The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Forest Dental Loughton is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.
Forest Dental Loughton
BEST PRACTICE SPONSOR 2020
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
40 | BROADWAY DENTAL BOUTIQUE
modelling it more on a hotel reception
than a clinical environment, to reduce
any anxiety our patients may have. We
have curated the patient experience
throughout their time with us, and the
use of technology means we can make
treatment seamless and pain free.
Adapting to a digital world
One of the main challenges we face,
and our sector faces, is recruitment. A
shortage of doctors is often discussed,
but not much attention is given to the
equal shortage of dentists and dental
nurses. In order to circumvent these
shortfalls, we survey a broad range
of candidates. Skills and experience
are not my number-one priority when
searching for recruits; it is their outlook
which is key. If they have the right
mindset, we can provide them with
fulltraining.
Another issue we face is attracting
new clients. Gone are the days when
the high street was vibrant and
people would come in from the street.
Now, convenience is key, and just as
shopping has become digital, so has
finding dentists. In order to adapt to
this, we are searching for new streams
and methods to attract new patients
and have targeted social media as a
key next step. In order to continue our
growth, we will embrace these digital
platforms, expanding our reach and
awareness among patients.
The future will likely see the influence
of technology grow. We feel we are
well prepared for this because of the
investments we have already made and
the convenience those investments
have provided for both our staff and
our patients. If staff and dentists
across the country can adapt to these
new systems, dentistry as a whole will
become far more efficient, and this
will result in a smoother experience for
every patient across the country.
If staff and
dentists across
the country
can adapt to
these new
systems,
dentistry as a
whole will
become far
more efficient
“
“
Clinical Lead and
Practice Partner Dr Rushi
Patel creating same-day
crowns
41FOREST DENTAL LOUGHTON |
DENTISTRY
Principal Dentist Dr Sab Rana
Forest Dental, providing
gentle family dentistry
Forest Dental prides itself on providing high quality dentistry,
underpinned by outstanding service. Dr Sab Rana tells
TheParliamentary Review
about how she has developed a
dental practice with this ethos – one which considers the baseline
in dental standards to be just that –“a baseline”. Forest Dental
has consistently received the highest Care Quality Commission
ratings and patient feedback regularly cites the personal nature of
the service provided. Dr Rana talks at greater length about how
she has developed Forest Dental over the past 15 years.
I graduated as a dentist from Liverpool University in 1993 and became an associate
in a multipartner practice in Hertfordshire. During my 11 years as an associate,
I was mentored by three principals and was grateful to them for sharing their
considerable experience with me. While there were many advantages to being part
of a multisurgery dental practice, such as sharing experiences, knowledge, holiday
cover and cost, I felt that the service provided was, at times, a little impersonal as a
result of the volume of patients that were treated on a daily basis.
I acquired Forest Dental, based in Loughton, Essex, in 2004 and my vision from the
outset was to develop a family practice that offered a more personalised service.
Over the past 15 year, with considerable support from my husband Seb, I am proud
to say that I have evolved Forest Dental into this vision. Forest Dental is a single-
partner practice which offers a broad range of services using the latest techniques
and technologies. In addition, our emphasis is always on the provision of long-term
dental care rather than quick fixes, whether for general, preventative, restorative or
cosmetic dentistry. A key factor our success has been the quality of the clinical staff
that I have worked with over the years. I have been very selective in ensuring that
FACTS ABOUT
FOREST DENTAL LOUGHTON
»Principal Dentist: Dr Sab Rana
»Practice acquired in November
2004
»Location: Loughton, Essex
»Services: Dentistry
»No. of employees: 2
Forest Dental
Loughton
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
42 | FOREST DENTAL LOUGHTON
I only recruit motivated and talented
people. Forest Dental’s current nurse,
Victoria May, provides a vital chairside
role in the overall patient experience
and, coming from a Harley Street
practice, understands the need for
clinical excellence.
24-hour service
Approximately five years ago we
decided to replace our receptionist with
a virtual PA company. This change was
implemented to enable us to provide a
24-hour service to patients. Our virtual
PA company answers calls throughout
the day and night and then forwards a
consolidated list to me detailing which
patients have called and providing me
with a brief summary of the reason for
their call. Ipersonally return each and
every one of these calls, which enables
me to prioritise, discerning whether
a same-day emergency appointment
is needed or if the issue is more
routineinnature. This approach seems
to be appreciated by my patients and,
quite often, only advice or reassurance
over the phone is required rather than
an actual appointment.
Living relatively close to Forest Dental,
I am able to open the practice at
weekends and evenings for emergencies
as and when needed. I am keen to
ensure that my patients are well cared
for and not left in discomfort. In an
area such as Loughton, which has
many dental practices in a two-mile
radius, we feel that this level of service
differentiates us from the competition.
Limited hours, unlimited
attention
As a mother of two, my working day
has to fit in around my other priorities.
