Dental Leaders Podcast

What happens when you turn the microphone on the man who's spent years behind it? In this episode of the NAIL-IT podcast, Rana and Bav get Payman Langroudi — host of Dental Leaders and Clinical Director at Enlighten — firmly in the hot seat. It's a wide-ranging, refreshingly candid conversation that moves from the origins of Enlighten and the relentless pursuit of world-class quality to the very real mental health pressures that underpin life in dentistry. Payman reflects on leaning into his strengths, trusting his instincts, and why, after 320 episodes, the Dental Leaders podcast has become the thing he's most proud of. Find Rana on Instagram at @drranaalfalaki, and on Facebook and LinkedIn as Dr Rana Al-Falaki. Follow Bav on Instagram at @drbav83. You can also follow the NAIL-IT podcast at @nailit_podcast.In This Episode00:01:05 — Introductions and the Dental Leaders origin story00:02:10 — Why Payman started a podcast — and what it's become00:05:20 — Leaning into strengths, owning your quirks00:07:00 — Starting Enlighten at 28 and the philosophy of doing one thing brilliantly00:10:25 — The sacrifices behind world-class quality00:14:10 — Being number two — and the decision to become the best00:16:15 — Favourite quote: Oscar Wilde and the art of being yourself00:20:25 — Identity, self-awareness and shedding the layers00:21:50 — Dentistry as a kingdom — and why practices are anything but the same00:23:10 — Mental health in dentistry: burnout, suicide and the stress bucket00:27:40 — The emotional drain of being "on show" all day00:30:20 — Kids, careers and the realities of dentistry as a profession00:35:40 — Knowing yourself before you can lead others00:36:10 — Intuition as a leadership skill — and how to train itAbout Dr Rana Al-Falaki and Dr Bhavin PatelDr Rana Al-Falaki is a periodontist and internationally recognised pioneer in the use of lasers in periodontal treatment, having presented her research to audiences from the British Society of Periodontology to the American Academy and European Federation. After pushing herself to the point of chronic illness in pursuit of excellence, she channelled that experience into developing the NAIL-IT programme — a performance and leadership system built around optimising energy and helping dental professionals truly thrive. Dr Bhavin Patel is a dentist and educator who ran a practice on Wimpole Street for nearly eight years before stepping back to prioritise family life. Together, they host the NAIL-IT podcast — a show dedicated to helping dental professionals live fully, lead better, and laugh more.

Payman chats with Daniel Jones, the Cambridge-educated entrepreneur who's bringing analytical rigour to dental practice management. Daniel shares the dramatic health journey that redirected his path from investment banking into healthcare innovation, revealing how a near-miss diagnosis of a life-threatening heart condition shaped his mission. The conversation explores the technical challenges of building software that actually talks to the chaotic ecosystem of dental systems, from practice management platforms to lab invoices trapped in PDFs. You'll hear about the realities of fundraising, the loneliness of startup life, and why Daniel thinks the best entrepreneurs operate with surprisingly simple rules—even when solving complex problems.`In This Episode00:01:05 - What Medfin does00:03:05 - Associate performance metrics00:04:00 - Connecting disparate systems00:04:50 - Single practice viability00:05:40 - Why dentistry?00:06:10 - The blood pressure discovery00:08:20 - Coarctation diagnosis00:09:05 - Healthcare system chaos00:10:40 - Economics at Cambridge00:12:25 - Investment banking to startups00:15:50 - First startup lessons00:18:55 - Finding the dental opportunity00:22:40 - Building the founding team00:25:15 - Technical architecture challenges00:29:30 - Onboarding process evolution00:33:10 - Product development philosophy00:36:45 - Pricing strategy and models00:40:20 - Fundraising journey00:44:35 - Investor relationships00:48:50 - Multi-practice versus single site00:52:15 - NHS versus private analytics00:56:30 - Clinical efficiency debates01:00:45 - Competition and market positioning01:04:20 - AI integration plans01:08:35 - Team building challenges01:12:50 - Work-life balance realities01:16:15 - Fantasy dinner party01:18:40 - Last days and legacyAbout Daniel JonesDaniel Jones is the founder and CEO of Medfin, an analytics platform that helps dental practices and groups optimise their operational and financial performance. A Cambridge economics graduate who moved from investment banking into the startup world, Daniel has built software that connects the fragmented ecosystem of dental practice systems—from practice management platforms to accounting software—giving practice owners the insights they need to improve profitability.

