Devon Dental Centre of Excellence

Last Updated on Sunday, 06 September 2015 12:04

All smiles for award-winning Dentist :

Herald express article

DENTIST Dr Mitesh Badiani has been recognised nationally for his clinical expertise and commitment to patient care as well as his dedication to teaching and mentoring colleagues and peers around the country.

Q What is your position? I am a clinical director for seven dental practices and businesses including the Plymouth Devon Centre of Excellence in St Budeaux, Devon Dental Centre of Excellence in Ashburton, Riverview Dental in Totnes, Quality Dental in Bovey Tracey, Grapes Dental in Portland, Hay-on-Wye Dental Centre in Wales and MPC which provides specialist oral surgery cover to NHS England in Ashburton and Plymouth.

I am also an associate clinical professor at Warwick University responsible for postgraduate training for dentists as part of their implant dentistry. I am a founding member and trustee of a charity called "Smile Star" which has clinics and provides free dental care in India, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Also in the UK I work closely with a Royal Marines charity called "The C Group" and provide free private dental care to all medically discharged Royal Marines. We currently have around 300 that we look after.

Q How did you join your company? I bought the Ashburton and Plymouth surgery in 1995 and expanded from there.

Q What is your background? I was born in Kenya, schooled in Kingston upon Thames in Surrey and qualified from Newcastle University as a dentist in 1991. I moved to Devon 20 years ago to raise my family.

Q What is your speciality? I qualified as a general dentist but have a specialist interest in dental implants. I am one of only handful of dentists in the South West whose practice is solely dedicated to implant and aesthetic dentistry.

Q How has the company expanded? When I started in 1995 we were two dentists, one hygienist, three nurses and two receptionists (eight in total ) at two centres.Currently we have six centres and other businesses associated with dentistry and, in total, employ over 120 staff including over 25 dentists some of who are specialists in their own field. What's been nice is that from the original eight who started this company, five of them are still with the company 20 years later.

Q What has been your greatest achievement? There are quite a few but I would divide them both personally and professionally.

Professionally, setting up the "Smile Star" charity and seeing people smile in countries where care is poor is very satisfying. Working with the Royal Marines and to be given a Lifetime Achievement Award by "The C Group" for the work I do with the Royal Marines in October 2014. It was a very special moment.

Setting up levels of care at the practices where there's no compromise to the best care we can give to all our patients. This has only been possible as I work with a tremendous team of fellow dentists, hygienists, nurses, receptionists and managers. To see all this work and the satisfaction and smiles we bring to hundreds, if not thousands, of our patients is very rewarding.

Two of the centres in Ashburton and Plymouth are referral centres where over 100 dentists in Devon currently refer their patients not only for implants but for root fillings, gum disease, oral surgery, braces, complex restorative and aesthetic dentistry. Also, for nervous and phobic patients, we offer IV sedation and recently introduced sedation for children.

This is a real privilege as the work we do is judged by our peers and as the list keeps on expanding it goes to show that we must be getting it right most of the time. The referrals are also coming directly from our patients who are very happy with the level of care and expertise that they have received at all our centres.

Also, professionally, I have set up career pathways for my staff where, for example, my nurses have an opportunity to further their professional development by expanding their knowledge in implants, radiography and sedation for which extra training and qualifications are paid for by the company.

This has seen all my staff become very unique in that they provide more and, in most cases, an improved patient care as a result of extra qualifications and that is, for me, personally very rewarding. On a personal note, seeing my two kids, Nina and Kieran, grow up to be upstanding members of the community is a great achievement and I can relate this with every parent who has done so and will do so.

Q Who has been your most significant mentor? Professionally, two dentists. Dr Jimmy Eubank who taught me whilst I was doing my postgraduate dental training at Louisiana University in New Orleans and Prof St John Crean who is one of the hardest working professionals I have ever come across. On a personal note, it is the Royal Marines I treat including some who are triple amputees and yet have a real jest for life and always keep on smiling despite all the medical issues they face. That determination and courage is something to be admired.

Q What's next for you? As far as the practices go we keep on developing our skills so that we keep pace with all the latest development and technology. On a personal note, looking at expanding my dental charity with possibly involving the entire Armed Forces and even more free dental clinics in other countries. I am currently looking to expand to Gambia and Bolivia.

Q What challenges are you facing? The main challenges as always is how we provide the best quality care for our patients. More and more people are keeping their teeth for longer and this, in itself, brings its own challenges. However, as a team, we are looking at bringing in maintenance programmes including looking at patient's diet. We have seen some excellent results with the maintenance programmes that we have introduced in our practices which has resulted in patients needing less reactive work.

Q How do you keep enthused and keep things fresh ?  That's quite easy as the goal always has been to provide the best for my patients. Having such a talented team of dentists and staff working alongside you, they never let you rest on your laurels. We all keep abreast to all the latest research and technology so we can provide the latest evidence based dentistry to our patients.

Q What awards have you won?

Awards include:

Dental Team of the Year – South and Nationally in 2013

Dental Team of the South in 2014

Dentist of the Year – South and UK in 2015

Lifetime Achievement Award for services to the Royal Marines by "The C Group" in 2014

Lifetime Achievement Award for setting up a hospital in Gujarat that not only provides dental care to the local population but general dentistry and laser cataract operations.

Q What other organisations are you involved with? I am actively involved with "The C Group" and "The Westcountry 100" which is a group of people that are looking to enhance the lives of all medically discharged Royal Marines. I mentor for two dental implant companies BioHorizons and Dentsply and teach their dentists how to place implants. I am a lecturer in postgraduate implant dentistry and lectured both nationally and internationally on this subject.