Pete Niesiolowski provides a glimpse into a dental journey that has taken him from the UK to Australia, and back.

Pete discusses life down under, the challenges of transitioning from NHS to private care, and thoughts on the overlap between implant provision and cosmetic dentistry.

Enjoy! 

 

01.20 – Backstory

15.20 –  NHS to private practice

21.15 – Australia

27.00 –  Discovering cosmetic dentistry

29.30 – Practice ownership

31.30 – Implant journey, training and experience

51.15 – Blackbox thinking

01.13.20 – Fantasy dinner party

01.07.30 – Thoughts on the future

 

About Pete Niesiolowski

Dr Pete Niesiolowski graduated from King’s College London in 1997 with his bachelor of dental surgery degree. He has worked in general dental practice for over two decades, including eight years running a practice in Australia.

Speaker1: But Hackney, that’s what Hackney used to be like. It was not mental health, not essential. But [00:00:05] we had the Homerton, the um, hospital. There was a lot of them there. And so we used to see a lot of patients like [00:00:10] that. Yeah, just strange ones. I had a patient propose to me once. Didn’t [00:00:15] that happen all the time? No, no. Again, that was in Hackney.

Speaker2: This [00:00:20] is Dental. Leaders. The [00:00:25] podcast where you get to go one on one with emerging leaders in dentistry. [00:00:30] Your hosts [00:00:35] Payman Langroudi and Prav Solanki.

Speaker1: It gives me great pleasure to welcome [00:00:40] Doctor Pete Nikolovski to the podcast. Pete, you’re, um, kind of under the radar [00:00:45] kind of guy. That’s actually why I wanted you on this. This pod. Because [00:00:50] your work is wonderful. I look at your your work all the time. It [00:00:55] gets sort of. You get a feeling sometimes when something’s so natural and [00:01:00] yet you’re not out there. Um. Very much. And, um, I wanted to. To meet you, [00:01:05] to tell you the truth is to go through all of that. And I’m sure there’s loads of people who’ll be interested in you. [00:01:10] Um, Pete works at Dental now, but we’ve come across each other at [00:01:15] Sardinia House as well. Um, we generally tend to start with, um, backstory, [00:01:20] where we born. What kind of kid were you? That sort of stuff. Right. Yeah. I was actually [00:01:25] born up the road from here. Um, probably 500m away. Belsize Park? Yes, literally. [00:01:30] Um, there was a maternity hospital. No longer there. Now it’s a block of flats, but, [00:01:35] yeah, 1973. That’s where I popped into the world. Yeah. What kind of kid were you? There’ll [00:01:40] be two stories about that. There’s my version and my parents version. I think I [00:01:45] was a good kid. My parents disagree. Yeah, they think, um, they think it was quite naughty. [00:01:50] But, uh, I think I worked hard, I think I was generally pretty good myself. So [00:01:55] brothers and sisters, one younger brother, three and a half years younger.

Speaker1: Mhm. Um, [00:02:00] we get on all right. He’s okay. And your parents are Polish. [00:02:05] You tell me. Yeah. Dad. Um, dad was born here. Um, he [00:02:10] came over. Well, he he was born here. His parents came over during the war. Um, after [00:02:15] the war, um, and then my mum was born over in Poland. She came over here in 71 [00:02:20] when she married my father. And were there any dentists in the family or anything? Why? Dentistry. No [00:02:25] dentists in the family. But my dad, um, basically, my [00:02:30] dad got terrible career advice when he was younger, and he didn’t [00:02:35] want me to have the same problems as he had when he was in his 20s. He went into chemistry because [00:02:40] he liked chemistry, and there was no one in his family or at school or anywhere, [00:02:45] it seemed, that could tell him that chemistry is a really shit career. And as soon as you [00:02:50] have a family, chemistry is not going to pay the bills. So he wanted me to get into something that a [00:02:55] I liked, b I was good at, and c ultimately would be a career for life where I could support my family. [00:03:00] So what did your dad end up doing? He ended up doing having his own company. [00:03:05] Um, so he did chemistry for a bit. But then when my brother and myself were born, that that [00:03:10] went. So he then worked in sales for a bit and about 30 [00:03:15] odd years ago set up his own company doing drug trials.

Speaker1: Um, so, you know, medical testing [00:03:20] if something works or if something doesn’t, you should put me in touch with him. Is he still working? No. He retired a few [00:03:25] years ago. Having to do a bunch of those right now. Oh, really? Yeah. [00:03:30] Um, so what were you thinking of? Any other career choice [00:03:35] other than dentistry? Yeah, a stunt man. No, [00:03:40] no. I’m joking. Um, no no, no international DJ yeah, yeah. Um, [00:03:45] no. From the age of 14. Dentistry. It was why, though? I [00:03:50] liked. I’ve always liked science. I’ve always liked medical things. I’ve always liked artistic stuff. Working with my [00:03:55] hands. They’re the cliche answers that you give at dental school for the interview, aren’t they? Yeah, but they’re [00:04:00] true. And I wanted what my dad wanted for me, which was a career for. For life. [00:04:05] Something I could travel with, something, you know, security. And were you the top [00:04:10] of your class kind of kid? That that at school? Yeah. Not far off it at [00:04:15] dental school. Closer to the at the bottom end. I [00:04:20] failed my second year. Um, um, because I discovered, [00:04:25] um, university life was quite a lot of fun in most cases, certainly in the first few years. [00:04:30] And did you grow up around Belsize Park as well? No, no. Um, north London. Barnet. [00:04:35] Um, did you did you not think of leaving London for university? No, I [00:04:40] quite like London. Yeah, I know there’s there’s a lot more apart from London in this country, [00:04:45] but I’ve always really liked it and I wanted to study there.

Speaker1: And at the time King’s was, [00:04:50] I think, number one rated dental school in the country. And I quite liked the idea of [00:04:55] going there. So. But then did you live away or what did you do? No, I actually lived at home. [00:05:00] So would you give your son or daughter that same advice to do that? Because I wouldn’t. [00:05:05] The same advice to stay at home and study. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I know that it limits them [00:05:10] in some respects, but financially it turned out to be a good thing because I didn’t leave dental school with huge bills. [00:05:15] Um, and ultimately, knowing the way I was behaving myself, it probably, [00:05:20] probably helped me to pass my exams. So I’ve got my son. My son’s in A-levels [00:05:25] now. Yeah. And he wants to be do engineering, right. And we live well. [00:05:30] He goes to school in South Kensington and Imperial College is it’s like [00:05:35] a ten second walk from his school, and loads of his friends are going to [00:05:40] go there. They’re going to try and get in there. And I’m telling him, look, come on, you’re going to live another [00:05:45] dimension of your life. Now, that said, when I, when I, when I was at your stage, [00:05:50] uh, looking well when, when we’re doing A-levels, I also wanted to stay in London. [00:05:55] Didn’t get the grades.

Speaker1: Ended up in Cardiff. Um, so I understand the sentiment. [00:06:00] Like every 17, 18 year old thinks they know it. All right, so I thought I knew it all. [00:06:05] I had my friends in London, I knew what London was about. But leaving was wonderful. Like the whole [00:06:10] dimension of Cardiff and all the people I met there and everything. Um, so [00:06:15] now I’m giving my son the advice. I’m saying don’t even put Imperial down as one of the choices. I mean, it’s one of the best [00:06:20] universities in the world, though, isn’t it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, the experience of university and more than [00:06:25] the education, right? I mean, I think I got that anyway because I went to [00:06:30] an all boys school. Um, which one, which one? Um, Finchley. Okay. In uh in Finchley. Yeah. [00:06:35] Um, and so I hung out with all boys, went [00:06:40] to the pub with all boys. There was a girls school up the road. Occasionally we had a little fling with one of them, but it was all, [00:06:45] you know, boys, boys, boys, boys, boys. Yeah, all from that area, all from the same backgrounds. [00:06:50] And then I went to university and suddenly there was people from everywhere. There was, there was girls [00:06:55] and lots of them, and there was, there was guys from all over the country, different backgrounds [00:07:00] everywhere, different countries, all studying different things. So it was really, really an eye opener. [00:07:05] That’s kind of where I found myself.

Speaker1: And that’s even though I was in London, I still feel that [00:07:10] I got a really good experience there for certainly for, for that aspect of [00:07:15] things. So, so I went to a boys school and, um, I’d class [00:07:20] girls as Martians. Back then they were a bit. Yeah. I used to think. I [00:07:25] used to think that if you were got managed to get a girl to kiss you, you’d have [00:07:30] to fool her into it. You know what I mean? Like that. That that’s how little we understood. [00:07:35] I still do, I still do now. I have [00:07:40] to get my wife drunk. That’s happening. But. But again, my advice [00:07:45] to my kids, or what I wanted for my kids, wasn’t that I wanted them in a mixed school. Yeah. How do you feel [00:07:50] about that? My kids are in mixed school. Are probably an active decision. Probably. [00:07:55] Probably. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me about it. They’re both very comfortable now with boys [00:08:00] and girls. Exactly. They can talk to them and they don’t get all embarrassed about it. Exactly. Whereas we were like, shit, [00:08:05] it’s a girl. Yeah. What are we gonna do? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think it’s a good decision. [00:08:10] Do they go to the same school? Yeah. Nice. Nice. Um, tell me about your Dental school experience. [00:08:15] Um. It was good at first. A [00:08:20] lot of fun. Um, but I left King’s pretty [00:08:25] bitter about the whole experience. Actually, I really didn’t like it very much.