Payman chats with Amber Aplin, who's carved out something genuinely different in the Scottish Borders. From military dentist to biomimetic practice owner, Amber's journey takes in Germany, Iraq, private equity, and ultimately building a practice that puts prevention and patient education at its core. She talks candidly about the realities of military life, the loneliness of early practice ownership, and why she now trains therapists and other dentists in minimally invasive techniques. There's also a refreshing honesty about perfectionism, work-life balance, and what happens when you stop chasing the next big thing and start appreciating what's already there.In This Episode00:00:40 - Military beginnings 00:02:05 - Sandhurst training 00:03:55 - Germany posting 00:06:50 - Iraq deployment 00:09:25 - Leaving the forces 00:10:45 - Moving to Scotland 00:12:30 - Early practice ownership struggles 00:15:20 - Private equity involvement 00:19:10 - Buying the practice back 00:22:15 - Building a biomimetic practice 00:26:40 - Therapist-led model 00:31:20 - Teaching and courses 00:36:45 - Microscope dentistry 00:42:10 - Direct bonding techniques 00:48:25 - Patient communication 00:53:30 - Practice culture 00:58:15 - Work-life balance challenges 01:04:20 - Pascal Magne influence 01:09:40 - Preventive dentistry philosophy 01:15:50 - Social media approach 01:21:35 - Business versus clinical focus 01:26:45 - Blackbox thinking 01:28:50 - Fantasy dinner party 01:30:15 - Last days and legacyAbout Amber AplinAmber Aplin is a biomimetic dentist and practice owner in the Scottish Borders who served six years as a military dentist, including deployments to Germany and Iraq. She now runs a prevention-focused practice where therapists deliver the majority of patient care, and teaches minimally invasive dentistry techniques to other practitioners.

This week Payman chats with Payvand Menhadji, a newly qualified specialist periodontist who's navigating the delicate balance between clinical excellence and impending motherhood. At 30 weeks pregnant, Payvand reflects on her journey from general dentist to specialist—driven by a competitive streak and a love for surgical challenge that emerged during her VT year. The conversation weaves through everything from the realities of private practice economics to why she'd rather perfect her surgical skills than chase Instagram fame, touching on mentorship, imposter syndrome, and the art of staying humble when success comes knocking.In This Episode00:01:00 - Finishing specialist training whilst pregnant00:04:20 - Why four days feels necessary00:05:10 - The moment surgery clicked00:07:10 - Competitive from birth00:08:20 - Hospital jobs and surgical confidence00:11:45 - Decision to specialise00:14:50 - Choosing between ortho and perio00:18:30 - Training structure and challenges00:22:15 - Learning from the best00:26:40 - Private practice reality00:30:20 - What patients actually pay00:34:45 - Imposter syndrome00:38:20 - Building a reputation00:42:15 - Surgical complications00:46:30 - Blackbox thinking00:51:45 - Treatment planning philosophy00:56:20 - Working with implantologists01:00:15 - Referral relationships01:04:30 - Social media approach01:08:45 - Learning from Instagram01:13:35 - Fantasy dinner party01:15:20 - Last days and legacyAbout Payvand MenhadjiPayvand Menhadji is a specialist periodontist who completed her training in September 2024. She works across multiple specialist practices focusing on periodontal surgery and implantology, having developed her surgical interest during VT under the mentorship of implantologist Victor Keyhani.

In this solo episode, Prav Solanki shares a no-nonsense reflection on business, health, family and personal discipline as he looks ahead to 2026. After a turbulent end to the year involving a family health scare, he talks through the non-negotiables shaping his daily life, from strength and cardio to carving out space for strategy. But the real centrepiece is business — specifically his Start, Scale, Exit model, which underpins everything he’s building this year. Whether you’re a founder in the trenches or a parent trying to balance your time, there’s something here that hits home.In This Episode00:01:00 – Health before everything00:10:45 – Family illness and perspective00:20:30 – Training with discipline00:30:50 – Vegetarianism and protein00:41:10 – Bloodwork and optimisation00:51:40 – Start, Scale, Exit explained01:01:30 – Scaling with team structure01:12:00 – Coaching, clarity and freedom01:22:15 – Tactical planning for 202601:32:00 – Work-life integration mindsetAbout Prav SolankiPrav Solanki is a health-obsessed entrepreneur, performance coach and co-host of Dental Leaders. With multiple successful businesses under his belt, he’s now focused on helping others implement his Start, Scale, Exit model — a framework built on clarity, simplicity, and ruthless prioritisation.

