January 9, 2018

It would be hard to find two more disparate figures in history than physicist Albert Einstein and American Civil War general Robert E. Lee—who has been the subject of much controversy in recent months. These two men did however have something in common: a belief in the importance of lifelong learning. Einstein said: “intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death,” while Lee declared, “the education of a man is never completed until he dies”.

January 4, 2018

In an article by business author Jaron Lanier in the Jan/Feb 2018 edition of Wired UK magazine, he reminds us that Facebook and Google now account for 75 per cent of online advertising spend, globally. In the same article, there is also a fascinating quote about the current problems with the Internet.

December 5, 2017

Over the course of this 11-part series, the 4dentists group has explored ways to tackle a number of personal and professional challenges by providing advice and guidance to fictional character Dr Mo Lar. In this final article of the series, Managing Director of the 4dentists group Richard Lishman explains the importance of making a will.

November 23, 2017

Over the course of an 11-part series, the 4dentists group is exploring ways to tackle a number of personal and professional challenges by providing advice and guidance to fictional character Dr Mo Lar. In this tenth article of the series, Managing Director of the 4dentists group Richard Lishman explains the best ways Lar can manage his finances to minimise tax.

November 1, 2017

Over the course of this 11-part series, Managing Director of the 4dentists group Richard Lishman will explore ways to tackle a number of personal and professional challenges by providing advice and guidance to fictional character Dr Mo Lar. In the ninth article, he explains what Lar has to consider for retirement.

October 30, 2017

Completely disinfecting the canal system is challenging when all factors are considered. If we are looking at the nano level there are approximately 76,000 dentinal tubules per square millimetre of dentine. Each of which can harbour a colony of bacteria. Then there may be inaccessible anatomy such as lateral canals, apical deltas or fins.

September 7, 2017

Over the course of this 11-part series, Managing Director of the 4dentists group Richard Lishman will explore ways to tackle a number of personal and professional challenges by providing advice and guidance to fictional character Dr Mo Lar. In the eighth article, he explains what Lar has to consider when selling his business.

August 2, 2017

Over the course of an 11-part series, the 4dentists group explores ways to tackle a number of personal and professional challenges by providing advice and guidance to a fictional character Dr Mo Lar. In this seventh article of the series, Managing Director of the 4dentists group, Richard Lishman explains how Lar should go about purchasing a second practice to expand his business.

July 19, 2017

Professionalism has been defined as the conduct, aims or qualities that characterise or mark a profession or a professional person. Literature pertaining to health care suggests that professionalism is a competency that can be taught, developed, measured and assessed. Nevertheless, it can be argued that professionalism extends beyond the scope of clinical knowledge and skills and is most certainly multifaceted.

May 17, 2017

There is mounting evidence in the literature in regards to the diagnostic superiority of 3-D imaging versus 2-D. As a result, many clinicians today are using 3-D imaging either by referring their patients to a CBCT-scanning centre or having mobile units visiting them, and the only benefit of this method is that there is no initial capital outlay to buy the machine. In contrast, the benefits of having your own in-house CBCT machine are many, including the total convenience of an on-demand service at any time (pre-op or during and after if needed), learning one software and fully utilising it rather than having to learn different software for different machines (manufacturers), thus not utilising it to its fully intended use.

January 13, 2017

Have you ever applied for a job, but were not successful? Or perhaps you are just curious about what actually goes into candidate screening once you have handed in an application? Altogether, there are a great many factors that are taken into consideration by an employer during the recruitment process, all of which help not only to ensure that the right candidate is given the job, but also to streamline the process for everyone involved.

October 26, 2016

New legislation came into force in June 2012 that will eventually oblige all employers in the UK to automatically enrol certain workers in a pension scheme and make contributions towards it. The practical arrangements of this are not straightforward in all cases and the need for careful preparation should not be under-estimated.

September 27, 2016

“In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” These prophetic lines were shared by Nobel laureate and social scientist Dr Herbert Simon in 1971. It seems incredible to think that his words predate the Internet by 20 years.

September 21, 2016

The first to come to mind among the majority of the public when dentistry is mentioned is the delivery of fillings or the need for crowns, the management of the bite or the improvement of colour or shape of teeth. This is our core business and is the basis upon which the public is likely to measure the skill of the clinician. Indeed, many a dentist may cower behind the X-ray machine if he or she overhears a patient complaining in the waiting room that “The filling fell out an hour later”. Nothing humbles us more than this sort of dissatisfaction.

September 19, 2016

When purchasing a practice, among the many factors clinicians need to consider is the situation regarding work in progress (WIP), an area that can be particularly complex in finalising the details of the transaction. Ongoing work that has not yet been completed, though it will have been at least partly paid for, could well take up a significant proportion of one’s capacity in the early stages of ownership, so it is vital to know exactly what one is taking on. Furthermore, from the outset, buyers will need to be clear about the level of WIP against any payments already received, as well as the payments outstanding.

August 4, 2016

Practitioners’ expectations of the kind of manager they want for their practice vary considerably in terms of experience and skills. How guilty are you of promoting a nurse or receptionist to a management role without determining the skills gap and providing the necessary training? It is a common scenario in our industry.

