The Dental Leaders podcast takes you on a behind the scenes journey with emerging leaders in dentistry. Success leaves clues, and these conversations uncover the depth, detail, and backstory behind our guests. The show is hosted by dental entrepreneurs Payman Langroudi & Prav Solanki. Let the conversation flow. Find out more at https://www.dentalleaders.co.uk/
Shyun Patel joins Payman as a final-year dental student at Liverpool, best known for founding BDSA, the biggest undergraduate dental conference the UK has seen, and for buying his own practice before he's even qualified. He talks candidly about losing the Dental Society presidency election, the autoimmune diagnosis that reshaped how he thinks about time, and the fridge-flipping side hustle that helped fund his first practice. This is also a conversation about ambition and its cost. From the cathedral gamble that saved BDSA's gala dinner to the balance between depth and breadth of impact, Shyun's reflections on business are as sharp as his reflections on himself. Expect thoughtful exchanges on hubris, communication as a clinical skill, sacrifice, and what it means to build something at 23 that most people wait decades to attempt. In This Episode 00:00:50 – Introduction 00:01:30 – Growing up in Liverpool 00:06:14 – Communication vs skill 00:08:36 – Teaching communication 00:14:00 – Public misconceptions 00:22:38 – Hubris 00:22:52 – Insecurity and upbringing 00:32:57 – Losing DentSoc presidency 00:41:20 – Autoimmune diagnosis 00:50:07 – Building a dating app 00:58:00 – Business by osmosis 01:01:26 – The value of asking 01:04:32 – Scale of BDSA 01:07:26 – Funding BDSA 01:17:07 – Leadership and delegation 01:21:00 – Sales and sponsorship 01:25:10 – The cathedral gamble 01:29:47 – The fridge hustle 01:41:07 – Ambition and sacrifice 01:47:43 – Blackbox thinking 01:52:41 – Clinical vs business 01:59:35 – Depth vs breadth 02:01:11 – Heroes and resources 02:05:29 – Fantasy dinner party 02:07:31 – Five-year vision About Shyun Patel Shyun Patel is a final-year dental student at the University of Liverpool and the founder of BDSA, the largest undergraduate dental conference staged in the UK to date. Alongside his studies he already owns a dental practice, works as a dental rep for Bryant, and is building a compatibility-focused dating app in his spare time.
Two CareStack men, one origin story that starts in a Covid ward. Adrian Dray talks Payman through the lead-management deal that nearly bankrupted him, and how that near-miss set him up to bring an American cloud practice management system into a UK market that, by his own admission, "really dislikes change." Kautham Haran, the ops brain to Adrian's front-of-house energy, explains how a fintech Start-Up background prepared him for the mess of onboarding whole dental groups onto new software. Between them they cover why CareStack bet big on a market the size of Oregon, what Rory Sutherland taught them about friction and the "doorman fallacy," and why AI receptionists might be dentistry's answer to the hoverboard fire hazard. It's a conversation about building a company from scratch inside an industry built on habit, and what happens to your ego when the whole thing goes a bit public and a bit personal. In This Episode 00:01:00 - Introductions 00:01:35 - Covid and crisis 00:07:25 - Meeting Abby 00:11:25 - Kautham's fintech past 00:14:15 - The leadership trio 00:16:00 - Opportunity, defined 00:23:10 - Cracking the UK 00:31:55 - Straumann and strategy 00:36:35 - Built-in payment plans 00:39:55 - Onboarding challenges 00:44:55 - Surprises in dentistry 00:50:25 - Software's weak spot 00:54:50 - Regulation as moat 00:56:20 - Shaking up events 01:03:55 - Rory's insights 01:14:15 - Voice Stack AI 01:17:45 - AI receptionist risks 01:22:45 - Blackbox thinking 01:32:25 - Fantasy dinner party 01:40:55 - Closing thoughts About Adrian Dray and Kautham Haran Adrian Dray is director of demand generation at CareStack, a cloud-based dental practice management system, having previously worked as a data protection officer within dentistry. Kautham Haran is CareStack's head of implementation, joining from a peer-to-peer invoice finance Start-Up he co-founded straight out of the University of Warwick. Together they lead CareStack's UK operation alongside Shamanth, their head of customer success.
Neil Sikka joins Payman to reflect on a career that has moved from single-surgery NHS dentistry in Bethnal Green to building a ten-practice London group, selling to Bupa, and now helping shape clinical strategy across one of the UK’s biggest dental organisations. He talks candidly about the Barbican Dental Care years, why he chose cultural fit over the highest offer when selling, and why he still practises one day a week after decades in the profession. This is also a conversation about service. From funding a dental carriage on India’s Lifeline Express to supporting Dentaid and Mercy Ships, Neil’s work outside the surgery is just as revealing as his business story. Expect thoughtful reflections on the mouth-body connection, Bupa’s future, clinical excellence, personal branding, charitable dentistry and the quiet art of getting on with people. In This Episode 00:01:00 - Bupa, leadership and clinical voice 00:02:45 - From Bethnal Green to Barbican 00:06:40 - Growing ten practices 00:10:30 - Selling the business 00:14:00 - Risk, reward and optimism 00:16:10 - Lifeline Express 00:21:35 - Mercy Ships and Dentaid 00:28:20 - Childhood and family 00:35:15 - Why he still practises 00:37:30 - Blackbox thinking 00:45:30 - Life inside Bupa 00:52:00 - Bupa Training Academy 00:57:00 - Mouth-body connection 00:59:15 - Personal branding 01:07:25 - A week in Neil’s life 01:18:15 - Dental learning and mentors 01:22:30 - Music, golf and real tennis 01:25:45 - Fantasy dinner party 01:28:40 - Last days and legacy About Neil Sikka Neil Sikka is Chief Dental Officer for Bupa Dental Insurance and Director of Dentistry at Bupa Dental Care. Before joining Bupa, he founded and grew Barbican Dental Care into a ten-practice London group, building a corporate dental plan model for major employers. He continues to practise one day a week and has long supported access-to-care projects through Dentaid, Mercy Ships and India’s Lifeline Express.
