The Business of Dentistry Podcast

Edd  Jones explains why paying attention to the financial performance of a dental practice is fundamental in planning for future success and how it enables practice owners to maximise profitability and the value of their business.

What you’ll hear:

• The importance of taking ownership of the financial performance of your practice
• What the key areas that go into this ethos are
• Who should take ownership of these processes.

Who should listen:

• Practice owners
• Principals
• Dental practice managers.

Eddie Crouch talks to Nigel Jones about the future of dentistry in light of the number of young dentists who are moving away from the traditional ‘full time’ career in dentistry, Often choosing to work part-time or explore multiple careers instead.

What you’ll hear:

• Why young dentists are choosing to mix careers or work in dentistry part-time
• The impact on the profession and the patients
• What a career in dentistry will look like in the future.

Who should listen:

• Young dentists
• Practice owners looking for associates or considering selling their practice
• Anyone with an interest in the future of the dental profession.

It seems that there is never a year in which we don’t observe change in the business of dentistry and 2019 has been no exception to this rule.

Chris Barrow shares with us his observations as he travels constantly both home and abroad and will highlight what he sees as the biggest changes to look out for in the next three years.

What you’ll hear:

• The changing pattern – independents and corporates – will there be room for all?
• The changing people – patients, team members and clinicians – who will they be?
• The changing products – what type of dentistry will patients want?

Who should listen:

• All practice owners and managers
• Anyone who is currently working within dentistry
• Anyone considering a career in dentistry.

Marcos White shares the ways in which investing in an intra oral scanner has transformed his business. He talks about the positive affect on his team and the difference it’s made to the patients. He also touches on how he thinks intra oral scanning will impact dentistry in the future.

What you’ll hear:

• The impact on the dental team and their skills
• How the consultation process, record keeping and how the way consent is gained has changed
• How it has improved the patient experience.

Who should listen:

• Practice owners who want to improve the way their practice runs
• Dentists considering using more digital technology
• Practice managers interested on the effect a scanner has on a practice.

Nigel Jones talks to Eddie Crouch about the rollout of the revised NHS England contract. They discuss the impact that Brexit may have on the planned timescales for rollout and what he thinks it will really mean for the profession.

What you’ll hear:

• The timescales of the rollout and what it might look like
• The effect of the current political climate
• The financial impact of the revised rollout on practices.

Who should listen:

• NHS dentists
• Owners of a mixed practice
• All dental professionals with an interest in the NHS contract.

Dentist Paul Worskett and Richard Holmes from Dental Partners discuss the general factors affecting the value of a practice and what impact being a prototype has from the perspective of a buyer and a seller.

What you’ll hear:

• What a potential purchaser looks for in a practice?
• Key factors that affect the overall value of a practice
• The impact being a prototype has on practice value.

Who should listen:

• Practice owners who might be considering selling their practice
• Practice owners who might be considering becoming a prototype practice
• Anyone considering buying a dental practice.

Paul Graham, head of Dental at Christie & Co shares details of their latest report with Nigel Jones. They discuss market composition, the UK dental workforce and operational benchmarking of practice costs. Paul also gives a clear understanding of the process and steps required to value a practice and the factors impacting goodwill values currently.

What you’ll hear:

• Christie & Co’s approach from beginning to end
• Overview of market activity/demand and the evolving landscape of practice ownership
• Planning for sale and the likely buyer profile (whole of market or a restricted approach)
• Challenges within the sector including Brexit and the UK dental workforce.

Who should listen:

• Sellers looking to retire, particularly those who own specialist private/referral practices
• First time buyers, experienced operators, corporates and investors in the dental market
• Industry intermediaries, accountants, solicitors and bankers connected to the industry.

Mark Oborn discusses the benefits to both your practice and your patients of having a well-managed social media presence. He also addresses the risks and shares his expert advice for mitigating these risks.

What you’ll hear:

• How social media benefits a practice
• How patients can benefit from their practice using social media
• An overview of potential risks of having social media pages and how to mitigate these risks.

Who should listen:

• Practice owners and managers with or without social media pages for their practice
• Anyone managing social media for in practice.

Employment and HR specialist, Sarah Buxton shares details of the latest changes to Employment Law. She discusses a range of themes including employment status, harassment in the workplace and GDPR in the context of how they impact dental practice teams.

What you’ll hear:

• An update on employment status
• Recent developments regarding harassment in the workplace
• An insight into data breach cases following the implementation of GDPR.

Who should listen:

• Practice owners and managers who employ associates
• Anyone who has HR responsibility
• Anyone who manages patient or team data.

Laura Weaver discusses the dangers of producing marketing material with ‘catch all’ message and shares her expert advice for creating targeted messages to achieve the best return on your marketing spend. 

What you’ll hear:

• The risks of generic marketing messages
• Where to begin when considering your marketing material
• Examples of a targeted campaign
• How to track how successful your marketing is

Who should listen:

• Team members responsible for marketing within the practice
• Practice managers who’d like to increase patient numbers or uptake of certain treatments
• Practice owners and managers who don’t currently do any marketing