Dental Leaders Podcast

You wouldn’t know from chatting with Zain Rizvi that he used to be an average kid.    While studying at King’s, Zain took top awards, was invited to advise government policymakers and started a side hustle giving dental hopefuls a taster of life in the profession.   And he also found time to write and publish a book on what it takes to succeed at dental school.   In this episode, Zain reflects on...

Ashkan Pitchforth jokes that he’d like to be remembered as the biggest dentist in the UK — but he’s already well on his way to achieving the title in more than one sense.   Since 2015, Ashkan’s established a dental empire incorporating more than 20 clinics and counting while still finding time to build the biggest biceps in the business.   Ashkan discusses how physical training instils a focused b...

Farhan Ahmed says growing up in a Glasgow cornershop instilled an unstoppable work ethic.   He’s come a long way since filling sacks of potatoes for dad. Farhan’s earned a name as one of the go-to clinicians for complex implant cases and is now one of the field’s most sought-after trainers and mentors.   In this episode, Farhan reveals what motivates his restless drive, discusses the mindset requi...

Afsar Hussain is the first to admit that his grades weren’t the best when growing up in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. But a tough talk from mum and dad appears to have paid off — Afsar purchased his first practice just eight months into his VT year and has since grown the practice into one of South Yorkshire’s most successful. He chats about turning the practice around with a shift from NHS to priva...

When Alexandra arrived in the UK from Romania, she had no problem working her way up from the bottom. She took a role as a dental nurse before finding a position in a whitening clinic on Harley Street.   But it was here that things took an unexpected turn, resulting in a four-year legal battle that made Alexandra ask profound questions about her place in the profession she loves. In this episode,...

Jana Denzel says his work ethic was informed by his parents, who fled civil war in Sri Lanka to make a new life in London.    He developed his marketing and social chops while running a fashion brand to fund study at dental school in Valencia. And, since graduation in 2019, he’s already made waves putting AI to use in radiography diagnosis while also finding the time to be named London’s Best Youn...

Dentists are leaving the NHS in droves. In this week’s episode, Payman and Prav talk about what it takes to transition from the failing health service into private care.   They chat about some of the training on offer to help dentists get to grips to meet private patients’ expectations, strategies for retaining and transitioning NHS patients, fixing literal and metaphorical cracks - and much more....

When Nicola Gore found her squat practice taking off, she found a novel way of staffing the booming clinic - by persuading her husband to become a dental therapist.   She tells the whole story along with her heartbreaking decision to sell. And we’ll also hear how Nicola cut her teeth in the brutal make-or-break environment of a busy surgical ward before finally realising her dream of completing th...

A dentist who’s nervous about dental appointments; a prolific content creator and social star who professes to be a private person; and a high achiever who reckons she’s the failure of the family. It would be fair to describe Raabhia Maan as something of an enigma.   Raabhia is perhaps best known as the social content creator who posts about everything from MRONJ to meditation.   She chats about m...

In the first podcast of 2022, we welcome composite king Matt Parsons to the show.    Matt practices in the world’s composite capital, Liverpool, where a strong social presence has made him one of the city’s most in-demand dentists.   Matt tells all about Liverpool life, dishing essential tips on composites, lifts the lid on his year in practice down under and reveals how an Instagram competition t...

This isn’t the first conversation with a guest that hails from a family of dentists. But for Tom-Crawford Clarke, the connection is more than just a hand-me-down: Tom’s grandparents, mum, dad, sisters, uncles and cousins have all been in the profession.    As Tom looks back on a decade on dentistry, he chats with Payman about the pressures and pitfalls of working with relatives, his meteoric rise...

If you’re one of the many listeners wondering where Prav has been hiding, all will be revealed in this week’s episode.   In this end-of-year special, Prav returns to let us know why the past three months have been the most stressful and intensive of his career.   If you’re thinking of buying or selling a practice, or wondering how to start putting an exit strategy together, you won’t want to miss...

Alan Burgin is perhaps best known by his Instagram alter-ego, The Cornish Dentist, whose informative how-tos have earned Alan an impressive follower count among fellow professionals.   He sits down with Cardiff University alumni Payman to explain his journey to being one of the UK’s most promising young dentists and talks about life in Cornwall and early years in max-fax.   Payman also puts Alan o...