Recorded live at Bupa Dental Health Is Live, this Dental Leaders episode sees Payman joined by Andrew Bower from Philips Oral Healthcare for a sharp look at dentistry in 2040. The conversation moves from AI, robotics and connected toothbrushes to the bigger question of how oral health can become part of everyday whole-body care. Andrew explores Philips’ long-term view on prevention, consumer behaviour, clinical evidence and the challenge of making oral care feel less like a chore and more like a daily ritual. There’s also a grounded reminder that, even with smarter tools and faster data, dentistry still comes back to care, trust and human connection. In This Episode 00:02:05 - Dentistry in 2040 00:04:15 - Predictions and connectivity 00:05:00 - Oral care apathy 00:08:00 - Power toothbrush adoption 00:10:30 - Global dental differences 00:12:20 - Mouth-body connection 00:14:00 - Diagnostics and data 00:15:35 - Robots and clinicians 00:22:20 - Connected toothbrushes 00:40:20 - AI and productivity 00:47:25 - Last days and legacy 00:48:00 - Fantasy dinner party About Andrew Bower Andrew Bower is the global product category lead for Philips Oral Healthcare. With more than 20 years at Philips across consumer health, women’s health and oral care, he brings a global view of how technology, prevention and behavioural change are shaping the future of healthcare.
Ian Dunn didn't set out to become a periodontist. A chance encounter with a stranger in a hospital corridor, a course he took on a whim, and the absence of anyone else doing the job in Liverpool — that's how a specialism was born. In this episode, Payman sits down with Ian to trace a career shaped as much by happy accidents as by hard graft; from a comprehensive school kid who retook his A-levels, to one of the most respected perio voices in the north west. They cover the state of the profession — social media's double edge, the case for CPD reform, awards culture, and the strange silence around perio's role in systemic health. Ian is candid about a GDC case that cost him eleven months of sleep, and equally candid about why he'd never swap his associate chair for a principal's desk. In This Episod e 00:01:25 — Growing up in Liverpool 00:02:10 — Student life at Leeds 00:05:35 — Route into dentistry 00:11:50 — Ethics and professionalism 00:18:50 — Life as a GDP 00:19:25 — Route into periodontics 00:29:30 — How perio has changed 00:41:35 — The mouth-body connection 00:46:00 — What's changed in perio 00:52:55 — Good vs great periodontists 00:56:35 — Industry, big pharma and public education 01:00:25 — What grinds your gears 01:05:00 — Social media, awards and measuring success 01:15:25 — Teaching and self-promotion 01:16:30 — Hygienists, teamwork and hierarchy 01:20:25 — Liverpool 01:24:15 — Blackbox thinking 01:27:45 — GDC complaint 01:39:50 — Associate life and practice ownership 01:46:05 — Best lectures and resources 01:53:25 — Fantasy dinner party 01:56:15 — How Ian wants to be remembered About Ian Dunn Ian Dunn is a specialist periodontist based at Rose Lane Dental Practice in Liverpool, where he has worked for over 15 years. A graduate of Leeds, he spent a decade as an NHS GDP before finding his way into perio through a combination of luck, timing and relentless curiosity. Alongside his clinical work, Ian teaches on perio courses and has been active with the British Society of Periodontology, where he is a vocal advocate for hygienists, therapists, and anyone who believes the gums are everyone's business.
