Developing a more sustainable practice Practice Management
Suken Shah talks about practising in a way that is green.
S
mart Dental Care opened its first practice in 2007, and today, the group has 45 practices located in North West England and Ireland. We provide a broad range of private and NHS treatments from general dentistry through to smile makeovers, implants and cosmetic treatments. We also deliver specialist contracts on behalf of the NHS, including minor oral surgery, orthodontics, emergency dental care and treating people in secure settings across the northwest. We are a growing organisation employing around 170 dentists and 350 clinical and non-clinical staff across the group. Our aim is to continue to Suken Shah is the MD of Smart Dental Care. 36 The Dentist June 2023
grow and to continue to offer NHS dentistry as part of our mix. Recently, we have started to move towards a cooperative model that allows our dentists to become stakeholders in their own practice, so they can run it as if it is their own. Our head office supports their operation in terms of funding and organisational support, but principals are left to serve their local community in ways, they know are best for their patients and the services they require. Environmental impact As a group, we are very mindful of our impact on the environment and have been looking to implement practical ways to adopt a greener business approach and to reduce our carbon footprint. This is not an easy task, because we have thousands of patients
coming in to see us every week, so it’s a delicate balance to implement greener practices in a way that will help us practise in more sustainable ways. The digital route We are in the process of introducing digital dentistry across our practices including intraoral scanners, CBCT and digital X-rays to offer a wider range of services that patients are now looking for while future-proofing our business. Intraoral scanning allows the digital results to be sent directly to the lab without having to make and send casts and moulds using alginates, that also have to be disposed of eventually. The use of digital X-rays means, we can dispense with toxic chemicals and solvents used in traditional X-rays and the images can be immediately