General dentist Victoria Sampson followed her big sister Ariane into dentistry but each has since walked their own path through the profession.   Ariane is an orthodontist, while Victoria is using the microbiome found in saliva to unite dentistry with general health.    The pair talk about their shared journey, discuss their passions and assemble the unusual guestlist for a fantasy dinner party.  ...

No one could accuse Jenni Kabir of being anything but quick off the mark in finding success. She purchased her first practice just six months after finishing VT and was considering retirement by the time she hit her mid-20s.   Jenny takes us through her impoverished upbringing in York, where she became a full-time young carer after her mother sustained life-changing injuries. She describes how she...

This week’s episode starts with a content warning: When brewing tea, Tej Mell pours the milk first.     It’s just one of many tidbits the Yorkshire-based dentist lets us in on in a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from managing and motivating teams to the appreciation of clockwork and watches.   Tej tells us about starting his journey into implant treatment and why the third time was...

Almost fresh from dental school, this week’s guests are already sharing their work to help others learn.   “We’re not teachers,” say Balraj (Bal) Sohal and Kris Vekaria, who set up the Kaizen learning resource to share what they love most.   Kris and Bal let us in on how Kaizen came about and their plans for its future. The pair also talk about failed extractions, the pros and cons of learning on...

In this week’s solo episode, Prav talks about one of his favourite topics: Context and congruency in marketing.   Using real-life examples from his open practices, he explains why establishing context and congruency matter throughout the patient journey should be a priority.   He also dispenses actionable advice on how teams can use this powerful marketing hack to improve conversions and enhance t...

If you’ve been busy banking CPD hours, you may be familiar with this week’s guest. Jasmine Piran is a self-confessed course junkie who’s made a move from pupil to teacher. She lets us in on life as a lecturer and provides insight into how a psychology degree and NLP training have helped her understand and connect with nervous patients. Jasmine also lifts the lid on her time with celebrity dentist...

Here’s something you don’t find every day - a specialist orthodontist who’s still carrying out day-to-day cosmetic and restorative work. This week’s guest, Josh Rowley, explains how and why the two go together hand-in-hand and tells how a once-in-lifetime alignment of the stars saw him take an unorthodox route to early specialist status. Josh also lifts the lid on why he loves being an educator an...

Prav and Payman are finally reunited this week to welcome Dr Slaine McGrath to the show. Spending too much time in the dentist’s chair can be enough to put youngsters off dentistry for life. But the opposite is true for Slaine, who was inspired into the profession following a dental mishap early in life. Slaine talks about the pros and cons of being one of Insta’s most prominent dentists, how she...

The Great Escape with Geoff Stone “Follow your dreams,” says this week’s guest Geoff Stone - and no one could accuse him of failing to follow his own advice. In a tale with more twists and turns than the best of Dickens, Geoff tells how he turned his back on a lucrative banking career to make a name as one of dentistry’s best latecomers. There were highs, lows and more than a few crashes along the...

For Shazia Ahmed, the fight for justice runs in the blood. In this week’s episode, she tells how values of fairness were instilled from an early age and how that led to taking on a former employer at a tribunal. It also saw Shazia providing support on Facebook for thousands of dental professionals who were shortchanged during the COVID crisis.  Shazia explains how the British Dental Action Group q...

In This Episode This week, Payman welcomes his first boss, an early mentor and friend of 30 years, Dr Nick Mohindra. Nick recounts his early years at Edinburgh University, which preceded a career full of industry-changing firsts. Nick was one of the first dentists to computerise his practice. He was also the first clinician to realise how inter-dental brushing trumps flossing in the fight against...

Fix Up, Look Sharp! With Shiraz Khan This week’s guest is winner of the Fast Track 4 award for future leaders in dentistry. But this conversation proves that dentistry’s best-dressed Shiraz Khan is leading the way in so many ways right now.     Dentist, lecturer and trainer Shiraz reveals how he went into a high profile role almost fresh from dentistry school and talks life on the lecture circuit...