From pizza shop to Maxfax theatre — Sina Gilannejad's route into dentistry is anything but straightforward. Born in Northern Ireland to Iranian parents, Sina brings a rare blend of warmth, self-awareness, and hard-won clinical confidence to this conversation. He opens up about the anxiety that drove him towards DCT, the perfectionism that almost derailed him, and how a stint in maxillofacial surgery — confronting cancer, mortality, and the limits of medicine — fundamentally changed his relationship with the job. It's an honest, searching episode about what it actually means to become a dentist, and what to do once you've got there. In This Episode 00:01:10 - Extraction anxiety and the road to DCT 00:02:10 - Growing up in Northern Ireland 00:03:45 - Working in his dad's pizza shop 00:08:30 - Dental school in Bristol 00:16:45 - Politics, cancel culture and the Overton window 00:24:00 - "Most Presenting Complaint" — the podcast with Adam 00:25:25 - The FD year: imposter syndrome and mental health struggles 00:35:35 - Practitioners Health and CBT 00:39:20 - Patient communication and dentistry's image problem 00:41:45 - DCT explained — the case for and against 00:44:50 - DCT1 in Cardiff: oral medicine, oral surgery and Mike Lewis 00:50:05 - Choosing Maxfax — Chesterfield and DCT2 00:53:35 - Advice bias: the responsibility of giving career guidance 00:57:05 - To specialise or not to specialise 01:02:00 - General practice at Dental Beauty 01:04:10 - Wisdom teeth, retained roots and the perils of perfectionism 01:05:20 - Implants: the next step? 01:11:00 - Practice ownership, the super associate and social media 01:14:50 - Maxfax, mortality and perspective 01:22:10 - Blackbox thinking 01:26:50 - Teaching, favourite resources and DCT study budgets 01:38:50 - Fantasy dinner party 01:42:25 - Last days and legacy About Sina Gilannejad Sina Gilannejad is a dental core trainee who completed DCT1 in oral surgery and oral medicine at Cardiff and DCT2 in maxillofacial surgery at Chesterfield. A Bristol dental school graduate and former dental school president, he now works as an associate at Dental Beauty practices in Dalston and Basildon, with a particular interest in oral surgery and conscious sedation. He is also co-host of the Most Presenting Complaint podcast alongside fellow dentist Adam.
Meghan Chard is many things at once — principal dentist, practice owner, mum of three, and quietly passionate evangelist for childhood airway health. In this episode, she sits down with Payman for a wide-ranging conversation that takes in meeting her husband Simon at dental school, buying his family's Leicestershire practice a month before their first child arrived, and the very particular chaos of juggling clinical work, business ownership, and family life. Then there's the airway thread — and once Meghan gets going, you can see why she's hooked. Sleep disordered breathing in children is, she argues, a dramatically underscreened problem, and dentists are uniquely placed to spot it. In This Episode 00:00:55 — Introductions and Rothley Lodge 00:02:30 — Meeting Simon at King's 00:05:10 — Life as associates, then buying the practice 00:06:05 — Running the practice: ops vs. direction 00:08:25 — The dental family advantage 00:12:45 — Learning the numbers — and how Pärla helped 00:13:00 — Staff management and the art of delegation 00:15:30 — Superpowers and self-awareness 00:17:35 — The juggle: three kids, two clinical days, one nanny 00:20:00 — Something has to give 00:26:10 — Mary McAleese, Belfast, and family roots 00:30:05 — Childhood airway obstruction: signs, symptoms and the dentist's role 00:40:05 — Treatment: referral, palatal expansion and the habit-corrector appliance 00:54:10 — Case studies and outcomes 00:58:35 — Pärla: the emotional roller coaster of consumer business 01:05:35 — Covid and the darkest days of practice ownership 01:08:20 — Dental school, inferiority, and graduating second in the year 01:16:30 — Blackbox thinking 01:26:25 — Faith, spirituality, and community 01:30:50 — Succession planning 01:35:10 — How Meghan ended up in dentistry 01:39:15 — Best lecture: Malcolm Levinkind on teeth, posture and the body 01:41:50 — Favourite resources: Breath , Breathe Sleep Thrive , Saved by the Mouth 01:42:45 — Sauna obsession and longevity habits 01:43:55 — Fantasy dinner party 01:45:40 — What she'd do differently About Meghan Chard Meghan Chard is a principal dentist and co-owner of Rothley Lodge Dental Practice in Leicestershire, which she and her husband Simon Chard took over from his family in 2018. Alongside clinical practice and running the business, she has developed a keen interest in childhood sleep disordered breathing and consults for a paediatric airway appliance brand. She is also a niece-in-law of Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland.
What happens when a mechanical engineer spends a decade fixing factories, then walks away from it all to start dental school at 34? Henry Totterdell joins Payman to tell that story. He talks about the years spent solving problems on aircraft carriers and chemotherapy production lines, the slow-burning itch to do something with his hands, and why he finally took the plunge. Along the way they get into first principles, the magic of human connection over Zoom, where robots might fit into the chair one day, and the quiet privilege of a patient simply saying thank you. It's a conversation about taking the long way round — and arriving exactly where you meant to. In This Episode 00:01:55 - Travel and adventure 00:05:20 - Childhood in Stroud 00:06:15 - Choosing engineering 00:07:35 - Loughborough years 00:08:45 - Engineering versus dentistry 00:10:00 - First principles thinking 00:12:10 - Life as a consultant 00:17:15 - Losing his purpose 00:18:35 - The pharmaceutical world 00:21:00 - The itch to do medicine 00:22:15 - Working with his hands 00:23:50 - The leap to dental school 00:31:50 - The Innovations Hub 00:36:05 - First extraction 00:38:40 - Blackbox thinking 00:43:45 - Starting a business 00:44:55 - Lectures that stuck 00:48:10 - What makes a course brilliant 00:50:25 - The magic of being in the room 00:52:15 - Soft skills and integrity 00:54:20 - Reading the patient 00:57:45 - Regrets 01:01:45 - Robots in the chair 01:06:00 - Relentless optimism 01:06:45 - Darkest days 01:10:20 - Nervous patients 01:13:40 - Awards and recognition 01:16:20 - Confidence and family 01:18:35 - Fantasy dinner party 01:20:45 - Last days and legacy About Henry Totterdell Henry Totterdell is a third-year dental student at Bristol, having come to dentistry after a decade as a mechanical engineer and consultant. A Loughborough graduate, he worked across defence, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing before retraining at 34. Alongside his studies he runs a Dental Innovations Hub at Bristol, introducing students to the technology and business side of dentistry that the course doesn't cover.