Speaker1: I found it very cliquey. I [00:08:30] found it really. I mean, they tried to hold me back in my finals for no other [00:08:35] reason than politics. They said I wasn’t a strong enough candidate to pass my [00:08:40] exams, my finals, and they didn’t want me entering in case I didn’t pass. Yeah. Um, [00:08:45] because ultimately there’s a competition between Dental schools to have like the highest [00:08:50] pass rate in particularly with the London ones back in the day. Um, so they, [00:08:55] they fabricated some stuff. Um, they said that I hadn’t passed all my coursework, that I hadn’t [00:09:00] attended enough lectures, all this sort of thing to try and lower my grades. And I had [00:09:05] to argue with them for, for weeks and weeks and weeks just to let you sit, to show [00:09:10] them that I had attended everything that I had passed my coursework. I said, if I haven’t passed my coursework, what’s what [00:09:15] is this? You know, this has been marked, this has passed. I went round to all the heads of department and gradually [00:09:20] sort of managed to win them all over. Found out it was actually the Dean and, [00:09:25] um, one of the other heads of department that had sort of they just didn’t like me for whatever [00:09:30] reason, I don’t know. But I got in. Did the finals passed? No problem at all. But [00:09:35] yeah, I left King’s having um, I’d say not not brilliant thoughts about it, saying I’d [00:09:40] never return.

Speaker1: You know, I didn’t I didn’t ever want to go back there that day [00:09:45] when you leave school and you sort of turn round and emotionally look at the gates, you know, it’s like the end of an [00:09:50] era. King’s last day got my finals, walked out, ran and [00:09:55] what I mean, okay, you were never going to go back to King’s, but did you decide you’re never going to do an exam again? [00:10:00] Did you decide you’re not going to specialise? Nothing like that. No, no I did, it was King’s based. It was King’s. Yeah. [00:10:05] And it was only because of the, the Clickiness. And it was the kind of place, you know, we used to sign [00:10:10] if one of your mates wasn’t going to be in, would sign their name in the register. King’s was the sort of place if [00:10:15] you sign someone’s name and someone saw you, they’d rub it out. You know, the other students, there was just no camaraderie [00:10:20] there at all. No camaraderie. It was it wasn’t a nice place for me. Yeah. I think, you know, [00:10:25] we need to have this conversation more about Dental school, the hierarchy of [00:10:30] that. Um, I’m not sure. I mean, we’re sort of very similar [00:10:35] era, um, but I’m not sure exactly what happens now, [00:10:40] but just based on, you know, the evolution of the course. I mean, I’m quite [00:10:45] interested in the Dental course has not changed much since my day. In your day. Yeah. [00:10:50] And so what that tells me is that maybe the hierarchy thing hasn’t changed much either.

Speaker1: I’m sure [00:10:55] it hasn’t. And, you know, your whole life is in the hands of 1 or 2 people. For personally, [00:11:00] I had A11 altercation with one member of staff in the third year. The [00:11:05] guy made it his mission to make my life hell after that. This is, I think, what probably happened to me as well. [00:11:10] And it was a funny thing. It was, it was it was, uh, on clinic. I took an impression. [00:11:15] I thought it was a fine impression. Showed him he threw it across the clinic, said, this [00:11:20] is rubbish. I took the same impression, took it to another, um, demonstrator, [00:11:25] and he said, yeah, fine. So I carried on, but he saw me do [00:11:30] that and he was not happy about that. Yeah. Um, now my point [00:11:35] is this that one teacher can solidly [00:11:40] affect what happens to you in Dental school and under the guise [00:11:45] of dentists are under pressure. So we’ll put some pressure on the students [00:11:50] to see if they can manage, which probably is real, that there is some of that. I’ve got no problem with that. [00:11:55] Yeah, yeah. But under that guise, some people get an awful experience through dental school [00:12:00] that there’s a degree of abuse in it, you know. Yeah. And I mean some and some of the, the lecturers will [00:12:05] get a little power trip from it as well. Yeah. It’s human nature.

Speaker1: Right. When you put a lot of power [00:12:10] in someone’s hands. Yeah. Um, did you party or did you study? Were you which which [00:12:15] one of those students were you both? Oh, first. First few years party [00:12:20] too much? Yeah. Um, failed my second year. Yeah. Had to reset. Um, [00:12:25] came up with the most fabulous story to get myself back in, which [00:12:30] we won’t go into now. Um, but it involved a lot of lies and deceit. [00:12:35] Um. Um, and then after [00:12:40] that, after after the failure, I sort of my, my career flashed before my eyes or lack of potential [00:12:45] career. And then I, then I buckled down. Then I did actually work quite hard in the clinical years. Mhm. [00:12:50] And did you feel like you took more to the hands on than to the, you know the learning. [00:12:55] Yeah. Completely completely. I mean that’s one thing they don’t emphasise in dental school enough is it. Yeah. [00:13:00] You know it’s actually a hands on career. Does it really matter if you know [00:13:05] what something looks like under a microscope. Does it matter if you can differentiate between different types of [00:13:10] cancer or something that you’re never going to need to use that? But yet we spend months and months learning it. What [00:13:15] they should be teaching is. Be good with your hands. Yeah. You know, I’m [00:13:20] quite interested. I left having not done a bridge prep. I left having not done a surgical extraction. I [00:13:25] left having done, I think, one veneer, this sort of thing.

Speaker1: And then it’s like, well, here you are, Pete. There you are. [00:13:30] Yeah. You’re now a dentist. You’re not. So I’m quite interested in this question of which bits [00:13:35] of the course would you remove and what would you add. Because [00:13:40] someone, someone in your year went on to become an oral pathologist or something. Yeah. And [00:13:45] the basics that he got taught about looking under a microscope for dysplasia [00:13:50] or whatever were important to that. Now, should the whole course have to go [00:13:55] through that, I see, I think not, no, I think it’s not. You’re not getting, [00:14:00] um, a bachelors in pathology. It’s a bachelors in dentistry. Yeah. So [00:14:05] it should be geared towards dentistry. It should be geared towards doing all the [00:14:10] things you do in daily practice. That’s what I think. I mean, I was at a meeting last night and we were talking about [00:14:15] bleaching, teaching of bleaching. Yeah. In dental school. And it literally [00:14:20] has not changed since our day when it was illegal. And if you remember. [00:14:25] Yeah. Um, illegal and, um, or I don’t know about you, I got maybe [00:14:30] one hour on internal bleaching. I don’t think I even got that, to be honest. Yeah. No. And [00:14:35] and yet we get taught. I mean, I think we spent a couple of terms on full dentures [00:14:40] or something, you know? Yeah. Um, and you know what, what the [00:14:45] what what do dentists see or what are the growth areas in, in dentistry right [00:14:50] now? It’s aesthetics, it’s orthodontics, it’s implants.

Speaker1: Yeah. Those sort of three things. [00:14:55] Dental school doesn’t prepare you for any of those. You know, it’s it’s it’s [00:15:00] quite interesting that I think it still prepares you for a, for a life in the NHS, doesn’t it. Yeah. That’s [00:15:05] true. You know, amalgam fillings and dentures. Not for long. Not [00:15:10] for long. Yeah. But yeah that’s right. And they’re not for long. That will be gone soon won’t it. Um, [00:15:15] the dental aspect of the NHS anyway. Yeah. What did you do next. Vte, VTE and [00:15:20] then um, general practice straight away after that. Um NHS for. [00:15:25] Seven, eight years, maybe even longer. [00:15:30] Actually eight years. Yeah. I started I started sort of weaving the, the private into the NHS, [00:15:35] but I was probably pure NHS for five years in Hackney. [00:15:40] Well, which, um, Pre-Olympic regeneration [00:15:45] was one hell of a place to work I bet. Um, we used to see some incredible [00:15:50] things. But really good thing about Hackney. You could actually make mistakes. No [00:15:55] one complained because they wanted to take the tooth out in the first place. That was the thing. We took out so [00:16:00] many teeth in Hackney and they’d come in, they’d, doc, can you take the tooth out? And I’d look at it and go, do you know what? I reckon [00:16:05] I can probably save that one. And if you saved it, you’re the hero. If you couldn’t save [00:16:10] it, it took it out.

Speaker1: That’s what the patient wanted in the first place. So it was a great place to actually learn dentistry. [00:16:15] So interested in this question. I get asked a lot by new young [00:16:20] graduates what they should do next. Yeah. And I think a lot of us give [00:16:25] the advice based on what we did. So if [00:16:30] if if a young dentist asks you now what’s the best thing to do? Would you, would you say, [00:16:35] go and do a few years in the NHS, make your mistakes? Yeah. Learn how to be a dentist because [00:16:40] dental school, as we’ve just discussed, doesn’t really prepare you to be a dentist. Yeah, but why does the why is the [00:16:45] NHS the best place to get further? Uh, because you can make mistakes. Because, well, [00:16:50] you can make fewer mistakes. You can get sorry. You can make more mistakes. You can make in [00:16:55] private. You can’t make mistakes because patients are different in private. But a [00:17:00] strange thing to say really, right. If you really break it down because patients [00:17:05] are patients, patients are humans. I know again, I’m going back to my own experience. No, [00:17:10] I get it. I completely get it. By the way, maybe things are different. I understand exactly what you’re saying. Yeah, [00:17:15] but that the notion that we can make mistakes on NHS patients, but not [00:17:20] on private patients. Let me rephrase that. Let me rephrase it. The expectation is [00:17:25] different. That’s true.

Speaker1: So the standards are different. That’s true. So you can get away [00:17:30] with more. Yeah. Yeah. You may not be as gifted with your hands. The [00:17:35] NHS system will allow you to still practice as a dentist that you may not be able to do private [00:17:40] work so well. So that’s really what I mean. Not mistakes as such, but okay. Exactly. You mean [00:17:45] I might take that one out later? No. I think we all understand what you’re what you’re saying. And it’s [00:17:50] a very common thing. People say, yeah, but I break it down so they. Yeah. Look, I know, I know a [00:17:55] dentist, he hasn’t yet qualified, right? But he’s already got himself [00:18:00] onto a specialist programme in the US. Um, which starts one day after [00:18:05] he qualifies. Yeah. Which is interesting because he’s going to find that very, very, very hard. [00:18:10] Yeah. But in the US their advice is go run towards a speciality [00:18:15] as soon as possible. Okay. Um, and this is why I’m asking because here it’s very sort of [00:18:20] taken wisdom as, yeah, spend 4 or 5 years in the NHS, make [00:18:25] some mistakes, learn what you like and then but it’s not necessarily the the right move for everyone. [00:18:30] No. It’s like taking a gap year isn’t it. Yeah. If you take a gap year quite often people then don’t go to university [00:18:35] afterwards because they’re too much having too much fun in the gap year. Um, whereas the Americans, as you, as you say, [00:18:40] they’re quite geared towards the future straight away work.

