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?

The wait is over….

Part 2 of our podcast recording with Miguel Stanley, Founder & Clinical Director at White Clinic, is now available.

Just reminder of some of the topics Miguel chatted to Chris and Andy about across the two episodes:

- His early years in dentistry

- The success of his career to date

- The importance of having a positive mindset

- Managing People and creating the right culture in the workplace

- Decision Making

- Life away from dentistry

Make sure you listen to them both!

We celebrate a milestone: our 100th episode!

To mark the occasion, our hosts Andy and Chris travelled to Portugal to meet with Miguel Stanley, Founder & Clinical Director at White Clinic.

They covered so many interesting topics during the conversation that we decided to keep it all and split it over two podcast episodes.

Topics covered across this episode and part 2 being released next week include:

- Miguel’s early years in dentistry

- The success of his career to date

- The importance of having a positive mindset

- Managing People and creating the right culture in the workplace

- Decision Making

- Life away from dentistry

This is a great episode, with an amazing guest.

It’s been a busy couple of years, so this week, we thought we’d look back over some of the previous episodes of Dentology.

And with some 99 episodes to choose from, we can’t recap all of them, so here’s a quick look back at some of our episode highlights.

Thanks to all our guests so far.

Enjoy!

This week’s guest is Hussein Shaffie, founder and principal dentist of The Sandford Implant and Cosmetic Centre and Bexleyheath Dental Practice.

In this episode, Hussein chats about his dental career and what sparked his interest in dentistry.

He reflects on life working as an associate and what prompted him to establish the two clinics. He also talks about how he has built the two practices into the thriving and efficient businesses they are today that now employ a team of 80 people with 21 rooms between them, and how he manages to efficiently split his time working as a dentist and working on the business!

Aside from his dental career, Hussein is also a keen foodie and tells us about the YouTube channel he set up about 2 years ago to showcase his amazing culinary skills!

Topics:

- Tell us about your childhood

- What sparked your interest in dentistry?

- How long did you work as an associate?

- Founding The Sandford and Bexleyheath Dental Clinics

- How do you manage the two clinics efficiently?

- How do you split your time between working as a dentist and working on the business?

- Being a foodie

- Tell us about your YouTube channel dedicated to showcasing your culinary skills

This week in the Dentology Podcast Andy and Chris discuss the best ways to find a buyer for your dental practice.

They discuss the various options available to you when selling your practice, the importance of ensuring confidentiality throughout the sales process, and the starting point for selling. They also discuss more about selling via the open market as opposed to only selling your practice to a select group.

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

Topics:

- Who would buy my dental practice?

- What buyers are out there?

- What options do I have for selling my dental practice?

- What’s the start point for selling?

- Confidentiality

- Open market vs preferred buyers

- Working with a dental sales agent?

This week’s guest is Tanay Kulkarni, a final year undergraduate dental student at King’s College, London, past President of King’s College London Dental Society and Partner at Bryant Dental, a group of innovative DenTech companies.

Despite only have just completed his finals, Tanay is already engrained within the dental community thanks to his amazing networking abilities and his forward-thinking approach.

In this episode, Tanay shares his recent experiences of dental school. He tells us more about some of the highs and lows of studying in London and shares his top tips on how to make the most of your time at dental school.

He also talks about being a partner at Bryant Dental, their new AI venture, Aura, and how this is going to shake up dentistry!

Topics:

- Why did you choose London for dental school?

- What drew you to dentistry?

- Your recent experience of dental school: highs & lows?

- What are your top tips to get the max overall experience?

- Would you change anything?

- Working with Bryant Dental

- Tell us about their AI venture – Aura?

- How will this shake up dentistry?

Saima Butt, Managing Director of On Hold Communications Ltd, joins us on the Dentology Podcast this week.

Saima talks to Chris and Andy about the early days building her career, her decision to enter the world of telecoms and why she decided to take the leap and set up her own marketing company, On Hold Communications.

She chats about the initial years running her own business, the ups and downs faced and what pushed her to focus on the dental sector as her niche.

Saima also chats about her family values and culture and let’s us into a secret about what she always carries in her handbag!

Have a listen to the episode to find out more!

Topics:

- Your early years

- Insights into how your family work

- Graduating and entering the world of telecoms

- Setting up your own marketing company: what was the push and the pull?

- What were the early years like in business?

- Why did you choose dentistry as your niche?

- More about On Hold Communications Ltd

- Your family values & culture

- What do you always carry in your handbag?

Shiraz Khan, award winning dentist, joins us again this week and talks to Chris and Andy about his passion for motorsport.

In this episode, Shiraz tells us more about driving in the Porsche Club series from how he started through to where he is now.

He talks about the lessons he’s learnt over the years in dentistry that he’s successfully able to apply in motorsport and reflects on the transferable skills between the two.

He also tells us about how success is measured in the field of motorsport, aside from just being on the podium at the end of a race and explains how working in a team environment in a dental setting has helped with his approach to driving.

This is a great episode so take a listen now!

Topics:

- Tell us about driving in the Porsche Club series

- Lessons from dedication and commitment in excellence in dentistry that apply in dentistry

- Any transferable skills?

- How do you measure success in motorsport?

- Has working in a team environment in a dental setting helped with your approach to driving?

- Has your driving experience added to your ability as a dentist?

- What’s your relationship like with failure?

- Would you recommend others to have a release away from dentistry?

This week in the Dentology Podcast Andy and Chris discuss EBITDA and Reconstituted Net Profit

They go back to basics and explain what both these terms mean, how they are different and discuss why they are important in the world of dentistry.

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

Topics:

- What is EBITDA?

- What does it mean?

- Why is it important for dental practice owners?

- What is Reconstituted Net Profit?

- What is it and how does it differ?

Shaz Memon, founder of the Wells on Wheels charity, joins us again this week and gives us an update on the water wheel charity project that was started in June 2019.

In this episode, Shaz tells us more about some of the communities whose lives have been forever changed for the better because of water wheels and the ongoing work/aims for the charity.

He also shares a few details about his upcoming documentary ‘No Water Land’, the reasons behind the project, and how he made it all happen.

Topics:

- The Wells on Wheels charity

- What did you set out to achieve?

- Are there some stories of how lives have been impacted/changed?

- Upcoming documentary ‘No Water Land’

- How did it come about and what were the challenges?

Derek Uittenbroek joins us this week as our guest.

Derek is the founder and CEO of Ignite Growth, leading healthcare marketing agency that specialises in helping business attract patients for high value treatments.

In this episode Derek chats about his childhood and looks back about his time studying at King’s College London. He also reflects on his career journey from working in banking for a short period before moving on to work with the dental profession and eventually starting Ignite Growth back in 2017.

He shares more about the team at Ignite, how they work with dental practice owners to attract patients, nurture new opportunities and grow their business and shares his thoughts on future.

Topics:

- Early career

- Working with the dental profession

- The Ignite Growth business: how did it start?

- How does Ignite help dental practice owners grow their business?

- Have you seen a shift in patient buying requirements since 2017?

- What messages do patients respond well to?

- Is the clear aligner bubble like to burst, deflate or continue to be a great practice builder?

- Are practices good at nurturing new opportunities?