Ali Al-Hassan is the walking embodiment of work hard, play hard — a young dentist who's gone from associate to super associate, practice co-owner and globe-trotter, all while building a following that brings patients straight to his chair. In this episode, he and Payman get into what really separates an ordinary associate from a "super" one: bringing in your own patients, owning your fees, and treating social media as your digital shop front. There's honest talk about outworking self-doubt, the awards debate, a vexatious GDC referral that came out of nowhere, and a wild Covid-era trading story that took a £50k bounce-back loan to seven figures and most of the way back down again. Threaded throughout is a simple philosophy — do the thing, do it thousands of times, and let it compound. You'll come away with plenty to think about, whether you're weighing up your own brand or just wondering how one person fits in this much living. In This Episode 00:02:30 - Work hard, play hard 00:08:10 - Growing up and family 00:14:30 - The inflection point 00:17:30 - Associate vs super associate 00:24:40 - Social media and the first Invisalign open day 00:33:15 - Tenacity and outworking self-doubt 00:39:05 - Niching down 00:49:50 - Cornerstones of safe GDP ortho 00:53:50 - Blackbox thinking 00:59:30 - The GDC referral 01:08:45 - Compounding and word of mouth 01:09:45 - Dental Opulence 01:18:55 - The awards debate 01:25:35 - Travel and friendships 01:29:25 - Working with Robbie 01:32:05 - The Covid trading story 01:42:25 - Examinations and case acceptance 01:48:05 - Composite bonding approach 01:54:50 - Finishing teeth upside down 01:56:25 - Fantasy dinner party 02:00:25 - Last days and legacy About Ali Al-Hassan Ali Al-Hassan, known online as Doctor Ali, is a Cardiff-trained dentist working across practices in Swindon, the Midlands and London, with a focus on Invisalign and composite. He's a super associate who built his patient base through years of consistent social media, and co-owns the Dental Opulence clinic in the Midlands. Away from the chair, he travels monthly, invests, and is renovating a house back home in Swindon.
Ashley King and Sophie Lovett run the international side of Pearl, the AI company that reads dental radiographs — and they turn up as a self-confessed package deal. The chat starts with what the tech actually does (a second opinion for clinicians, and a way to help patients finally see what's going on in their own mouths), but it doesn't stay there for long. Payman, Ashley and Sophie get into US versus UK dentistry, the state of the NHS, why trust beats price every time, and how AI is creeping into everyday work. Then it gets personal: women and AI, the awkwardness of asking for a pay rise, what happens when a woman out-earns her partner, and whether having children is selfless or selfish. Honest, funny and occasionally controversial — this one wanders well beyond the X-ray. In This Episode 00:00:50 - Life at a start-up 00:02:20 - Life on the road 00:04:35 - Distributors or your own office 00:06:05 - What Pearl does 00:09:30 - Accuracy and limits 00:10:45 - A controversial take 00:12:45 - AI and the future 00:18:35 - A cottage industry 00:21:20 - US vs UK dentistry 00:24:40 - NHS vs private 00:30:20 - Getting set up 00:34:00 - The price 00:35:40 - Why trust is everything 00:37:45 - The word "sell" 00:40:35 - Living in London 00:46:50 - The worst of America 00:51:50 - Politics 00:56:05 - AI in their own work 01:00:50 - Women and AI 01:02:30 - The pay rise problem 01:05:20 - The gender pay gap 01:08:25 - Femininity as power 01:11:00 - Relationships and self-reliance 01:13:55 - Children 01:16:30 - Out-earning a partner 01:25:10 - "I'm just a hygienist" 01:26:30 - Business influences 01:33:50 - Biggest business mistakes 01:38:40 - Competitors and USP 01:45:40 - Guilty pleasures 01:49:05 - Fantasy dinner party 01:54:00 - Ministry of Sound About Ashley King & Sophie Lovett Ashley King leads international partnerships at Pearl, having started out in dental back in 2018 at VOCO; she's from North Carolina and now calls London home. Sophie Lovett heads up Pearl's international market development and, despite only three years in dentistry, talks the clinical language like a native. The two are best friends as much as colleagues — which is exactly why they turned up to record together.