Speaker1: Once you’ve got there, [00:18:45] you’re there. What what did you learn from your first couple of bosses? [00:18:50] Because I think who your first couple of bosses are is a real makes a real difference to your [00:18:55] sort of launchpad into the world of work. My first boss, [00:19:00] I probably in Hackney. I probably can’t even remember. I don’t really yeah, I [00:19:05] wasn’t a great experience, just not particularly memorable. I mean, [00:19:10] I stayed there for five years. Yeah. Um, so there must have been. Did you learn what not to do? Because there’s [00:19:15] a lot of that, right? There is a lot of that. How to how not to treat your your team, how not to [00:19:20] whatever the team. Yeah. I mean, I think with the team, it’s always best to try and be friends. Yeah. Um. [00:19:25] Yeah. There’s no point taking your stresses out on your team. [00:19:30] Yeah. At the end of the day, they’re your right hand aren’t they. You can’t you can’t be horrible to them. So I’ve [00:19:35] always tried to be nice to the team. I think if you ask any anyone I’ve ever worked with they’ll probably probably [00:19:40] back that up. Really? Always. Yeah. We go out for drinks. I try to be their friends as well. You know, work [00:19:45] is work, but outside of work we can be mates. That’s. That’s kind of the way I’ve [00:19:50] always tried to do it. When I had my own place.

Speaker1: Um, we kept the same staff for eight years because I [00:19:55] tried to look after them. I think that’s a very important thing. So. Okay, those [00:20:00] first five years of making your errors on the NHS, let’s move on then. What happened next? [00:20:05] Um, then I went into, well, change practice, but it was still predominantly [00:20:10] NHS. But I started putting a little bit of private in, you know, the odd white filling and this sort of thing, [00:20:15] getting very excited about doing posterior composites. Um, and then gradually [00:20:20] as time went on, just more and more private. By the time I got to about [00:20:25] 2007 eight, I was all private at that stage. And that’s I’ve stayed [00:20:30] so coming on for, what, 18, 19 years? Private now that’s still in London, [00:20:35] London. And then I went to Australia for eight years, did private work [00:20:40] in Australia, and then came back here in 2015 and back into private here. [00:20:45] Ah, so tell me the story about Australia. It was, [00:20:50] um, my wife. Yeah. Her idea. She’s Australian. Um, [00:20:55] she. When we got married, she said to me, you. In fact, on my wedding day, I think she said, you’ve [00:21:00] got five years left in London. So would it be good if she said it the day before? Yeah, [00:21:05] that would be nice. But to me it was just a challenge. I thought, all right, well, I’ve got five years to change her mind, [00:21:10] which didn’t work. Um, we went over there in 2007, um, [00:21:15] looking for the better life.

Speaker1: Um, she wanted to have children in Australia. [00:21:20] Where in Queensland. Okay. Yeah, I that were her family or they are, um, [00:21:25] little place called the Gold Coast. Um, south of Brisbane. Um, [00:21:30] yeah, I was, I was resistant, I was reluctant to go because I’d been there on holiday and I really [00:21:35] didn’t like it particularly, but, um, we tried to go to Sydney first but found it very, very difficult [00:21:40] to get a job in Sydney at the time. So, um, ended up on the Gold Coast. You [00:21:45] didn’t like Australia or you didn’t like Brisbane or you didn’t like Gold Coast? I didn’t like the Gold Coast. I probably would [00:21:50] have been quite happy in Sydney because I like cities and Sydney’s. Sydney’s very nice. [00:21:55] But the Gold Coast is, um, it’s it’s a retirement village, basically. Okay. It’s, um, [00:22:00] they call it in Australia. God’s waiting room. Um, God. So, yeah, [00:22:05] it wasn’t for me. Not. Not my kind of place. And you opened your own practice there. Bought one. Bought an existing [00:22:10] one? Yeah. So what’s culturally the difference, like in the Dental [00:22:15] world? Not much. It’s all private, though, right? Yeah. I mean, teeth are [00:22:20] more or less teeth any way you go. And dentistry, I think if you’re if you’re living in and working in a [00:22:25] fairly sort of affluent first world place, I think dentistry is more or less the same, but [00:22:30] so so I speak to distributors.

Speaker1: Yeah. And they say, yeah. When, when, when you, when you [00:22:35] do a course in Australia, all the dentists come and buy everything and they’re into education [00:22:40] more than the dentists here. Really. Okay. Yeah. You didn’t find that. Didn’t find that. No. No. [00:22:45] Not more go getting sort of in the dental way. I don’t think so. I mean, they’re more muscular [00:22:50] than British dentists. They actually they’re actually muscular. You [00:22:55] know, they all go to the gym before work and this sort of thing, which most British dentists don’t do. Uh huh. Um, [00:23:00] but other than that, there’s basically the same. Okay. Yeah. So okay. Then your reflections [00:23:05] on Australia, what was it like? Did you not like it. Yeah. [00:23:10] No, no I didn’t it wasn’t for me. Um, a whole series of things went wrong. There probably [00:23:15] shouldn’t have gone there in the first place. But it was, you know, I did it for my wife. And, [00:23:20] um. Do you not want to expand on that? I’d rather not. You [00:23:25] don’t have to, because she’s going to watch this. She. Yeah. Um. [00:23:30] So what not to do with work? What? The other things. The [00:23:35] things that went wrong. Yeah. I mean, the economy took a massive downturn there when we were there. Oh. [00:23:40] Um, so business went really bad. Um, it happened to be at the same time as interest rates [00:23:45] were very high, etc. more or less. What’s happening here right now? Um, and I was heavily invested [00:23:50] there.

Speaker1: I bought a house, bought a business and ended up almost overgeared. Yeah, [00:23:55] almost ended up going bankrupt, basically. Um, so that will always leave a sour taste [00:24:00] in your mouth. So on reflection, do you feel like you did something you would have done something [00:24:05] differently, like if you, if you had to do it all over again, would you not not buy the [00:24:10] house apart from not going in the first place? Yeah. Um, no, I’d probably go to [00:24:15] Sydney. I would, I would insist on the security of a big city. Yeah. [00:24:20] Um, I just found that the smaller places it was, it was just too tough. Too tough. And do you feel like you [00:24:25] made any errors as far as. First time principal. First time business owner. We all do, right? We [00:24:30] make it. I’m still making massive mistakes. I made massive mistakes today. I [00:24:35] really did. Having you on there. I’m joking. No, I already made my mistakes when I was doing [00:24:40] the NHS. No, no, no, but the business errors, um. I’m sure, of course, of course. [00:24:45] No, but I know. But on reflection, do you think that they were the things that caused this, this business not to be? No, [00:24:50] no. Absolutely not. Um, it was just a massive down. Everyone in the area had the same problems. It’s [00:24:55] macroeconomic. Yeah. I to be honest, I think, I mean, I wasn’t experienced, [00:25:00] but I don’t think I made too many mistakes as a principal because I had the old principal [00:25:05] on hand as an associate.

Speaker1: So he was there also to guide things and stuff. So I don’t think that, no, [00:25:10] I think it was outside of my control. See anyone on paper you’d [00:25:15] imagine, you know, Australia, the coast, on paper, on paper it sounds amazing. [00:25:20] It does, it does. And yet you prefer London I do. Okay. [00:25:25] It’s you go to Australia and everyone thinks the way Australia is sold to you [00:25:30] is sunshine beaches, chilled out and beer. Right. Yeah. Things like that. Yeah. You [00:25:35] go there and as soon as you get there they’re like, don’t go in the sun. Wear [00:25:40] wear factor 50. Whenever you leave the house, wear a hat, wear sunglasses, wear a shirt [00:25:45] and don’t and sit and sit in the shade. So but I came here for the sun. [00:25:50] I was like, are you going to get cancer? So. So don’t go in the sun. So that’s the first myth, you know, it [00:25:55] dispels. You can’t go there and enjoy what you want to go there to, to enjoy [00:26:00] it. Um, then there’s the beer thing, right? Oh, God. It’s [00:26:05] very, very it’s terrible in Australia, the beer itself, the beer is terrible, but it’s [00:26:10] it’s so regulated as well. Like if someone if you’re in a pub and [00:26:15] you decide to go to another pub. They look at you and say, you’ve had a few, haven’t [00:26:20] you? Oh, and they won’t let you in.

Speaker1: You could be good as gold. You’re not. You’re not misbehaving. But [00:26:25] they’ll simply look at you and go, no, we’re not letting you in. Mhm. So you think to yourself well I’ll go somewhere [00:26:30] else but no no no no they’re on the walkie talkies to all the other places saying if [00:26:35] a guy in a white shirt and red trousers turns up with a British accent, don’t let him in, really, this sort [00:26:40] of thing. And that’s particularly bad in Sydney, actually. Oh, really? Yeah. So this sort of chilled out [00:26:45] lifestyle that’s, that’s sold to you as being very Australian. I didn’t find that at all. I found that they’re [00:26:50] they’re about, you know, they’re as anal as everybody else and in some ways more so. So [00:26:55] had you started to do the cosmetic work, the composite work by [00:27:00] this time or not? I started doing that in, um, probably about [00:27:05] 2004, 2005, um, with limited success. But I thought at the time [00:27:10] it was pretty good. I looked at some of my photos from 20 years ago and no, [00:27:15] it’s not good, but I started. I started dabbling with it, experimenting with it as an alternative [00:27:20] to porcelain. Yeah, because it wasn’t very fashionable back then. No, it wasn’t fashionable [00:27:25] at all. I mean, I think back to we started with Cosmo in 2007, and [00:27:30] I was I was thinking about this. I was looking at some of our old, uh, marketing pieces.