The tables turn this week as Payman hangs out with Laura and Leanna on The Horton Hangout. What starts as a chat about the challenges of being interviewed rather than interviewing quickly evolves into something deeper—an honest exploration of ambition, sacrifice, and what it means to build something meaningful whilst trying to hold onto the people you love. From managing business partnerships and navigating the tension between legacy and presence, to the surprisingly simple power of just showing up, this conversation touches on the parts of success no one really talks about until they're living through it.In This Episode00:01:25 - Hosting versus guesting00:02:55 - How Laura and Leanna met00:06:40 - Having it all as ambitious women00:10:50 - Balancing work travel with family life00:14:30 - Partnership dynamics and business relationships00:19:45 - The Enlighten story and business evolution00:28:15 - Marketing philosophy and brand building00:35:20 - Working with your best mate00:41:10 - The reality of business partnerships00:47:25 - Managing conflict and difficult conversations00:52:40 - Learning to say no and setting boundaries00:58:15 - Legacy versus being present01:03:30 - Parenting and guilt01:09:45 - The immigrant work ethic01:16:20 - Competition in dentistry01:21:35 - Advice for younger dentists01:25:00 - Meeting strangers from the internet 01:28:20 - Remote teams and South African operationsAbout Laura Horton & Leanna BestLaura Horton is a dental hygienist, educator, and founder of multiple dental businesses including Brush, whilst Leanna Best is a treatment coordinator and educator who worked alongside Neil and Fiona Gerrard before launching her own training ventures. Together they co-host The Horton Hangout—a podcast that strips away the polish and gets into the real conversations about life, work, and everything in between within the dental world.

This week, Payman chats with Niki Keyhani, a newly qualified specialist prosthodontist who's already built something remarkable. Seven years out from qualification, she's opened a squat practice, completed her specialist training at King's, and somehow managed to do both simultaneously during a pandemic. What really stands out isn't just the clinical achievement—it's the way she talks about passion versus ambition, about choosing to do everything at once rather than waiting for the "right time." There's a refreshing honesty here about being underestimated as a young woman in dentistry, about that first complaint that knocked her sideways, and about why true kindness matters more than just going through the motions. Whether she's discussing optimal achievement over high achievement or explaining why she'd rather wait for the right person than rush into marriage, Niki brings a perspective that feels both grounded and aspirational.In This Episode00:01:15 - Introduction and background00:01:55 - Passionate versus ambitious00:03:00 - Sibling dynamics and guidance00:04:40 - The "wanting it all" approach00:05:50 - Sacrifice and balance in career building00:10:00 - Growing up as a dentist's daughter00:15:00 - Starting a squat practice during COVID00:21:15 - Opening during the pandemic00:22:20 - Decision to pursue specialist training00:24:00 - Neil Nathwani's encouragement to specialise00:25:30 - Getting into specialist training first try00:27:45 - Clinical capabilities and full mouth rehabs00:36:00 - Patient selection red flags00:37:40 - Blackbox thinking00:56:15 - Challenges as a woman in dentistry01:06:15 - Business development mindset01:07:10 - High achievers versus optimal achievers01:09:15 - Child of a dentist privilege01:10:10 - Building the perfect patient journey01:13:50 - Spanish lessons and tennis01:15:30 - Best lectures and courses01:16:50 - Creating a thousand-page prosthodontic textbook01:21:25 - Fantasy dinner party01:24:00 - Last days and legacyAbout Niki KeyhaniNiki Keyhani is a newly qualified specialist prosthodontist who graduated from King's College London in 2017. She completed her postgraduate diploma at the Eastman and her specialist training at King's whilst simultaneously opening and running her own squat practice from 2020. The daughter of a dentist, she's passionate about prosthodontics, teaching, and breaking down perceptions of what young women in dentistry can achieve.

Richard Porter joins Payman to explore the meeting point of clinical dentistry and psychology. From his early struggles adapting to London dental school after growing up in rural Kent, to his current work exploring personality psychology and emotional intelligence in practice, Richard challenges conventional thinking about what makes a truly skilled dentist. He argues that feelings are the currency of human existence—and understanding them is as critical as clinical competence. The discussion moves through burnout, the dark triad of difficult patient personalities, and the tension between contentment and progress, before landing on Richard's passion for helping dentists understand their own minds. It's a conversation that questions everything from dental education to the nature of expertise itself.In This Episode00:01:20 - Backstory00:06:05 - Six pillars of good dentistry00:08:20 - Emotional intelligence and motivation00:13:35 - Psychology journey00:38:25 - Restorative dentistry career00:39:05 - Why implants matter00:41:25 - Hallmarks of expertise00:44:45 - Contentment vs progress01:17:20 - Blackbox thinking01:23:50 - Minimal vs proper tooth preparation01:29:35 - Dentistry's systemic health impact01:34:05 - Green button philosophy01:42:35 - Dentist suicide and burnout01:45:35 - Neuroticism and the N-score01:52:00 - Best lectures, books and courses02:02:30 - Fantasy dinner party02:03:40 - Last days and legacyAbout Richard PorterRichard Porter is a restorative dentist with specialist registrations in prosthodontics, endodontics, restorative dentistry, and special care dentistry. Having trained at Guy's Hospital and worked in maxillofacial surgery, Richard now combines clinical teaching with his deep fascination for personality psychology, focusing on how emotional intelligence shapes patient outcomes and professional wellbeing.