Professor Tara Renton OBE brings four generations of dental history — and a career built on curiosity rather than ambition — to her conversation with Payman. From navigating undiagnosed dyslexia and a father who begged her not to follow him into dentistry, to becoming the first female chair of oral surgery at King's College London, her story is one of serendipity, resilience, and an almost obsessive interest in the patient behind the pain. She shares remarkable insights into orofacial pain — nerve injuries, psychosocial histories, patients whose chronic pain only begins to shift when someone finally takes the time to ask the right question — and makes a compelling case for multidisciplinary thinking in a profession she feels has been far too siloed for far too long. Sharp reflections on surgical safety, local anaesthetic technique, and the state of dental education sit alongside something warmer: a life philosophy that's disarmingly simple. Stay curious. In This Episode 00:02:50 - Four generations of dentists 00:06:05 - Child dental health crisis 00:07:20 - New grandmother 00:10:00 - Choosing dentistry 00:17:05 - Serendipity over ambition 00:37:15 - The juggle: three kids and a PhD 00:41:00 - Bullying and misogyny in surgery 00:44:45 - King's: first chair in oral surgery 00:47:35 - Multidisciplinary pain clinic 00:49:25 - The Iranian patient 00:56:00 - Trust underpins consent 01:00:00 - Classifying orofacial pain 01:07:05 - When grief resolves chronic pain 01:12:15 - Blackbox thinking 01:17:00 - Local anaesthetic tips 01:22:00 - Wrong site surgery 01:25:30 - Dental student selection 01:27:15 - Redesigning the dental course 01:47:50 - Bruxism: rethinking the evidence 01:50:15 - Fantasy dinner party 01:53:45 - Last days and legacy About Professor Tara Renton OBE Professor Tara Renton OBE is Emeritus Professor of Oral Surgery at King's College London Dental Institute, where she became the first female chair of oral surgery — and one of the world's leading authorities on orofacial pain and nerve injury. Over a career spanning more than 40 years, she has authored over 250 research papers, completed a PhD centred on morbidity following third molar surgery, established a pioneering multidisciplinary pain clinic at King's, and carried out extensive medico-legal work in surgical safety. She is the co-founder of the patient resource orofacialpain.org.uk.
Mike Gray's path to dentistry was anything but straightforward — and that's precisely what makes this conversation so compelling. A former semi-professional mountain biker who raced the World Series across three disciplines, a musician who once had the head of Universal Publishing sitting in his living room in rural Wales, and a dentist who spent years doing everything he could to avoid dentistry, Mike has lived several lives before arriving at the one he clearly loves. Payman and Mike cover the full sweep — grief, therapy, surgical war stories, and an obsessive, self-taught approach to digital restorative dentistry that culminates in his POISE Protocol: a no-prep veneer workflow that he believes makes truly minimally invasive ceramics available to the vast majority of patients, not just a lucky five per cent. In This Episode 00:00:55 – Introductions and first impressions 00:01:20 – Mountain biking career 00:09:15 – A friend's suicide, guilt and stepping back from maxfax 00:12:15 – Therapy 00:14:10 – Life on the World Series circuit 00:19:25 – From maxfax to music 00:28:10 – Blackbox thinking 00:33:45 – Music career — Alabama Three, Peppa Pig and Covid 00:49:25 – NHS dentistry debate 00:51:50 – Falling in love with dentistry 00:54:40 – Self-taught restorative and the digital workflow 01:00:25 – Ditching the articulator 01:01:20 – Prototypes, not temporaries 01:05:10 – Into implants 01:11:00 – Compassion fatigue 01:13:40 – POISE protocol and no-prep ceramics 01:25:10 – The Lodge and the course 01:29:05 – Resilience and failure 01:34:20 – Practice ownership 01:41:10 – Instagram 01:49:20 – Fantasy dinner party About Mike Gray Mike Gray is a dentist based in Wales, working at Parkway Clinic in Swansea and The Lodge — a referral and education centre where he hosts his sold-out POISE Protocol course on minimally invasive ceramic veneers. His background spans maxillofacial surgery, semi-professional mountain biking at World Series level, and a music career that attracted interest from Universal Publishing and, improbably, Peppa Pig. He teaches himself CAD, machines his own surgical instruments, and has spent five years developing a digital workflow for no-prep ceramic restorations that he believes renders feldspathic and heavy preparation largely redundant.
Rawa Jawad Quinn is a dentist-turned-tech founder whose restless energy and refusal to be underestimated have shaped every chapter of her career. In this episode, she tells Payman about growing up in Chelsea after her Iraqi family fled Kuwait with nothing, studying in Liverpool, and working across 16 dental practices before channelling her frustrations into Medicube — a consent and patient communication platform built to give associates the consistency they've never had. The conversation takes some wonderfully unexpected detours into quantum physics, telepathy, AI-driven futures and the spiritual experiences that Rawa can't quite explain but absolutely trusts. There's also plenty of practical wisdom on occlusion, practice culture and what it really takes to bootstrap a dental tech start-up while raising a three-year-old without a nanny. In This Episode 00:00:45 – Introduction and welcome 00:01:25 – Growing up on the Kings Road and childhood in Chelsea 00:03:30 – Studying dentistry in Liverpool and reinvention 00:07:00 – Dyslexia diagnosis and learning differently 00:10:10 – The itch beyond dentistry 00:14:00 – Fleeing Kuwait, starting over in the UK 00:16:25 – Why her parents' medical careers put her off medicine 00:18:05 – Ambition, being underestimated and self-belief 00:23:15 – Spirituality, connectedness and trusting intuition 00:26:10 – Wanting it all — motherhood, marriage and a start-up 00:31:00 – Lessons from 16 dental practices 00:36:25 – Working in corporates and at Bupa 00:41:20 – NHS vs private practice 00:45:15 – The birth of Medicube 00:48:30 – How Medicube works and pilot results 00:55:55 – Finding a co-founder and the UCL connection 00:58:50 – Funding through grants, awards and bootstrapping 01:03:25 – AI, the Turing test and the future of work 01:10:25 – Robots, relationships and what makes us human 01:22:55 – Physics, multiverse theory and keeping an open mind 01:28:40 – Blackbox thinking 01:33:40 – A patient with buyer's remorse after crown preps 01:36:55 – Occlusion, full mouth rehabs and the Dawson Academy 01:43:20 – Tech conferences and the reality of being a founder 01:47:05 – Fantasy dinner party About Rawa Jawad Quinn Rawa Jawad Quinn is a dentist based in Belfast, currently working at Bupa, with a particular interest in full mouth rehabilitation cases. She is also the co-founder of Medicube, a dental tech platform that streamlines consent, treatment planning and patient communication. Rawa trained at the Dawson Academy and Chris Hall's programme, and has worked across 16 practices spanning NHS, private and corporate settings.