Speaker1: The [00:27:35] whole word composite veneer or composite bonding didn’t [00:27:40] really exist. Didn’t even exist. No. Didn’t we? The way we used to describe what [00:27:45] this course was, was like success with composite or something like this. Um, but [00:27:50] you were you started dabbling. Started dabbling. Yeah. Yeah. Got into it slowly. [00:27:55] Um, but like I say, it didn’t really take off because I think also there’s been a change [00:28:00] in, in British patience, for sure. Back in, you know, 20 years ago, people [00:28:05] didn’t care so much. Yeah. There wasn’t Instagram, there wasn’t Facebook, there wasn’t [00:28:10] all the horrible reality TV shows with, you know, dazzling White. There was nothing like that for people [00:28:15] to look at and go, well, that’s what I want. So it was something that we didn’t do very often anyway. It was very [00:28:20] niche, wasn’t it? I think there were cosmetic dentists in the West End. Um, [00:28:25] there were, you know, rich people or, or celebrities who used to get their [00:28:30] teeth done. But there wasn’t this situation where, you know, your waitress is wearing Invisalign. [00:28:35] No. Or whatever, you know, absolutely not. Um, so, okay, moving [00:28:40] moving forward. You came back to the UK. Was your wife [00:28:45] annoyed? Must have been still. Is he still there? Still [00:28:50] talking, still there? Yeah. If we have an argument ever. It’s about that. It’s always about [00:28:55] that. Yeah. And that’s I mean that’s one of the things you hadn’t had your kids yet or you had.

Speaker1: We had them in [00:29:00] Australia. Oh okay. Okay. Yeah. So big change for them as well right. Yeah. [00:29:05] I mean their kids are they adapted to it very well. They came back aged seven and four and [00:29:10] um within two weeks they’d lost their Australian accent. So it was quite, quite remarkable. And [00:29:15] then did you decide you’re going to be an associate going forward? And maybe you had [00:29:20] no choice at the beginning? Certainly. But what are your views on that now, though? Are you thinking maybe you’ll you’ll do [00:29:25] your own practice, or did it leave a bad taste in your mouth? Or how how are you thinking about practice ownership? [00:29:30] Yeah, I probably wouldn’t do practice ownership again. I found it hard. [00:29:35] It was when business was good, business was good when business was bad, which was the final [00:29:40] three years about being there. It was horrible. It was the worst pain, the sleepless nights. It was having [00:29:45] to pay everyone before you pay yourself. It was horrible, you know. So I was yeah, I [00:29:50] don’t think I’d do business ownership that way again. Yeah, certainly not as a principle. I think if, you know, [00:29:55] it’s I think it’s one of the most painful things in the world to work your ass off and lose [00:30:00] money. Yeah. And with, with this first six years. Yeah. [00:30:05] Working the hardest I’ve ever. Much harder than I’m working now and [00:30:10] losing money and, yeah. About to lose our houses and all those sort of things.

Speaker1: Especially [00:30:15] if you’re good at what you do as well. Sure. So, okay, you’ve got a wing if you’re winging [00:30:20] it. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah quite quite. But if you know what you’re doing, if you’re, you know, it’s it’s it’s painful, [00:30:25] it’s painful. It is. It really is. But the, you know Elon Musk said something about entrepreneurship. [00:30:30] He said you have to have a massive appetite for pain. Yeah. It refused that way. [00:30:35] So you got an associate job. [00:30:40] Yes. Where was that? The first one was um, down in near Battersea. [00:30:45] Wandsworth. That sort of way. Fully private, fully private, lasted about I think it was about [00:30:50] four weeks because I was doing nothing. Okay. Sitting on my bum, not enough patience, [00:30:55] no patience, and just sitting on my bum watching TV the whole time. So it didn’t last very [00:31:00] long. Um, then I got another one very similar, I think that was in the West End, [00:31:05] somewhere in Harley Street and Wimpole Street. Um, was sold the dream. Come [00:31:10] and join us. You know, we’ve got loads of patients. The implant guys leaving. You’ll be taking over his [00:31:15] list day one. No patients, no implant list. Day [00:31:20] two. Same. Day three. Same. That was the end of that one. Um, [00:31:25] had you done implant training by this point? Yeah, I did, I’d done I’ve done [00:31:30] quite a few hundred implants. I’ve actually got a diploma in implants. So I was doing that’s what I was trying [00:31:35] to get into at that stage in 2015, I was trying to be an implant dentist more than anything. [00:31:40]

Speaker1: Um, so I was looking for places that could offer me an implant list or at least a lot of [00:31:45] patients that, you know, for consults and stuff that, um, but yeah, I found [00:31:50] that quite difficult to, to get into, but then, um, 20, I think [00:31:55] it was 16. I had an interview at Sardinia House, um, got the job there, [00:32:00] general dentistry, but a bit of implant on the side that was great. Stayed there for quite a few years. [00:32:05] That was a nice place to work. Amit. Amit. Great guy. Good guy. [00:32:10] Yeah. Nice, honest, honest guy. Yeah, yeah. No bullshit. Good. Solid. Solid practitioner. [00:32:15] Good. Good pair of hands. Knows what he’s talking about. And just a yeah, good person [00:32:20] to work with and work for. Where did you do the implant training in Australia. Oh did you. [00:32:25] Yeah. What what kind of amount of education was it. Was it like 18, 18 months [00:32:30] diploma course. Oh wow. So we were going for implants. So it [00:32:35] was university based. It was it was a proper, proper course. Yeah. So the [00:32:40] transition from guy trying to become an implant dentist to [00:32:45] what we see now, um, but. Oh, I should have I should have said [00:32:50] that your your account doctor Pete. Right. Doctor Pete, 1973 oh 1973. [00:32:55] Yep. Yeah. For anyone who doesn’t know, check that one.

Speaker1: Doctor Pete, 1973. When did [00:33:00] the transition come? 20 1718, [00:33:05] probably to talk me through it because it’s very different being an implant dentist [00:33:10] than the dentist you are now. It was when I started working at Ru um, [00:33:15] 20, I think I started at 20th April 2017. Um, it was just general [00:33:20] dentistry at that point. It was new. It was called the the neem tree at that stage I remember. [00:33:25] Um, and it was there was no in Wandsworth that one, uh, Fleet Street or that one here. [00:33:30] Yeah. Um, so that, that was, that was then and they were just a general dental practice at that [00:33:35] stage. So I went there because it was going to be a bit of this bit of that, a few implants here and there, [00:33:40] a bit of everything. Um, and then what gradually started happening there. Once it became [00:33:45] Ru, they started focusing on cosmetic more and more. So um, and [00:33:50] then that’s what started coming through the door. Um, and everyone was coming in and asking for [00:33:55] composite bonding. Invisalign, bleaching. And so that’s where the transition happened. I mean, it really happened [00:34:00] when one of the girls said, um, Pete, you should get Invisalign. Invisalign, [00:34:05] um, Instagram. Um, I was, what, 44, 45? And I said, I’m not getting Instagram. [00:34:10] You know, I’ve got Facebook. And they were like, no, no, no, it’s completely different. You don’t you don’t understand. [00:34:15] You could advertise your work on, on Instagram.

Speaker1: So I did reluctantly, [00:34:20] I just I said to him, look, it’s going to be another thing I look at on my phone every day, isn’t it? I’ve got enough things I look at. Um, [00:34:25] but they persuaded me to do the Instagram thing. Who was that? Um, actually, [00:34:30] you might know Kerry Sharp. Yeah. Um, so [00:34:35] she. Yeah, she was the one that said you should you should do this. The number of Instagram accounts she’s kicked off. Yeah. No, [00:34:40] she’s very good at it as well. Yeah, yeah. Um, so, [00:34:45] yeah, she, she convinced me to do that. And, um, I’ve never really looked back as soon [00:34:50] as I started advertising, putting my own stuff out there, people started coming in and asking for [00:34:55] it. So that’s really when the transition happened. So let’s, let’s, let’s get into, [00:35:00] you know, we we we do this composite course. You’re about to do a composite [00:35:05] course. We’ll talk about that in a moment. But let’s get into, you know, for, for someone. We [00:35:10] were talking about it before, I’d say in the whole country there’s maybe ten [00:35:15] maximum ten dentists doing the amount of composite bonding [00:35:20] that you’re doing. So I’m up there on volume. Yeah, it’s [00:35:25] a really unfair question, but I do want to get like a your aha [00:35:30] moment with composite. Like what can you, you know you’re about to [00:35:35] teach the stuff anyway, right. Yeah. What are the few ahas you had along the way that [00:35:40] make, you know, for instance, let me give you an example.

Speaker1: Um, I asked [00:35:45] Sam Jethwa this. He does a lot of, um, veneers, porcelain veneers, and he said with occlusion, [00:35:50] the fact that it’s outside in as well as inside out [00:35:55] for him was an aha! For the sake of the argument for [00:36:00] you with bonding question, an [00:36:05] aha moment with Bonnie. I mean it was offering I think. Well, I don’t know if it was an aha [00:36:10] moment as such, but it was offering young people on a slightly lower budget [00:36:15] the chance to get really lovely cosmetic work done in a very non-invasive way. [00:36:20] That’s, I think, what probably attracted me to it. You know, we’ve got a huge young market. The young market now [00:36:25] is massive. The middle age market is still growing slowly, but the young [00:36:30] market is the big one. I think. Um, and it was being able to to treat those people. [00:36:35] They were coming in and asking for something that I know wasn’t going to be damaging their teeth too much. Okay. [00:36:40] And I think that’s probably well, that’s certainly one of the reasons I got into it. Okay. [00:36:45] But clinically. What [00:36:50] do you mean? Well, you would look at your work, right? And it’s so beautiful. It’s beautiful [00:36:55] work. Oh, right. So clinical. You mean sort of what turns me on about my. What [00:37:00] was it? What was it that turned you from the dentist that everyone else is to this [00:37:05] this clinician? Right.

