Dental Leaders Podcast

Rory Boyd shares his journey to being a specialist prosthodontist and owner of Dublin’s Belfield Clinic.  Rory discusses the value of work-life balance, adopting new tech, and growing and managing his referral-based practice.  Rory also discusses his involvement with the Irish Dental Association and his efforts to advocate for the profession.  Enjoy! In This Episode 00:02:50 - Backstory 00:11:30 - Choosing dentistry 00:17:00 - SPOcast Show Notesutside interests 00:21:20 - Postgraduate training 00:43:50 - Specialists Vs general practitioners 00:46:50 - Simplicity and education 00:50:35 - New technologies 00:57:15 - Irish Dental Association 01:04:45 - Blackbox thinking 01:11:40 - Advances in dentistry  01:27:55 - From research to adoption  01:31:30 - Belfield Clinic 01:43:10 -  Fee setting 01:48:50 - Aha! moments 01:54:35 - The IDA and lobbying 01:58:25 - Fantasy dinner party 02:00:05 - Last days and legacy About Rory Boyd Rory Boyd is a specialist prosthodontist and owner of the Belfield Clinic specialist practice in Dublin, ROI. In 2019 Dr Boyd became the President of the Irish Dental Association Metropolitan branch and currently sits on the Irish Dental Association committee.

Rhona chats with celebrity personal trainer Sana Shirvani about her journey in the fitness industry. Sana shares her experience working long hours and taking on clients' stress, as well as the pressure she faced from her conservative father to pursue a traditional career.  Sana candidly shares the mental health challenges she faced after her cousin's suicide and her own battles with depression and addiction. In This Episode 00:00:05 - Stress and negative energy 00:06:55 - Becoming a personal trainer 00:32:35 - Women’s fitness 00:38:40 - Eating and body image 00:50:25 - Ozempic 00:53:05 - Mental health challenges 01:02:00 - Gender, dating and relationship dynamics 01:07:10 - Sexual harassment 01:13:15 - Scaling and growth About Sana Shirvani Sana Shirvani is a London-based personal trainer with a background in strength and conditioning who supports busy people to take control of their health, fitness and wellness.

Kevin Shannon discusses leaving dentistry to focus on his dental software startup, DigitalTCO. Kevin shares how his frustration with the inefficiencies of dental note-taking and a difficult patient complaint inspired him to create DigitalTCO, which uses AI to automatically generate clinical notes and consent forms from audio recordings of patient consultations.  He taught himself to code to build the software, which is now used by over 350 dental practices. Enjoy! In This Episode 00:01:10 - Backstory 00:16:10 - Discovering dentistry 00:20:35 - Dental school 00:22:25 - Early jobs 00:27:30 - Frustrations 00:38:00 - Digital TCO 00:56:35 - Digital TCO vision 01:00:50 - Technical aspects 01:05:20 - Scaling and growth 01:09:25 - Last days and legacy About Kevin Shannon Kevin Shannon is the founder of DigitalTCO, the dental notetaking software used by hundreds of UK practices.

Founder and host of the award-winning Sex Talks Emma Louise Boynton joins Payman and Rhona for a frank exploration of sex education and communication.  The conversation touches on cultural taboos around sex, gender relations and inequalities, to provide an open and nuanced exploration of the complex intersections between sex, intimacy, shame, relationships and well-being. Enjoy! In This Episode 00:04:00 - Journalism and career 00:14:50 - Sex therapy and education 00:30:35 - Cultural taboos and shame 00:39:00 - Dating 00:41:55 - Grieving and adolescence 00:44:05 - Gender and equality 00:52:55 - Faking it 00:54:40 - Changing attitudes 00:56:35 - Sex addiction, body image and social media 01:03:55 - Dating apps and true love 01:06:00 - Mental health 01:08:20 - Male sexuality and shame 01:12:20 - Future vision About Emma Louise Boynton Emma Louise Boynton is a broadcaster, writer, and founder and host of the award-winning Sex Talks series, which aims to break down the barriers surrounding open and honest discussions of sex.

Prav and Payman chat with Siamack Bagheri, a highly successful orthodontist who owns ten large orthodontic practices with his wife. Siamack shares his story of coming to the UK from Iran in the 1970s and pursuing dentistry. He discusses the challenges he faced during dental school and how those experiences shaped him. The conversation touches on recruitment challenges, the shift toward temp agencies, the business advantages of new tech in aligner therapy, and more. Enjoy! In This Episode 00:02:15 - Backstory 00:04:35 - Choosing dentistry 00:07:40 - Dental School 00:14:50 - The next generation 00:18:00 - Case selection 00:21:35 - Practice management 00:31:35 - Ortho technology 00:35:50 - Referring cases 00:40:40 - Clinical work 00:44:45 - Recruitment 00:48:10 - Remote monitoring and aligner therapy 00:51:45 - Blackbox thinking 01:00:15 - Early interceptive orthodontics 01:02:25 - Fears 01:06:05 - Looking back 01:08:10 - Fantasy dinner party 01:10:15 - Last days and legacy About Siamack Bagheri Siamack Bagheri graduated from Bristol University in 1987. He then gained orthodontic qualifications from the Royal Colleges of England and Edinburgh and an MSc from the University of London. He is the principal of a group of 10 orthodontic clinics in London, Cheltenham, and Shropshire.