Andy Acton returns to the Dental Leaders hot seat for a proper deep-cut conversation about the business of owning a dental practice — from first purchase right through to the exit. Payman and Andy cover the current market (spoiler: banks still love dentists, and buyers far outnumber sellers), before getting into the real meat of the episode: owner fatigue. Andy breaks down the five categories of burnout he's observed across 25 years of working with practice owners, and it's the kind of honest, unglamorous stuff that rarely gets aired. There's also a brilliant success story about a single-surgery practice that became a near-£2 million sale in four years, plus some sharp advice on what not to do in your first month of ownership. Whether you're thinking about buying, selling, or just trying to work out why you're so tired, this one's well worth your time. In This Episode 00:00:50 – Andy's business portfolio and the FTA family of companies 00:03:10 – Market snapshot: supply, demand and the state of play in December 2025 00:04:15 – Squats vs acquisitions 00:07:35 – What buyers are really looking for 00:10:15 – Occupancy levels and the case for maximising before expanding 00:13:10 – Corporates vs independents: deal structures and flexibility 00:17:10 – Patient attrition when the owner leaves 00:20:25 – Horror stories and success stories: flipping practices 00:28:15 – Young dentists buying early and the bank of mum and dad 00:31:05 – Would Andy encourage his kids to become dentists? 00:33:20 – Owner fatigue: five categories of burnout 00:35:25 – How valuation methods have evolved over 25 years 00:42:45 – Raising finance and banking terms 00:45:45 – The ownership lifecycle and signs of fatigue 00:55:55 – Sales readiness: the checklist 01:05:30 – Business education and the case for teaching it at school 01:13:05 – Understanding financial accounts and key KPIs 01:18:25 – Quick-fire: favourite business book, business hero, and the green lights philosophy 01:25:15 – Dental leaders who inspire Andy 01:32:25 – Fly on the wall moment: the Man United treble changing room About Andy Acton Andy Acton is co-founder of Frank Taylor Associates, one of the UK's leading dental practice sales and valuation firms. Alongside his business partner Chris, Andy has built a portfolio of dental-focussed businesses, including FTA Finance, FTA Media, FTA Wealth, and the Principals Club — a members-only community for independent practice owners. He has worked in the dental sector for over 25 years.
In this lively and layered episode of Mind Movers, Vanita Rattan joins Rhona and Payman to talk about medicine, entrepreneurship, motherhood and the sheer force of personality it takes to build something different. She traces her path from UCL medical school to formulating skincare for skin of colour, then opening clinics around the world before Covid forced a brutal pivot into social media and direct-to-consumer growth. What follows is not just a business story. It is a conversation about dyslexia, immigrant pressure, obsession, sacrifice, miscarriage, ambition and the cost of always operating in warrior mode. Honest, sharp and occasionally uncomfortable, this one goes well beyond skincare. In This Episode 00:01:15 - Medicine to formulation 00:02:05 - Building global clinics 00:05:05 - Covid and the pivot 00:06:20 - Community over following 00:10:25 - Crisis mode and grit 00:15:00 - Opportunity cost thinking 00:20:15 - Dyslexia and determination 00:27:25 - Business, children and sacrifice 00:31:00 - Money, ambition and power 00:56:25 - Miscarriage and autopilot About Vanita Rattan Vanita Rattan is a medical doctor, cosmetic formulator and entrepreneur focused on skincare for skin of colour. After qualifying in medicine at UCL, she trained in formulation, built the Hyperpigmentation Clinic into an international business, and later grew a highly engaged skincare brand through education-led content and direct community input. She is known for combining science, straight talking and a clear mission to serve women who have long been overlooked by mainstream beauty.