Speaker1: Sorry. It delivers this quality. Didn’t understand your question. Numbers [00:37:10] playing the numbers game practising. Yeah, totally. Um, [00:37:15] when I started off doing it five, six years ago in bigger volumes. [00:37:20] Yeah, the work wasn’t what it is now. It was. It was good. It was acceptable. It didn’t cause any [00:37:25] problems for the patients. But I look back at those photos and it it wasn’t what I’m doing now because [00:37:30] I wasn’t doing as much of it. Yeah. And through doing, you know, thousands and thousands and thousands [00:37:35] of them, God knows how many I’ve done now, but it’s got to be 10,000 plus. You just [00:37:40] get better. It’s playing a numbers game. Yeah, but what are you looking out for? Like what? You know, specifically. [00:37:45] What are you doing? Um, shapes and polish. Really. They’re the things [00:37:50] with composite bonding, getting your shapes right and getting the polish right. The [00:37:55] line angles. Yeah. If your shapes aren’t right, then nothing looks right. You can, you can, you know, [00:38:00] you can’t polish it. If the tooth shape isn’t good, you can polish the hell out of it and it’ll [00:38:05] still look shit. Yeah. You’ve got to get the line angles in. You’ve got to get the embrasures right. You’ve got to do all that. [00:38:10] So and then you can polish it and then it will look fabulous. But if you don’t get all those basic things right, then [00:38:15] no, it’s never going to look good. You look on Instagram, there’s people that put fabulous polish, but on a [00:38:20] terribly shaped tooth you can see it.

Speaker1: Yeah. You see people that, um, that shape [00:38:25] things well. But then don’t put secondary anatomy properly in. They don’t polish properly after that [00:38:30] and it doesn’t look great. You’ve got to combine all those things and get the result right at the end. And what about [00:38:35] from the patient perspective? I mean, how how much do you look into what [00:38:40] this patient is after. Because not all patients are after the same thing. I think nearly all of them are actually. [00:38:45] Oh, really? Yeah, about 95% of them, I’d say. Um, most people, if you ask [00:38:50] them, what do you want? They want they want white, they want straight. Most of them want quite [00:38:55] square, this sort of thing. I try and steer them away from the square thing. But most people want similar [00:39:00] things. They don’t want slightly darker canines. They don’t want shade progression [00:39:05] from the top of the tooth to the bottom of the tooth. They want it all one shade, this sort of thing. So I think most people do want [00:39:10] similar things. Most people don’t want too much tertiary anatomy, or in fact, most people don’t want any tertiary anatomy. Yeah, um, [00:39:15] people don’t want tints and opaques. If you ask [00:39:20] people, do you want me to put a translucent edge in your tooth, 95% of them will say no. So [00:39:25] I think most of them do want the same thing.

Speaker1: But do you not get patients who [00:39:30] want fake looking teeth? Yeah, less so now than a few years ago. But [00:39:35] yeah, we still get some coming in and say, I want it really white, really straight, really [00:39:40] square. Yeah. I mean some some people want people to know that they’ve had something done, which is going to be opposite [00:39:45] of of the way we think about it. Right, is to the best dentistry is the one you can’t tell has been [00:39:50] done. Yep, yep. I think it’s more an up north thing. It used [00:39:55] to be an up north thing, and it’s also, um, just east of London place as well. Sure. Beginning [00:40:00] with E sure. They’re still quite keen on it there, but, um, less [00:40:05] so than it used to be. But I mean, I’ll do it. If a patient wants that, then you do what the patient wants. [00:40:10] Yeah, but I just don’t put it on Instagram. Oh, I see, so you don’t want to track more of that? It’s [00:40:15] not work I particularly enjoy doing. And it’s not work I’m proud of because I don’t think it looks any good. Yeah. [00:40:20] You know. Yeah. I’ll only really put my name, put something out there with my name on it if I’m proud [00:40:25] of it myself. Yeah. And the your, your sort of split of the [00:40:30] work that you’re doing. What percentage is composite bonding? A lot 80% [00:40:35] plus I’d say. Well yeah. And the rest is Invisalign. [00:40:40]

Speaker1: Invisalign bleaching a little bit of general and a few implants still here and there. Are [00:40:45] you still doing back teeth or not at all? Yeah, yeah, but not normally as a lead [00:40:50] up to doing all the other stuff. So I’ll put fillings in back teeth if, if I have to do them. Um, pre [00:40:55] Invisalign or pre whitening or something like that. Yeah. Um, but I, you know, I prefer [00:41:00] not to be doing general dentistry now, but I still do a little bit as a, as part of the whole, the whole case. [00:41:05] And then do the patients tell each other and find you online. [00:41:10] And is that just the profile of the patient that you’ve got that’s going to it. Always [00:41:15] want to go down that road? I’d like to think because of your kind of reputation, I’d like to think there’s a lot of word of [00:41:20] mouth referral. Yeah. Yeah. But you know The Hindu. Right. [00:41:25] I do endo as well, you know, to do everything. I still [00:41:30] do everything. Okay. But, um, I do less of it than I used to, but I’ll still still do everything. I mean, [00:41:35] the only thing I don’t do anymore is dentures. Mhm. Unless it’s part of an implant treatment, of course. But, um. Yeah. [00:41:40] Very rarely. But I still do everything. I mean, I like doing everything. I like dentistry. Yeah. [00:41:45] Any tactics around how to get patients to post, [00:41:50] for instance, post and tag me and.

Speaker1: Yeah. Yeah. [00:41:55] It’s tricky. Do you not bother with that? Very rarely. I found that most of the time they’ll say no. [00:42:00] Even the ones that they, they, uh, have collaborations with at work at Ru, [00:42:05] they’ll quite often renege on what they, what they’re supposed to do as well. So I prefer the influencers. [00:42:10] Yeah. Yeah. So I prefer to keep it. I don’t ever post a face. Yeah. Because [00:42:15] I think if you post faces you’re going to open up the door for, you know, complaints [00:42:20] and identifying patients and so on. So I only post teeth and non-identifiable photos. [00:42:25] Um, and I don’t really tag people and I don’t ask them to [00:42:30] tag me. One of the guys that I work with got in trouble for tagging a patient without asking. [00:42:35] Just a tag, nothing more. But you know, so I prefer just to keep it as [00:42:40] I’ve got it. There are tactics though. There are? Yeah. Go [00:42:45] on then. So. So I come across some dentists who they [00:42:50] set it up so that patients want to be tagged. Go [00:42:55] on. I’m intrigued. Yeah, well it might be in smaller communities [00:43:00] than central London, right? Yeah. Where, you know, people know each other more. I mean, I studied [00:43:05] in Cardiff, so I understand that feeling like in a town like Cardiff, however many population [00:43:10] it’s got, if you bump into someone one day at the bank, you [00:43:15] know you’re going to bump into them at some point soon, right? You know, even though it’s a city, [00:43:20] it’s not it’s not the Gold Coast.

Speaker1: It’s a city you’re going to bump into. And so the movers and shakers, [00:43:25] whether let’s call it the medical community, the dental community, the, the, the pretty [00:43:30] girl community, kind of know each other. Yeah. And so what [00:43:35] these practices do is they make it a thing to, to, to, you know, it’s almost like if [00:43:40] why didn’t you tag me, right. Yeah. Was it, was it, was it that you weren’t happy with the work. [00:43:45] You know, it’s one of those. Got it. Um, and then. Yeah, there’s other subtleties [00:43:50] right around language. Um, for instance, what do you say to [00:43:55] patients about how long it’s going to last? Bonding 5 to 7 years. [00:44:00] Normally. Yeah. Come back for a polish once a year. Oh really? Do [00:44:05] you do it yourself? Yeah. Yeah. Um, but that’s that’s [00:44:10] what I tell them. As long as you don’t do anything silly with them, you know, bite your nails, [00:44:15] chew pens, open crisp packets or tear sellotape, that sort of thing. Um, 5 to [00:44:20] 7 years. You should get of them. Looking good. Doesn’t mean they’ll fall off the next day or anything like [00:44:25] that, but they should look good as long as you repolish them every now and then, refine the margins, that sort of thing should [00:44:30] be fine. So talking to Matty Parsons about this. Yeah. Who does as many as you do I guess [00:44:35] he says the subtleties of he says to the patient, if you [00:44:40] go ahead and break one of them rather than if one of them breaks.

Speaker1: Right. Yeah. And he says [00:44:45] that little subtlety means that patients come in with a broken, you know, chipped [00:44:50] restoration. Apologising. Yeah. Nice. [00:44:55] Yeah. It’s a subtlety right. Yeah. And he’s like, look, [00:45:00] I’m absolutely fine. I’ll fix it for you if you go ahead and, you know, if you, if you do go [00:45:05] and bite on the wrong thing or. Yeah, you know. Well okay. So the subtleties of [00:45:10] it, I have to try that one. And because, you know, we’re as a profession, we’re guilty of owning the restoration [00:45:15] for the rest of that patient’s life. Right? I mean, why should it be that way if the guy’s only paid you three grand for something? [00:45:20] Yeah. Um, so let’s talk about [00:45:25] darker days. My favourite part of the pod. [00:45:30] Go on. On this pod, we like to talk about mistakes. Sort [00:45:35] of from the black box thinking idea of. It’s better for all of us [00:45:40] to learn from each other’s mistakes and in in medical and dental. Often we hide [00:45:45] our mistakes or don’t own up to them or because there’s a massive blame [00:45:50] culture, whereas other if you’ve read black boxing, it’s about it’s about plane [00:45:55] crashes, okay? And you know, when a plane crashes, um, the first [00:46:00] thing they do is to find out what went wrong and immediately tell the whole community, [00:46:05] yeah, what went wrong so that everyone else learns, okay? [00:46:10] And there’s no issue of blame.