June 30, 2016

As a business consultant, I have been providing training, coaching and mentoring services to UK and Irish dentists and their teams for the last 23 years. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to work with clients in a number of European and other countries, including Turkey, India, the US, Canada and Australia. I consider myself a bit of a rebel and love to talk about innovation in business and how it applies in dentistry and the wider health care environment.

May 18, 2016

BILLINGHAM; UK: In April 2016, Dr Ian Lane, a managing partner at Queensway Dental Clinic, together with Richard Elliott, Managing Director of Queensway’s Dental Laboratory, presented a webinar to a global audience of over 350 dentists, giving their insights into what they feel have been the most fundamental factors of growing a successful dental implant clinic.

April 29, 2016

Whether you are in the final stages of your career or just starting out, the need for a succession plan and exit strategy is equally important. You may be a sole practitioner or partner within a partnership or own shares in an incorporated dental practice, or it may be that you are contemplating the purchase of your first acquisition—one thing you need to ensure is that provision is made for a future sale or the circumstance of a sudden death.

April 9, 2016

Breath odour is the presence of odorous volatile organic compounds in the breath of individuals. It is a widespread problem, as it affects a high percentage of the adult population; 30% of the global population suffers from chronic oral malodour and 74% considers it an issue. Breath odour has strong social implications for the sufferer and it significantly affects normal social interactions.

March 2, 2016

As a dental practitioner, helping your patient choose the right alignment system from the many available to improve his or her smile can be very daunting. Whatever the patient’s lifestyle, the attributes typically desired are comfort, discreteness and the shortest treatment time possible. Depending on the case, it can sometimes be quite difficult to achieve all of these with one alignment system, as each is designed to achieve very specific and individual movements, and not all are designed to do this for the whole arch.

March 2, 2016

As a dental practitioner, helping your patient choose the right alignment system from the many available to improve his or her smile can be very daunting. Whatever the patient’s lifestyle, the attributes typically desired are comfort, discreteness and the shortest treatment time possible. Depending on the case, it can sometimes be quite difficult to achieve all of these with one alignment system, as each is designed to achieve very specific and individual movements, and not all are designed to do this for the whole arch.

February 24, 2016

It is said that all teams are groups, but not all groups are teams. What separates the two is interdependence. A true team is focused on a common purpose; team members support one another and enhance each other’s work and contribution. Andrew Carnegie captured this accurately when he said, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

January 14, 2016

Traditionally, dentists have been taught that both dental caries and periodontal disease develop and progress as a direct result of patients’ over-frequent consumption of refined sugars and patients’ failure to remove bacterial plaque effectively. Miller’s acidogenic theory of caries development and the non-specific plaque hypothesis based on Loe’s work in the 1960s allow dentists to present a simple cause-and-effect explanation to patients. Since then, the dental profession has blamed patients’ poor oral hygiene for periodontal breakdown and dental caries while often failing to diagnose and treat other contributing causative factors.

January 7, 2016

Buying your first dental practice is a major milestone in your career and your life. But while it brings opportunities, becoming the owner of your own business also brings challenges for which you must ensure you are prepared. It is enormously important that you be aware of what you are taking on before you decide to become a principal and entrepreneur, and it is essential you seek advice if in any doubt.

November 12, 2015

The mechanical and biological objectives of shaping root canals were beautifully described by Herbert Schilder in 1974. As relevant today, in the era of automated canal preparation techniques, as they were in the days of hand preparation techniques, these objectives provide the rationale for the designs, tapers and tip sizes of modern-day endodontic instruments. Shaping the root canal facilitates 3-D irrigation and cleaning of the root canal system of all pulp tissue, bacteria and their related by- products. Importantly, shaping the root canal provides the resistance form and facilitates filling the root canal system.

October 7, 2015

The last two decades have seen significant advances in restorative techniques and materials for dentistry. The latter, along with community-based preventive measures that aim to reduce the incidence of caries, have resulted in many patients living with functional teeth for a longer period. Yet, extraction of teeth forms the considerable bulk of the workload in oral surgeries owing to several factors, including the late presentation of patients with advanced dental disease, the presence of symptomatic impacted teeth, such as third molars, and the need to extract teeth for orthodontic or orthognathic treatment.

September 16, 2015

The provision of orthodontics can be a life-changing experience for young patients whose “crooked” teeth can affect their confidence and self-esteem. Indeed, where mature patients present with a history of malalignment, equally beneficial and fulfilling results can be achieved. In government-funded systems, patients with congenital abnormalities receive treatment that is essential to their ongoing oral health. Restorative dentists work closely with orthodontists, who can appreciate how small details can aid in achieving positive restorative outcomes.

September 4, 2015

At the heart of the relationship between a dentist and a patient lies trust and respect. Unless you have been hiding under a rock, I am sure you have heard of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 and patient confidentiality, both of which exist to support these relationships. Recent events, such as the Sony or, more currently, the Ashley Madison breach, have brought to public awareness the importance of securing one’s data.

August 21, 2015

You might think that in financially challenging times the last thing you need is a new member of staff. For a practice to thrive and prosper in a difficult financial climate, however, it has to become more efficient, more competitive and more profitable. One way to do that is to introduce a treatment coordinator (TC) into the team or if you already have one then to offer appropriate training. This is a relatively new role to the European market, but in the US, where the role is a central part of any practice, it has proven to dramatically add value to the patient experience, reduce in-chair time and increase case acceptance.