At just 27, Ali Hashemizadeh is doing things most dentists twice his age haven't managed — two private associate roles, a growing reputation as an endodontist, and the kind of self-awareness that usually takes a decade to develop. In this episode, Payman sits down with the Newcastle-based, Aberdeen-raised, Iranian dentist to trace the path from a rocky first year on the NHS to finding his feet in private practice. Ali talks candidly about the complaint that rocked him early in his career, the perspective shift it forced, and why he's genuinely glad it happened. It's a conversation about curiosity, resilience, and the quiet power of just cracking on. In This Episode 00:00:50 – Introduction: Ali Hashemizadeh 00:03:45 – Lifelong learning 00:07:25 – The future of dental events 00:14:30 – Optimism as a work philosophy 00:15:35 – NHS complaint, first job 00:19:40 – Resilience and perspective 00:21:10 – Going private early 00:22:25 – Becoming the endo guy 00:25:55 – Generalist or specialist? 00:26:50 – The disease of the twenties 00:28:30 – Iranian roots in Aberdeen 00:38:15 – Foundation year in London 00:40:55 – Outdoor pursuits and Ironman training 00:46:10 – CBCT and safe-ended files 00:50:05 – Endo, implants and aesthetics under one roof 00:52:00 – Treatment coordinators and ethical selling 00:57:15 – The value of mentorship 00:59:00 – Networking and landing the jobs 01:02:55 – The two practices compared 01:07:35 – Lucas Lassman and the most inspiring lecture 01:10:40 – Dental resources: YouTube and Instagram 01:15:10 – Being Mortal and Man's Search for Meaning 01:16:30 – Modern Wisdom and guilty pleasures 01:22:35 – Ten-year plan 01:27:40 – Fantasy dinner party About Ali Hashemizadeh Ali Hashemizadeh is a 27-year-old private associate dentist working across two practices in the northeast of England — Middleton Saint George Dental in Darlington and Ken Harris's clinic in Sunderland — where he has developed a particular focus on endodontics. Born and raised in Aberdeen to Iranian parents, he qualified from Newcastle University and completed his foundation year in London before heading back north.
Grant Goodstein isn't a dentist — and that might be exactly why this episode is so refreshing. An American tech exec turned practice owner, Grant moved to London for love (a Hannah Montana-inspired trip to LA, a dating app, and a last-minute Vegas concert, if you can believe it) and ended up buying a mixed NHS practice in Fulham with his wife, Leah. What follows is a masterclass in what happens when someone with zero clinical background but serious business chops walks into a neighbourhood dental practice and starts asking, "What do patients actually want?" From GBT machines and AI phone systems to living wage accreditation and obsessing over Wi-Fi signal strength in the toilet, Grant's approach is equal parts Silicon Valley hustle and genuine community spirit. In This Episode 00:01:00 – Meeting Leah: dating apps, Hannah Montana and a spontaneous trip to Vegas 00:06:15 – London vs Los Angeles 00:08:25 – Growing up sports-obsessed and working for Michigan basketball 00:13:10 – Coaching rituals and building team enthusiasm 00:15:25 – Buying the practice: staff turnover, evolution vs revolution 00:19:35 – Practice valuations then and now 00:22:05 – Listening to patients and expanding hygiene 00:26:10 – Running a mixed practice: the case for keeping NHS 00:32:20 – Growing Invisalign from 20 to 100 cases a year 00:34:10 – Genuine interest, patient conversations and the "daughter test" 00:36:10 – The search for the right practice 00:41:20 – Nervous patients and the patient experience 00:43:35 – Investing in GBT and premium hygiene 00:49:40 – Learning when and how to say no 00:55:25 – Tech stack: CareStack, VoIP, AI transcription and remote hiring 01:02:45 – Reception as a revenue driver 01:06:25 – Training, role plays and AI for SOPs 01:09:20 – High-performing teams: sports analogies in practice 01:11:30 – Blackbox thinking 01:15:20 – Refurb lessons and driving urgency 01:18:50 – Finding purpose after tech burnout 01:21:15 – Favourite business books 01:24:50 – Fantasy dinner party 01:31:15 – Leah's fearless flyer course and treating nervous patients About Grant Goodstein Grant Goodstein is the managing director of Pearly Whites dental practice in Fulham, London, which he co-owns with his wife, dentist Leah Goodstein. A University of Michigan economics graduate, Grant previously worked in tech — including a stint at Twitter — before moving to the UK and channelling his business background into practice ownership.