Speaker1: They’re just saying, you know, this is what happened. Even [00:46:15] if someone did the wrong thing, they blame the system, um, for [00:46:20] it. Because, you know, bad systems cause errors. But [00:46:25] in medical it’s quite the opposite. And so we never end up learning. So [00:46:30] what comes to mind if I talk about ask you, you know, clinical errors most difficult [00:46:35] patients. What comes to mind. Well one I’ve just hopefully [00:46:40] finished off with recently. Okay. Yeah. Um, came to see me [00:46:45] probably summer last year. Um, had some bonding [00:46:50] done about a year or so before that, which she wasn’t very happy with. And [00:46:55] so she said, I want, I want to take it off and redo it. It’s only on four teeth. So [00:47:00] that’s what we did. I said, right, here’s the treatment plan. [00:47:05] We’ll make one appointment. She had slightly overhanging margins on the composite. So I said, what we’ll do. We’ll take off the [00:47:10] composite on visit number one. Let your soft tissues recover for a week or so and then get you back in on [00:47:15] visit number two to redo the bonding. Had you done the original? No, no. [00:47:20] Not sure who did it, but it was, you know, it was starting to fail. She said it was only a year [00:47:25] old, which I suspect maybe was not true. It looked a bit older than that, but it could have been done badly. [00:47:30]

Speaker1: So it started to fail. Um, she came in. I took the composite off [00:47:35] with, um, soft discs. And found that she had [00:47:40] pig teeth underneath the pig pig lateral, and quite a slim canine as well. And [00:47:45] I said to her, oh, you’ve got quite small teeth under there. And she. That’s [00:47:50] fine. No problem at all. She didn’t react to it too much. She came back, um, the following week for the new [00:47:55] bonding which we put on. She came back two weeks later [00:48:00] for a small adjustment. Um, and she said her teeth had moved. [00:48:05] And I said, have you been wearing your retainer? And she said, yes, I have. This is where I made the mistake. [00:48:10] I should have said to her, can you bring your retainer in and let me try it in? [00:48:15] Because her teeth had moved, there was visible gaps between them. And I said, look, I’ll close them up for you. [00:48:20] But when you get home, put your retainer in. If it feels too tight, let me know. Come back in. [00:48:25] We’ll make an adjustment. I shouldn’t have done the composite in the first place. This is. This is where I’ve learned a big lesson. I [00:48:30] should have said, bring the retainer in. Then we’ll have a look. Then I’ll redo the composite if necessary. So [00:48:35] she went home, called up, um, a few days later, saying her composites broken again because [00:48:40] she’s put the retainer in.

Speaker1: Clearly the teeth have moved and the retainer is not fitting. [00:48:45] And at that point, she launches the worst complaint I’ve had in years, [00:48:50] basically threatening straight away. I’m going to sue you. You’ve ruined [00:48:55] my teeth and you destroyed the teeth underneath. When you took the old composite off, I [00:49:00] said, well, no, I didn’t. That’s the shape of your teeth. And there was [00:49:05] a lot of backwards and forwards, a lot of a lot of arguing, a lot, a lot of threats on her part. Written [00:49:10] right, written straight away. Um, there was then suddenly, after about the third [00:49:15] email, I started thinking, actually, no, she’s she’s, um. I [00:49:20] don’t think she’s serious. I think she’s she just wants money. I don’t think she wants anything else. She’s [00:49:25] not going to go down the GDC road. She’s not going to go down any other. She’s having a go. She’s having a go. [00:49:30] Because every letter she wrote, if I don’t get compensation by the this date, [00:49:35] I’m going to sue you. Second letter. My brother’s a lawyer and so is [00:49:40] my dad. And if I don’t get compensation, they’re going to sue you. Third [00:49:45] letter. If I don’t get compensation by this date, I’m going to sue you. And I thought she’s not going to sue because she [00:49:50] would have done it because we were delaying things. We were trying to get the records organised. And she keeps threatening. [00:49:55] Every week a letter comes through saying if she doesn’t have financial compensation, she’s going to sue. [00:50:00]

Speaker1: So it ended well. I hope it’s ended recently when I wrote [00:50:05] to her and I basically called her bluff on a lot of things, I said, look, if [00:50:10] I destroyed your teeth as much as you think I destroyed them, how was I able [00:50:15] to do it without anaesthetic? Right? How come my photos show enamel all the way round your [00:50:20] teeth? But what you’re saying is that the teeth are painful because they’ve been prepped and prepped. [00:50:25] Um. I said, why didn’t you raise the alarm when I first took the composite off? [00:50:30] Why didn’t you raise the alarm when you came back to put new composite on? Why didn’t you raise the alarm when [00:50:35] you came for the adjustment? At no point have you ever mentioned that your teeth have been damaged. [00:50:40] Apart from now, when you’ve raised this complaint. And I think it sort of scared her off, that she’s realised [00:50:45] that she’s just, you know, I’m on to her and she’s now seems to have backed down. But from what [00:50:50] we’ve gathered, she’s gone somewhere else and tried the same thing with another practice. Oh yeah. So [00:50:55] she’s she’s a serial complainer kind of woman that goes to a restaurant, eats three quarters of [00:51:00] a meal, pulls out a little piece of glass from her handbag and says, I’m not, you know, I’m not. It should be one of those. [00:51:05] But yeah, I mean, there’s there’s a few of them out there at the moment, but she’s the one that springs to mind most recently. [00:51:10]

Speaker1: How long was it beginning to end? Like how four months. Painful. [00:51:15] Four painful. Four months. There’s another one that we’ve got going at the moment. Who? Um, [00:51:20] actually, the it started here, um, because you made me a bleach tray, [00:51:25] which didn’t include her wisdom teeth. So she had about a 5 [00:51:30] to 5, then a two tooth gap and then wisdom teeth. And the bleach tray only was [00:51:35] made for 5 to 5. Yeah. And she came in and said the bleach tray doesn’t include my wisdom [00:51:40] teeth. And I was like, well, you know, nobody is ever going to see your wisdom teeth. And she said, well, I see my wisdom [00:51:45] teeth. And I said, fine, we’ll make you a new bleach tray. So I took a new impression. New bleach trays made, [00:51:50] including the eights. She went off happy. Um, [00:51:55] we did some other work on her, some fillings, etc. one of them ended up being sensitive. [00:52:00] She then launched a massive complaint, saying everything I’d done in the three years [00:52:05] leading up to that point was negligent. Done without consent, including implants, bridges, everything. [00:52:10] So she’s now trying to get compensation for everything I’ve ever done because the tooth was slightly [00:52:15] sensitive and her bleach tray didn’t quite fit. And she got a lawyer. No, [00:52:20] she’s again another someone trying their luck, hoping that dental protection will simply [00:52:25] just write.

Speaker1: Write the check, I wonder, I wonder if in the this [00:52:30] sort of current economic climate, we’re going to get more of this stuff just from desperate people, right? I fear [00:52:35] that may be the case. You never know who’s going to walk. So I guess it definitely increasing recently. [00:52:40] Yeah. And all the guys I work with have said the same thing. Everyone’s got things going through Dental protection [00:52:45] at the moment and massive complaints just going through, you know, local through through work, through [00:52:50] the actual we’ve got lawyers at work as well that are dealing with things for us. There’s so much of it at the moment, so much [00:52:55] and most of it, I have to say, completely unjustified, completely unjustified. You [00:53:00] know, if we’re all screwing up, fine. But we’re not. Yeah. Nothing’s changed that massively in [00:53:05] your treatment, right? No, no obviously not. I mean, I’ve said this a few times to people, my work [00:53:10] now is better than it’s ever been, but I’m getting more complaints than I’ve ever had. Yeah, [00:53:15] that doesn’t make sense. Does it make you more defensive? Yeah, [00:53:20] completely. So what, you’re writing longer essays for consent and all that? Yeah, [00:53:25] yeah. Have you had the situation? This this must have happened to you where you [00:53:30] finished the work? Patient says they’re happy. They go home and then someone says [00:53:35] something, whatever. And then. Yeah, I mean, in all of cosmetics, the one when a patient says [00:53:40] I don’t like them.

Speaker1: Mm. Okay. If you can shorten them or remove the [00:53:45] fine. Of course composites a bit different, you can change it repair. But [00:53:50] that situation, do you prepare the patient sort of say something to them to. [00:53:55] Because I used to do that when I was a dentist, I used to say, um, you’re going to go home and someone, [00:54:00] somewhere is not going to like them. I have a spiel that I say at the end of [00:54:05] every appointment setting, setting them up for the fact that they may not like something [00:54:10] hit us with it. It’s basically like, look, they’re new. New doesn’t always feel right. [00:54:15] However, after a few days it probably will. If it doesn’t, if there’s some aspect [00:54:20] you’re not getting on with after a few days, let me know. We can adjust it. And I sort of go think about a new pair [00:54:25] of shoes. Shoes don’t always feel great when you first put them on, but after you’ve broken them in, they feel fine. [00:54:30] I said, look, a millimetre of tooth is nothing but a sorry, a mil [00:54:35] a millimetre is nothing, but a millimetre of tooth is massive. You know, it’s 10% of a tooth. [00:54:40] So I said, even though we’ve added a tiny bit, for instance, that’s going to feel big to you. Don’t [00:54:45] panic though, I sort of I manage them into this kind of feeling that it’s okay if there’s something you’re not quite comfortable with [00:54:50] right now, you know, gaps.

Speaker1: For instance, if you close a gap, that’s the number one. [00:54:55] Yeah. You know, especially in midline, if it’s a big midline, people don’t like it necessarily straight away. [00:55:00] The first thing they do is they hold the mirror up and they know, oh I’m not sure I’m not sure. And you [00:55:05] can see them also. Don’t let them go to the loo halfway through an appointment if you can. So they can’t see. [00:55:10] Yeah. Because they always check. Yeah, yeah. And quite often they’ll come back in. They’ll say is that meant to be like [00:55:15] that. Is that going to stay that way? And you’re like, no, I’ve only done three out of the eight teeth, you know, calm, calm down. But [00:55:20] so you’ve got you do have to manage expectations. Tell me, tell me about the [00:55:25] actual treatment process itself. How long do you take on a sort of 3 to [00:55:30] 3? Um, three. Between 3 and 4 hours, or maybe about 3.5 [00:55:35] hour mark. And you go completely free hand, or do you use a stent or always freehand? Yeah, [00:55:40] I’ve tried it with stents and there is a place in the market for stents, [00:55:45] um, for where cases, that sort of thing. But most of the time I can do it freehand [00:55:50] unless it’s a real bad, you know, bruxing case or something like that, that I will use a stent, but [00:55:55] 99 times out of 100 it will be freehand. And how [00:56:00] confident are you regarding the occlusion and the occlusion sort of analysis of [00:56:05] what’s going to work and what isn’t? Is it is it is it any more complicated than getting them to [00:56:10] move their teeth around and seeing what’s hitting what? Not really.