Although the hours I offer are limited
– we are open four days a week – the
attention I provide to my patients is
unlimited. Through the 24-hour call
monitoring, swift personal call-backs
to patients and opening for emergency
appointments, we have all basescovered.
We are proud to have received the
highest possible scores from our periodic
reviews by the CQC and continually
strive to retain this level of rating. We
provide a responsive and tailored service
to our patients, including regular visits to
the laboratories that we use for patient
work to discuss with the technicians
the specifics of each individual case.
Forest Dental uses local laboratories
as far as possible for patient work
as we are committed to supporting
localbusinesses.
We are passionate about
keeping up to date with
the latest techniques
and innovations
We feel that
our level of
personalised
service
differentiates
us from the
competition
“
“
Cosmetic improvement
of a dark front tooth
involving root canal
treatment, teeth
whitening, porcelain
crown (with bespoke lab
shade matching)
BEST PRACTICE SPONSOR 2020
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
42 | FOREST DENTAL LOUGHTON
I only recruit motivated and talented
people. Forest Dental’s current nurse,
Victoria May, provides a vital chairside
role in the overall patient experience
and, coming from a Harley Street
practice, understands the need for
clinical excellence.
24-hour service
Approximately five years ago we
decided to replace our receptionist with
a virtual PA company. This change was
implemented to enable us to provide a
24-hour service to patients. Our virtual
PA company answers calls throughout
the day and night and then forwards a
consolidated list to me detailing which
patients have called and providing me
with a brief summary of the reason for
their call. Ipersonally return each and
every one of these calls, which enables
me to prioritise, discerning whether
a same-day emergency appointment
is needed or if the issue is more
routineinnature. This approach seems
to be appreciated by my patients and,
quite often, only advice or reassurance
over the phone is required rather than
an actual appointment.
Living relatively close to Forest Dental,
I am able to open the practice at
weekends and evenings for emergencies
as and when needed. I am keen to
ensure that my patients are well cared
for and not left in discomfort. In an
area such as Loughton, which has
many dental practices in a two-mile
radius, we feel that this level of service
differentiates us from the competition.
Limited hours, unlimited
attention
As a mother of two, my working day
has to fit in around my other priorities.
Although the hours I offer are limited
– we are open four days a week – the
attention I provide to my patients is
unlimited. Through the 24-hour call
monitoring, swift personal call-backs
to patients and opening for emergency
appointments, we have all basescovered.
We are proud to have received the
highest possible scores from our periodic
reviews by the CQC and continually
strive to retain this level of rating. We
provide a responsive and tailored service
to our patients, including regular visits to
the laboratories that we use for patient
work to discuss with the technicians
the specifics of each individual case.
Forest Dental uses local laboratories
as far as possible for patient work
as we are committed to supporting
localbusinesses.
We are passionate about
keeping up to date with
the latest techniques
and innovations
We feel that
our level of
personalised
service
differentiates
us from the
competition
“
“
Cosmetic improvement
of a dark front tooth
involving root canal
treatment, teeth
whitening, porcelain
crown (with bespoke lab
shade matching)
43FOREST DENTAL LOUGHTON |
DENTISTRY
Although the
hours I offer are
limited, the
attention I
provide to my
patients is
unlimited
“
“
Forest Dental “mini-
makeover”: teeth
whitening, aesthetic
recontouring and two
porcelain veneers to
improve a smile
Sab and Victoria treating
a patient
Preventative and holistic
We have never, and will never, use
amalgam fillings containing mercury,
and we are now proud to offer BPA-
free white fillings. We appreciate
it is important to be able to offer
alternative options for our discerning
patients, and to explain the benefits
and disadvantages associated with
each option.
We have also invested in cutting-edge
technology such as the Healozone
machine, which allows tooth decay
to be treated without having to drill
the tooth, effectively “fillings without
drilling”. While not suitable for every
cavity, it has allowed us to expand
our treatment and we are one of the
only practices in Essex offering this
service. In addition, our investment
in a Diagnodent laser machine helps
us to identify tooth decay in patients
at an early stage so that we can
provide preventative treatment. These
technologies, as well as fibre-optic
lighting in high-speed drills, intraoral
cameras and advanced digital X-ray
technology, enable us to offer our
patients the latest technologies in their
dental care.
Composite bonding
We are keen to provide minimally
invasive dentistry and strive to
improve a patients smile with a
“mini-makeover” approach, using the
latest composite bonding techniques.
Wehave found these mini-makeovers
to be very popular due to the fact
that they are cost effective and do not
destroy valuable tooth enamel.
A green future
I enjoy being a single partner practice,
and I find it liberating to be able to
make decisions on practice vision and
ethos without broader consultation. I
continually review our environmental
impacts and continually look at ways of
reducing Forest Dental’s consumption of
single use plastics items.
I am passionate about providing high
quality dentistry underpinned by all
round service excellence. This is key to
earning trust, building strong patient
relationships and making a visit to the
dentist something to look forward to.