Mehy Lo Presti joins Payman on the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation that's equal parts origin story and quiet manifesto. Raised in the heartland of La Mancha by a Palestinian father and Italian mother, Mehy arrived in London in 2015 with barely any English, no NHS number, and — as it turns out — very little interest in following the conventional path. He's since built a reputation not just as a restorative associate but as one of dentistry's most creative event and experience designers, currently channelling that energy into Dent Town, a major immersive dental conference launching this September. The conversation ranges freely across the fear culture surrounding the GDC, the science of patient experience design, and the painful economics of putting on events that are actually good — before landing somewhere unexpectedly personal, as Mehy opens up about the impact of October 7th on his family and his mental health in the weeks surrounding his daughter's birth. In This Episode 00:00:55 - Introductions 00:01:50 - The outsider mentality 00:03:05 - Palestinian-Italian roots and growing up in La Mancha 00:07:15 - On parenting and giving children freedom 00:10:30 - Problems with conventional education 00:30:55 - GDC fear culture vs Spain 00:37:10 - Moving to London from scratch 00:40:20 - First steps in private practice 00:41:25 - Master's in aesthetic restorative dentistry at King's 00:43:20 - College of Extraordinary Experiences 00:48:00 - Patient Experience Design 00:49:30 - Designing the ideal squat 00:52:55 - Reception as the heart of the practice 01:02:10 - Google reviews and the "feel" factor 01:04:05 - Associate vs clinic owner 01:09:15 - The economics of running events 01:17:15 - Events mistakes 01:20:50 - Blackbox thinking 01:25:00 - Setting patient expectations 01:29:20 - Favourite resources 01:32:05 - Fantasy dinner party 01:36:25 - October 7th, Gaza, and personal impact 01:43:00 - Faith, karma, and identity About Mehy Lo Presti Mehy Lo Presti is a London-based associate dentist with a master's degree in aesthetic and restorative dentistry from King's College London, currently practising at The Kensington Dentist. A son of Palestinian and Italian parents who met in Egypt and settled in Spain, he grew up in La Mancha before relocating to London in 2015. He is probably best known as the creative force behind Global Dental Collective and the Dental Rama brand, and is now co-founder of Denttown — an immersive two-day dental conference launching in September 2026.
Prav is back in the host's chair for a conversation that's quite literally close to home — Andy Sloan is his boss. Andy is the MD of Agilio, the dental software and compliance platform, and a man who has overseen well over a hundred practice acquisitions throughout his career. But before any of that, he was a council house kid from the Wirral, running paper rounds at 14, pulling pints at 18, and somehow landing — by his own admission — in dentistry entirely by accident. This episode traces that unlikely path through hospitality, banking, accountancy and private equity, unpicking the one constant that runs through all of it: relationships. Andy opens up about the dark periods too — fertility struggles, the pressure of simultaneous transactions, and the moments where burnout lurked closer than he'd care to admit. Honest, warm and genuinely self-aware, it's a cracking listen—or catch the video on whichever platform you usually get your weekly Dental Leaders dose. In This Episode 00:00:20 - Introducing Andy Sloan - Prav's boss 00:02:15 - Early life 00:12:10 - Hospitality years 00:26:40 - Meeting Lynette; buying the pub 00:27:00 - Banking and sales 00:38:15 - Into dentistry — DBG 00:43:50 - Henry Schein Business Solutions and Europe 00:46:45 - Portman Dental 00:59:05 - Joining Julio; building the tribe 01:04:00 - Julio's growth — 17 acquisitions in under five years 01:07:35 - Relationships as the common thread 01:13:20 - Blackbox thinking 01:15:45 - Practice valuations — the levers that matter 01:27:25 - Dark moments 01:34:55 - Julio's future and the Dental OS vision 01:37:10 - Dentistry Reimagined 01:41:25 - Last days and legacy About Andy Sloan Andy Sloan is the Managing Director of Agilio, the dental software and compliance group that has completed 17 acquisitions in under five years. His career spans hospitality, banking, private equity and dental M&A — including a spell as Business Development Director at Portman Dental Care, where he oversaw the acquisition of more than 120 practices. He is also the founder of Dentistry Reimagined, an independent industry event focused on the conversations dentistry has been too cautious to have.
This week, Payman sits down with Zain Remy, a Newcastle-based practice owner whose path to dentistry was anything but straightforward. After missing out on dental school the first time round, Zain took the pharmacology route, grafted his way through eight years of study, and eventually qualified from King's College London in 2016. What followed was a decade of pivotal decisions — a golden handshake from a corporate, a restorative diploma that nearly cost him his job, and a mental health crisis serious enough to land him in hospital for two months. Rather than shy away from any of it, Zain unpacks each chapter with an honesty that's genuinely refreshing. By October 2023, he'd bought his own private practice in Newcastle — and the lessons he's drawn from every stumble along the way are, frankly, worth the listen alone. In This Episode 00:00:50 - Introduction 00:01:35 - Growing up in London 00:02:00 - Dad the dental technician 00:04:40 - Dental school reflections 00:14:45 - The pharmacology detour 00:20:30 - Heading northeast 00:22:40 - Foundation year 00:24:20 - The corporate golden handshake 00:30:05 - Restorative diploma and CPD 00:40:05 - Burnout 00:43:05 - Mental health crisis 00:50:35 - Recovery and talking therapy 00:57:25 - Buying the practice 01:00:30 - Practice ownership: the hard reality 01:05:10 - The associate–principal relationship 01:10:25 - Social media as a clinical tool 01:16:05 - Diary of Dental Practice Owners 01:20:15 - The awards debate 01:29:35 - Hiring and firing 01:33:05 - Blackbox thinking 01:40:05 - Fantasy dinner party 01:44:30 - Favourite and least favourite treatments 01:46:10 - Future vision About Zain Remy Zain Remy is a dental practice owner based in Newcastle, who qualified from King's College London in 2016 after first completing a pharmacology degree. Having worked across NHS and mixed practices in the northeast, he acquired his own fully private practice in October 2023. He holds a postgraduate diploma in restorative dentistry and runs the Diary of Dental Practice Owners community on Facebook, offering an unfiltered look at life as an independent practice principal.