Speaker1: Really. Yeah. If you if you look [00:56:15] at them at the consultation visit. Yeah. Then, um, you should be able to work [00:56:20] out what’s going on. You know, if you see flat canines, you know, what you’re up against, um, [00:56:25] still gets, you know, a few surprises every now and then, but most of the time you can work [00:56:30] out what’s going on. If there’s edge to edge bites, cross bites, this sort of thing, then, you know, Invisalign [00:56:35] first. Yeah. But yeah, if there’s if there’s enough space and there’s no signs of wear, [00:56:40] then more often than not you’re okay. You’re good to go. And do you get them all to wear a [00:56:45] thing a white razor. I know some people that do a [00:56:50] bite razor. Well, not a retainer tray. Um, a lot of [00:56:55] people will put that into into every plan. Yeah, I don’t necessarily put it in every plan, you know. No. [00:57:00] If I mean, there’s some that, you know aren’t going to chip if there’s, you know, huge [00:57:05] overjet this sort of thing, you know, they’re never going to be able to put their front teeth together properly. So I [00:57:10] don’t do it for everyone, but I do it a lot. Do it a lot. I feel like it’s a defensive move too though. Yeah, [00:57:15] of course it is.

Speaker3: You know, you can kind of blame that. Yeah.

Speaker1: You haven’t been wearing it. Yeah. [00:57:20] Yeah yeah of course.

Speaker3: Do you get them to bleach their composites.

Speaker1: Um, increasingly [00:57:25] I do advise that. Yeah, it’s a good idea. Yeah. Um, because they, you know, they’re going [00:57:30] to get staining, particularly around the margins, particularly in between where you haven’t quite got the polish right, this sort of thing. Um, [00:57:35] so yeah, I say get a bleach tray. Pop your gel into it and then do [00:57:40] a bit of whitening once every few months, and that should lift the stain off. So I do, I do or.

Speaker3: Prevent the stain from ever [00:57:45] coming on right in the first place. Yeah, yeah. So I [00:57:50] kind of want to hear another difficult story.

Speaker1: Oh. [00:57:55] Let’s say. I mean, [00:58:00] there was I’ve had people threaten to beat the shit out of me once when [00:58:05] I was in Australia. Well, tell me what that was. Um, [00:58:10] a surgical extraction that went wrong. Okay. And the tooth [00:58:15] kept breaking and breaking and breaking. And I’m removing more and more of the bone around the tooth. And there’s PTSD right now. Yeah. [00:58:20] Um, and at the end, I mean, we didn’t actually get the tooth out. We ended [00:58:25] up with a little bit of root left in. He jumped out of the chair and he said, look, I’ve been here for two fucking hours. And he just fronted [00:58:30] up to me this ready? Wow. And that, you know, that’s not great. [00:58:35]

Speaker3: Yeah.

Speaker1: Um, that happened that actually happened twice when I was in Australia. [00:58:40] There was there was another guy who said, I get the injection I gave was far too painful. Would I like to step [00:58:45] into the car park? Well, sort it out. I said no. Yeah. [00:58:50] So that that’s, uh, that [00:58:55] happened. Had had had, uh, what else happened in [00:59:00] Hackney? I had a woman that’s, um, thinks or thought rather that, um, the [00:59:05] crown I was putting in had some kind of GPS tracker in it. Before [00:59:10] before GPS had been invented, I think because that was in the late 90s. [00:59:15] There was another one that said that, um, spiders had come out from under one of her bridges [00:59:20] or something like that, something odd like that. But Hackney, that’s what Hackney used to be like. It was not [00:59:25] mental health, not a central. Well, we had the Homerton, the um, hospital. Yeah. There was [00:59:30] a lot of them there. And so we used to see a lot of patients like that. Yeah, just strange ones. I had a [00:59:35] patient propose to me once.

Speaker3: Didn’t that happen all the time?

Speaker1: No, no, again, [00:59:40] that was in Hackney. Um, yeah. So I’ve, I’ve had a few. [00:59:45]

Speaker3: Tell me this. Did you kind of. To me, I feel like you’re the you’re the kind [00:59:50] of person who doesn’t mind jumping in and trying things. No. Whether we’re [00:59:55] talking composite bonding 20 years ago when no one was doing it, whether we’re talking about you were quite, [01:00:00] you know, Instagram just, just just doing an Instagram page in itself. Um, [01:00:05] what is it? What is it about you? I mean, is that is that would you would you characterise [01:00:10] yourself like that as someone who just jump in and have a go at stuff, certain things.

Speaker1: I mean, with, with dentistry? [01:00:15] Yeah, I’m happy to have a go as long as I’m comfortable doing it I think. Yeah. Give it a try again. [01:00:20]

Speaker3: We talk about the younger generation, the very, very scared of doing anything that’s not, um, you [01:00:25] know, fully taught and researched and and so forth. And I feel like, yeah, [01:00:30] of course, that’s the total risk free way of going. Yeah. But also it stifles [01:00:35] innovation. Like you’ve got this course, which we’ll come on to now. But in [01:00:40] this course you’re going to teach certain sort of tricks and tips. Yeah. [01:00:45] And you wouldn’t have learned those tips and tricks without trying them yourself. Right. True. [01:00:50]

Speaker1: Absolutely. Right. Yeah. So yeah I do I again [01:00:55] I’ve made mistakes with composite. It wasn’t as good as it used to be. It used to be worse than it is [01:01:00] now. Yeah. And that’s trial and error. Yeah. Found out what works. Found out what doesn’t work. [01:01:05] Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t work. I’ve tried virtually every [01:01:10] polishing system on the market. Found out which one works for me. So I’ve done all that. Yeah, [01:01:15] but I had to. I had to try it first, though.

Speaker3: Let’s talk about the course that you’re about to start. [01:01:20] Why now?

Speaker1: I’ve been thinking about it for about two and a half years, actually. [01:01:25] Um. I’ve always wanted to do it. Um. [01:01:30] My body isn’t what it used to be. Not [01:01:35] what? What you think? Um. You know, I [01:01:40] spend eight hours a day with my neck at 45 degrees like that. Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s hurting. [01:01:45] I haven’t had a day without neck pain for probably 15 years. I know I’m not going to be able to do it [01:01:50] forever. The course allows me to do what I love. Still, [01:01:55] um, indulge my passion for composites, but without the physical strain on the body. [01:02:00] You know, every day I wake up with stiff hands, I work out with stiff elbows. It’s all Dental [01:02:05] related.

Speaker3: How many days a week do you work?

Speaker1: Five. Occasionally six. That’s your [01:02:10] era? Probably. Honestly? Yeah.

Speaker3: Honestly. Uh, you know, [01:02:15] I’m a massive advocate of four days. Or three days.

Speaker1: Yeah, well, I’d like to be able to do that [01:02:20] because it’s a hard.

Speaker3: Job, I don’t think. I don’t think your earnings will suffer as much as you think. Yeah. Um, [01:02:25] because, you know, you’ve heard this story before, right? You’re fresher. Yeah. [01:02:30] Number one. So you end up talking and you sell more, for [01:02:35] want of a better word, you end up finishing things off that sometimes you temporise or [01:02:40] because. Because you’re fresher. But really, for me, the main thing is that [01:02:45] extra day dentistry is such a hard job that without it, you’re so burnt [01:02:50] out that you don’t end up doing other things like teaching or whatever [01:02:55] it is. Like I can 100% tell you there would be no enlighten if I was a five [01:03:00] day a week guy. Yeah, it’s because I was a four day a week guy. Then on that fifth day, I had time [01:03:05] to even think, oh, let’s do a teeth whitening company, you know, because, [01:03:10] you know, she’s hard, then she’s hard.

Speaker1: It is hard. Yeah.

Speaker3: So that that’s something you should think [01:03:15] about, right? I really would.

Speaker1: If the course takes off, that’s probably where I’ll be ending. [01:03:20] You know, I’d say take a day off immediately. Do it straight away.

Speaker3: I can see zebras out spitting [01:03:25] in her coffee. I’ll text them.

Speaker1: I’ll text her now. Payment always take a day [01:03:30] off.

Speaker3: Honestly though, you will find your earnings. It will not go down by one [01:03:35] fifth. No way. Yeah, yeah. Um, some people even earn more, right? [01:03:40] In four days. Um, but the teaching thing. Have you ever taught it before?

Speaker1: No, [01:03:45] I’ve supervised on other courses. Oh, yeah. Um, but I’ve never actually taught solo. No, [01:03:50] I mean, I’ve taught some of the guys at work. Yeah. Hints and tips. You know, occasionally one of the younger guys will come in and [01:03:55] and sit with me through a case or this sort of thing. But I’ve never done group teaching. Just just one [01:04:00] on one, really.

Speaker3: And have you got the content already or are you working on it still?

Speaker1: Yeah, most of it’s done. [01:04:05] I’ve got to do a few bits of video, which I’m going to hopefully do in the next few weeks, [01:04:10] but most of the contents there. Yeah.

Speaker3: And the sort of the back end, the [01:04:15] how are you going to get people to come onto the course.

Speaker1: And at [01:04:20] the moment it’s Instagram advertising, um, which is going all right, but [01:04:25] have you.

Speaker3: Got a, I don’t know, a landing page or.

Speaker1: Yeah, can.

Speaker3: You buy tickets online, that sort of.

Speaker1: Thing. [01:04:30] I haven’t done all that yet. Yeah. I send out a brochure with bank details on if they’re interested. [01:04:35] They’ll transfer some money.

Speaker3: And what is it, a two day course.

Speaker1: Two days. Um, if it goes well, I’m [01:04:40] thinking maybe of doing a third day in the future if I, if I, if it goes if it goes. Well, [01:04:45] because the first two days are going to be very much a sort of foundation. And on the third day, if I decide [01:04:50] to do that, it’ll be more, slightly more complicated stuff.