Rhona and Payman chat with Daniel Daggers, a successful luxury real estate agent, founder of Drew Global, and star of Netflix’s Buying London. Daniel shares his rise from humble beginnings in local authority housing to becoming a top agent, dealing with challenges like bullying and trolling along the way.  He discusses his people-centric approach to business, the importance of personal branding, and his philosophy of enabling others to achieve their potential. Enjoy! In This Episode 00:03:05 - Backstory 00:12:20 - Trauma and challenges 00:17:55 - Staring in property 00:33:35 - Personal brands  00:37:20 - High-end properties 00:41:05 - Building and running a business 00:53:45 - Dubai real estate 00:59:50 - Family, love, support and opportunities 01:06:05 - Netflix 01:10:35 - Low point 01:14:20 - People Vs property person 01:16:15 - Recognising potential 01:17:00 - Being recognised in public 01:22:20 - Lessons from high-net worth individuals 01:22:45 - Advice to younger self About Daniel Daggers Daniel Daggers is a luxury real estate expert and the star of Netflix's Buying London. With over two decades of experience, he has established himself as a leader in the prime and super prime property markets worldwide. His track record includes advising on the sale of more than $5 billion worth of high-end residential properties.

How do dental practices stand out from the competition in a fiercely competitive marketplace that’s becoming more crowded by the day? Join Prav for an in-depth discussion of defining and leveraging your clinic’s unique selling points to design unique, memorable customer journeys and stand out from the competition. Enjoy!  In This Episode 00:01:30 - TCO training—evolution and adaptation  00:09:00 - Creating unique patient journeys 00:17:25 - USP examples 00:20:30 - Leveraging USPs 00:26:15 - Consultation to closure 00:32:50 - Journey mapping and refinement About Prav Solanki Prav Solanki is a marketing scientist and dental growth specialist who has supported countless dental professionals and organisations to achieve stellar growth. He is a co-owner and director of IAS Academy and founder of The Fresh, the UK’s leading dental growth and marketing agency.   His latest project, Leadflo, is described as the world’s most advanced CRM for dental clinics.

We reach way back into the archives this week with a look back at one of Payman and Prav’s favourite conversations with Green Beret-turned-dentist, Danny Watson. Danny looks back on his first meeting with Prav, recalls how seeing military dentists at work inspired him to join the profession, and discusses burning his military bridges in hot pursuit of his newfound passion. Enjoy!  In This Episode 0.34 - Early years 07.27 - Army days 14.59 - Discovering dentistry 21.25 - Getting started and burning bridges 26.01 - The military mindset 36.19 - Highs and lows 44.47 - Lambos & love at first sight 48.28 - On PT 53.47 - New challenges 57.08 - Last day on earth About Danny Watson Danny Watson graduated from Manchester University in 2018 and went on to practise at Manchester’s Kiss Dental. Before becoming a dentist, Danny enjoyed a long and distinguished military career including service with the Green Berets and active service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is passionate about cross fit and personal training, and is the current world-record holder for the greatest distance travelled on the Concept-2 indoor rower in one minute.

Specialist orthodontist Annika Patel shares her journey of being a career-focused woman in dentistry, discussing sacrifices, family, and mental resilience. Topics include ortho training challenges, marriage, motherhood, and the importance of support and camaraderie within the profession.

Payman chats with the world-renowned professor Avijit Banerjee, who shares his journey in academia, discussing his research focused on applying scientific findings to patient care.  As you’d expect from a polymathic mind like Prof. Banerjee's, the conversation ranges far and wide, covering challenges in dental education, the role of new technologies in diagnosis and the public's perception of fluoride. Prof. Banerjee also wisdom on clinical judgement, patient communication, the value of documenting cases, and much more. Enjoy!  In This Episode 00:03:45 - Academia, research and curiosity 00:10:00 - Research, commercialisation and sharing  00:18:15 - Recent studies  00:28:11 - Oral health messaging 00:31:25 - Shift towards whole patient care and holistic dentistry in education 00:33:30 - Training: past, present, UK and abroad 00:42:20 - Advice for young dentists 00:43:20 - NHS funding  00:48:10 - International teaching and research 00:55:40 - Minimally invasive dentistry  01:16:40 - New technologies 01:20:10 - Danger of undertreatment 01:23:20 - Experimentation and evidence 01:26:05 - Bureaucracy and red tape  01:28:05 - Misunderstanding and misinformation 01:34:00 - Fluoride and fissure sealants 01:44:10 - Black box thinking  01:50:25 - Teaching style  01:51:25 - Fantasy dinner party  01:58:40 - Last days and legacy About Professor Avijit Banerjee Professor Avijit Banerjee, a global authority in minimally invasive dentistry, leads the Cariology & Operative Dentistry research program at King's College London Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences.  He serves as Head of Conservative & MI Dentistry, Director of Education (UG), and Programme Director for the KCL distance-learning Masters in Advanced Minimum Intervention Dentistry. Banerjee's research focuses on MI operative caries management and adhesive dental biomaterials, resulting in over 120 publications and £2.5 million in research funding. He collaborates with international Industry partners as an R&D KOL and is the primary author of the widely respected text, Pickard's Guide to Minimally Invasive Operative Dentistry. Banerjee holds editorial positions in several prominent dental journals and maintains a specialist clinical practice in Restorative Dentistry, Prosthodontics & Periodontics. He currently serves as the President of the BDA Metropolitan Branch Section.