A business built on teamwork
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 27th March 2024
Dr Mehdi Yazdi is the Principal of Crown Bank Dental in Cheshire. He shares his experience of developing the business over the past few years as it becomes a major referral hub for the area.
I had been working as an associate in a practice that predominately took referrals for implant treatment and other oral surgery services. I had the opportunity to hone my clinical skills and I also came to appreciate how the business aspects worked. It had been an ambition of mine to run my own business one day, and that day had come.
I bought Crown Bank in November 2017. The practice was split into approximately 60% NHS dentistry and 40% private services. I was keen to maintain the NHS component and our contract value has still not decreased, but I recognised the potential to grow the private element. This meant significant investment in the facilities, the team and the technology.
The focus is always on providing excellent quality dentistry, of course, so I wanted to create an environment that would be conducive for this. A stimulating workplace with all the tools needed for the entire team to be at their best is essential for both the quality of patient care and staff satisfaction. Many of the team stayed when I took the practice over – I really appreciate their on-going loyalty and aim to repay this by continually improving their working environment.
Managing staff concerns and expectations is one of the hardest parts of my job. It’s really important to give everyone an opportunity to share worries or suggestions, to listen to their feedback
and to act accordingly. There is then a balancing act between making changes and fulfilling requests, and maintaining a productive and profitable business. It is hard to please everyone, but if you’re clear in your vision and you share this with the team, they will often understand and accept why you make the decisions that you do. In some situations, the aspirations of the individual and the business don’t align, but everyone is fully informed and can make the best decisions for their own career.
This is also important when bringing new people on board. We have expanded our team as we’ve grown, welcoming more dentists, as well as dental therapists. All our dentists are generalists with a special interest in a particular area. I focus on implants and oral surgery, and I have colleagues in the practice with special interests in endodontics, periodontology or restorative dentistry. This allows us to work together well, to treat patient holistically and comprehensively. We’ve also added facilities to screen for high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels, enabling all the team to broaden their scope and link dental health with systemic health in patients.
Over the years we have invested heavily in professional training, as well as introducing new radiography solutions like a CT scanner. Combining these together, for example, we have helped 
several of our dental nurses gain additional qualifications in radiography. Our dental therapists are also able to broaden their skills and make full use of their scope.
With regards to equipment, one of the biggest challenges of developing and growing a dental practice is managing relationships with so many suppliers. I set time aside from my clinical work to review everyday business operations, technologies and products. Establishing strong and long-lasting relationships with service providers is the only way to really appreciate what they offer and how they can support you. It’s essential to find the companies that truly have your business’ best interests at heart and who share your goals. That’s why I have worked with RPA Dental since buying the practice – they have provided on-going support and guidance, to ensure the practice can continue to flourish and grow. They even went so far as to invite me to the manufacturing facility in Italy where I could better understand some of the equipment that I have in the practice, which was really appreciated.
All of the above has enabled us to develop the referral aspect of the business. We now offer various treatments upon referral, including implant dentistry, oral surgery, endodontics and periodontology. As a team, we understand the challenges that referring dentists are faced with. We are conscious to include the referring dentists in all their patient’s treatment for a truly collaborative approach, acknowledging our duty of care to both them and their patients. Though being kind and caring is essential for all healthcare sectors, we do this particularly well, putting patients at ease straight away. We will always address patient concerns directly, ensuring thorough assessments and meticulous planning for the very best results.
All-in-all, I’m proud of what my team and I have achieved over the past few years and how we have grown. I think it’s important to enjoy the process when you can – there are many challenges along the way but we’re very fortunate in our line of work that there will always be a need for dental care. As long as the motivation driving the business is to deliver dentistry that’s in patients’ best interests, and you have a good team around you, you’ll be ok!
For more detail about RPA Dental please visit www.dental-equipment.co.uk,
call 08000 933 975 or email info@rpadental.net