In this episode, orthodontist Zaid Esmail opens up about what really matters in patient care—and it's not just straight teeth. From calling every patient the week after fitting braces to navigating the tension between NHS pragmatism and private practice perfectionism, Zaid reveals why communication trumps technique every time. He shares the terrifying moment a patient swallowed a spring mid-treatment, the legal nightmare of inventing an orthodontic device, and why he built an online academy to teach GDPs the skills they're inevitably going to use anyway. Plus, there's an honest take on conference culture, overtreatment trends, and why he refuses to become the kind of orthodontist who needs cases to pay bills. Want 10% off Zaid's Online Orthodontic Academy course and mentorship? Use code DLPOD10 at https://onlineorthodonticacademy.co.uk/In This Episode00:01:20 - What makes a great orthodontist 00:06:25 - Why he'll never own a fully private practice 00:14:40 - From Iraq to Wales via dental school 00:28:00 - Teaching philosophy and the dangers of weekend courses 00:37:50 - Where GDPs go wrong with orthodontics 00:41:45 - Building the Online Orthodontic Academy 00:52:50 - Blackbox thinking 00:58:05 - Inventing the Eruptor device 01:16:45 - Conference culture and the problem with celebrity orthodontists 01:24:10 - Fantasy dinner party 01:27:10 - Last days and legacyAbout Zaid EsmailZaid Esmail is an orthodontist working at Grosvenor House Orthodontic Practice in Tunbridge Wells, part of the Bupa Dental Care group. He runs the Online Orthodontic Academy, providing diploma-level training and case mentorship for dentists looking to incorporate orthodontics into their practice. Zaid also invented the Eruptor, a device for managing partially erupted teeth. Follow him on Instagram at @onlineorthoacademy and @zaid_mails.

This expansive and deeply reflective episode features Anne-Sophie Flury — neuroscientist, psychology graduate, former PhD researcher, and wellness educator — whose work bridges hard science with lived human experience. Known online as “Coochie by Gucci,” Anne-Sophie brings rare honesty and intellectual clarity to conversations about the brain, trauma, intuition, and emotional agency.Rhona and Payman explore Anne-Sophie’s unconventional academic journey, from leaving a business degree for psychology to working in experimental neuroscience and neuropsychopharmacology alongside leading researchers. Together, they unpack why understanding the brain isn’t enough — and how learning that the brain can change became the turning point in Anne-Sophie’s own mental health and sense of agency.The conversation moves fluidly through modern overwhelm: social media burnout, dopamine addiction, emotional over-identification, and the spiritualisation of feelings. Anne-Sophie offers a grounded, science-based perspective on meditation, psychedelics, mindfulness, and nervous system regulation — cutting through both clinical detachment and performative spirituality.What emerges is a powerful discussion about responsibility without shame, emotional awareness without indulgence, and why separating yourself from your thoughts may be the most liberating skill of all.In This Episode00:00:25 – Returning to Mind Movers & meeting Anne-Sophie00:01:45 – From business to psychology: finding intellectual purpose00:04:15 – Neuroscience, VR research & leaving the PhD00:07:20 – Failure, resilience & unconventional career pivots00:08:30 – “Coochie by Gucci”: identity, grief & online personas00:10:20 – Social media, activism & burnout00:12:30 – Doomscrolling, empathy fatigue & loss of motivation00:14:40 – Perfection culture, comparison & digital disconnection00:18:45 – Psychology vs neuroscience: understanding the brain00:20:05 – Psychedelics, policy & political suppression00:23:00 – What psychedelics actually do to the brain00:27:20 – Mental health, loneliness & early emotional struggles00:30:40 – The moment everything changed: “I can change my brain”00:31:50 – Meditation, neuroplasticity & emotional regulation00:34:00 – Agency, awareness & visualising a different life00:36:00 – Relationships, values & evolving identities00:38:10 – Can core values really change?00:40:10 – Trauma, intuition & emotional misinterpretation00:42:25 – Are we over-validating emotions?00:44:30 – Spiritual bypassing vs real growth00:45:00 – Float tanks, meditation & separating from thought00:48:20 – Anxiety vs intuition: learning the differenceAbout Anne-Sophie FluryAnne-Sophie Flury is a neuroscience and psychology specialist whose work focuses on emotional regulation, nervous system awareness, and personal agency. After completing a psychology degree, a master’s in experimental neuroscience, and publishing research during her PhD, she stepped away from academia to make science accessible in the real world.Blending research, lived experience, and practical tools, Anne-Sophie helps people understand not just why they feel the way they do — but how to change it. Her work challenges emotional fatalism, encourages responsibility without self-blame, and reframes mental health as something dynamic rather than fixed.