date?

In this week’s episode of Dentology, Chris and Andy chat to Fiona Dwyer, journalist and former television reporter and planning producer with over 30 years of experience in the media. In this episode Fiona talks about her childhood and career to date and shares some of the experiences she’s had working in the media industry for the past 30+ years. She talks about how her career started, reflects on how the industry has changed over the years and talks about some of the famous stars she has had the opportunity to meet and interview.  She also shares some top tips on what makes a good news story! Finally, she talks about her work within the dental sector, how PR is important for dental practices and how she has been working on The Magic Dentist campaign. Topics: -  Tell us about your early career -  How did your media career start and what was it like back in those days? -  Who have you interviewed? What were they like? -  Are there general principles from being good journalist that we can all build into our lives? -  Does this require a certain personality type to do this? -  Is it a world of smoke and mirrors to get into the press of are there some top tips for doing this yourself? -  What is newsworthy? -  Is PR for dental practices more important than ever with Google reviews being focused on and the new CQC single assessment framework being very patient-focused? -  Working on The Magic Dentist campaign - If you can take only one learning from your entrepreneurial journey- what is it?

Rachel Derby, President Elect of BAPD, discusses her shift to private dentistry in 2017, ambition to be a practice owner, highs and lows of practice ownership, and plans for her presidency. Topics include early years, NHS experience, first-time buyer challenges, and equipping for non-clinical aspects of business.

In this latest episode of Dentology, Andy and Chris chat to Sonayna Chandran. Sonayna is a dentist and lifestyle/body coach. In this episode she talks about her childhood, her decision to study dentistry, the time spent at dental school and how she was determined to qualify. Sonayna chats about her early days working as a qualified dentist and how the Covid pandemic provided her with an opportunity to reset and refocus on her own personal development – the key to which has been reaching out and gaining support. She goes on to share insights on some of the support she received and explains how she now works one clinical day and uses the rest of the time to focus on her online health/lifestyle business. Finally, she shares several time management strategies, each contributing to her own ability to balance her clinical responsibilities, business, home renovation project and impending motherhood.   Topics: -     Was dentistry always in the stars for you? -     Which dental school did you attend? -     Was dental school tough? -     Do you feel that developing a tenacity and resilience to qualify was a good thing? -     Do you remember your first (unsupervised) patient? -     What was your work pattern like pre-Covid? -     How did Covid provide you with an opportunity to reset? -     What sort of support did you get to help? -     What does your health and lifestyle look like for clients? -     Is this an area that the dental profession naturally lean into? -     Why are we so bad at prioritising our own wellbeing? -     Any time management tips?