Speaker3: Yeah. And what would [01:04:55] you say is the USP of your composite course?

Speaker1: Um, I’m [01:05:00] going to say simplicity. I know a lot of people say simplicity is going to be their thing, but [01:05:05] I reckon it’s doing great work with fewer shades of composite and [01:05:10] with fewer materials in a really reproducible way. That’s one of the things. The other [01:05:15] one is really gearing it towards what patients want. So not doing we’re [01:05:20] not in the first course. We’re not worrying about translucency. We’re not worrying about Incisal Edge. [01:05:25] Um, not yeah. We’re not watching. You know, patients don’t want that. [01:05:30] Yeah. We’re not we’re not going to be doing tints opaque as translucency, notching anything like that. Very [01:05:35] little tertiary anatomy. Just doing really, really solid. Um, 3 to [01:05:40] 3. Primary anatomy, secondary anatomy, good polish, that sort of thing. Also, [01:05:45] I think I think I’m right when I say I’m going to be the only guys doing a full [01:05:50] 3 to 3. So we’re going to do um, because most, most courses I’ve been [01:05:55] on will focus on a single tooth, and then they’ll do another single tooth and another single tooth. I’m going to focus on doing things in [01:06:00] pairs and doing so. Hopefully they end up leaving having done a full 3 to 3, [01:06:05] which, uh.

Speaker3: When you’re treating a patient, is that how you do it? You start with the two centrals, [01:06:10] right?

Speaker1: Yeah. Upper right, one upper left, one upper right, two upper left, two upper right three upper left three. Like [01:06:15] that. Then I’ll normally if I’m doing premolars I’ll do the right side first both of them and then the left side. [01:06:20] But I’ve got, I’ve got that system. That’s how I do it.

Speaker3: But do you find it’s that it [01:06:25] is the centre line and those mesial line angles on the centrals. [01:06:30] Yeah. That set off the whole thing. Yep.

Speaker1: Totally.

Speaker3: And the symmetry between them. [01:06:35] Right. Yeah.

Speaker1: If the midline is not there you’re fucked straight away. I mean it’s [01:06:40] so hard to go back and correct a midline. So you’ve got to make sure that’s right. Mesial line angles much more important [01:06:45] than distal line angles. Yeah. You know and then you’ve got to get the the symmetry between the centrals [01:06:50] straight away. Mirror image of each other. With the laterals you’ve got a bit of play. [01:06:55] You can make your lateral you know, it.

Speaker3: Adds character if it’s out away from the centre line. Exactly. [01:07:00]

Speaker1: The midline laterals are where the smile gets character. So you can play with the shapes a little bit there. [01:07:05] You can create a little bit of asymmetry if you want. But again patients don’t want asymmetry. They want symmetry. [01:07:10] Um, but it’s um yeah. So that laterals you’ve got a little bit more room and canines [01:07:15] again canines are quite important. You’ve got to understand how the canine works in the smile. [01:07:20] So shaping the canines properly is a really good thing as well for for getting a good overall result. [01:07:25] And the key.

Speaker3: To that the fact that it’s not one surface, it’s two.

Speaker1: Yeah. I mean a canine [01:07:30] is that when you look at it from above, it’s got a ridge in the middle. And I like to just scallop slightly [01:07:35] as well. So you create just when you, when you take a picture, it just you get [01:07:40] a little bit of reflection, a little bit of a scoop in the distal part of the canine. It looks more [01:07:45] organic. Yeah. Little things like that. These are things I’m going to be teaching.

Speaker3: And [01:07:50] photography tips.

Speaker1: There will be some. And again, I’m not a photographer. Um, [01:07:55] you’re pretty good though. It’s again, I set my camera. Yeah. And I take a picture exactly the same [01:08:00] way every time. I don’t tinker with the settings. That’s all it’s about for me.

Speaker3: But [01:08:05] I don’t know. I mean, the befores and afters are very, very like well positioned. [01:08:10] Yeah.

Speaker1: I mean, you can edit that later, can’t you? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, for me, I [01:08:15] haven’t changed the settings on my camera now for years. The only time I change settings is if I get a new camera. [01:08:20]

Speaker3: Who taught you photography?

Speaker1: No one. No one? No.

Speaker3: Putting a [01:08:25] theme here? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker1: Um. No one. Again, I made mistakes with camera [01:08:30] settings. You just Google Dental settings for canon cameras. They’re there. [01:08:35] They’re all there. Just do that and, um, get a good flash. Get some. I’ve tried different diffusers, [01:08:40] and now I’ve settled on some, um. What are they called? I’ve forgotten [01:08:45] the name, but they’re very nice. Um, they give a lovely sort of softness. Once you’ve got the kit that [01:08:50] you get on with, just stick with it and always try and take the pictures from the same angle, same distance, [01:08:55] that sort of thing, so that everything is consistent. That’s what it’s all about.

Speaker3: You’re going to be teaching [01:09:00] that to photography. There’ll be a.

Speaker1: Half hour slot in there about that.

Speaker3: And you’re doing it at Lon DEG. [01:09:05]

Speaker1: Yeah, yeah. First of all.

Speaker3: Phantom heads.

Speaker1: Phantom heads. Um, [01:09:10] I’ve, I’ve, I’ve been there a few times to London and I think it’s a good setup. Yeah, definitely. [01:09:15] And they’ve got great backup and support and all this sort of thing. So I thought for my first course that would be a great [01:09:20] place to do it. They can take 32 people. I’m not going to be teaching 32 people. I want [01:09:25] to try and cap it at somewhere between 16 and 18 because I want to keep it quite small, quite intimate, [01:09:30] because one of the things I’ve noticed on a lot, of course, I’ve been on, is too many people. You don’t get [01:09:35] to go round everyone, give everyone a fair share of time. Yeah. You [01:09:40] know, some of the courses I’ve been on, they don’t finish the the itinerary they set for the course because there’s too many people and there’s [01:09:45] always one that’s going to ask the questions and hog your time. Yeah. So I’m going to try and keep it as a small [01:09:50] group, keep it more intimate.

Speaker3: So what do you think the future holds.

Speaker1: For [01:09:55] for you? I’m hoping at one point in the future [01:10:00] it holds a villa in Spain somewhere. That’s what I’d love. Yeah. [01:10:05] I mean somewhere like Mallorca or something like that. I can see myself there in my 60s, [01:10:10] maybe earlier, but definitely in my 60s. A bit of sunshine.

Speaker3: I’ve [01:10:15] always thought, I’ve always thought, I mean, who knows if this will ever happen to me, right? But the notion [01:10:20] of going from summer to summer to summer to summer, the.

Speaker1: End of summer like a surfer.

Speaker3: Yeah, just. Just [01:10:25] amazing. Just go. Northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, northern hemisphere. And then at one point, you’ll want something. So go [01:10:30] skiing quickly. Yeah. And then some of that would be the amazing thing. That would be [01:10:35] lovely. But the my parents have a villa in Spain and in, um, [01:10:40] uh, you know, Portofino around there.

Speaker1: My parents used to have a place near there as well. Yeah. Near Estepona. [01:10:45]

Speaker3: Yeah. Yeah. Nearby. Yeah. I’m not sure I’d recommend it to anyone. Um, [01:10:50] ownership, of course. Of course. If you’re going to live there, it doesn’t make sense not [01:10:55] to own it because it’s expensive. Right? But ownership of a holiday home, I don’t I [01:11:00] don’t think I’d do it because it.

Speaker1: Limits you going to the same place.

Speaker3: Limits you. But also also it’s, you [01:11:05] know, every year my parents were spending five, six grand on something. [01:11:10] Something was going wrong. You know, the swimming pool cracked. Yeah. So and so, you know, the gardener, [01:11:15] whatever. It wasn’t like it was hands free at all. It was. It was. I mean, there is a notion that you [01:11:20] don’t have to sort of take clothes anymore because they have clothes there and they have clothes. They don’t have to carry [01:11:25] loads of suitcases. Um, but I don’t know, man. I’d do it a different way. I’d go to, you [01:11:30] know, maybe the same. I found one villa in Thailand I love, and we went back there twice. [01:11:35] Um, but I’m not.

Speaker1: Thinking of it as a holiday home. I’m thinking more of a permanent move.

Speaker3: Life. [01:11:40]

Speaker1: Yeah, yeah. Giving up? Retire. Retirement. Yeah. Giving up London. Um, say [01:11:45] ten, 15 years, whatever it ends up being. And then just living over there, just having a nice, [01:11:50] relaxing time. I like.

Speaker3: Spain, um.

Speaker1: I love Spain. Yeah. Where? [01:11:55]

Speaker3: I mean, you know, you said you didn’t particularly dig Australia. Where else have [01:12:00] you been that you really love?

Speaker1: My, um. Well, Spain is my favourite country to travel [01:12:05] around. Yeah, absolutely. Love it. Um, France is very enjoyable. Italy, I mean, most most of the Mediterranean [01:12:10] is a great place. I’ve been to. I’ve been. Yeah, I’ve been to America. I’ve been to the Caribbean. I’ve been to Asia. I’ve been [01:12:15] all over the place. But of the places I could live. Um, not that many. I mean, there’s, [01:12:20] like I say, Spain. I could live probably southern France, I could, I could hack, but, um, not many [01:12:25] other places.

Speaker3: I’ve always thought Canada never been.

Speaker1: You know, [01:12:30] I’ve been to the airport in Canada, changing planes, but that’s it. Gander, Newfoundland. [01:12:35] Change planes there once. But I’ve never, never been to Canada. Yeah, no.

Speaker3: I like it. [01:12:40] Reminds me of America without the Americans somehow.

Speaker1: Yeah.

Speaker3: But it’s not about the crime. [01:12:45] It’s when I say aggressive. I don’t mean physically aggressive. I mean mentally Americans are quite [01:12:50] aggressive. Yeah, yeah, they want to know how much money you make. What’s going on? The Canadians [01:12:55] are much more chilled. Yeah. Um, and yet I haven’t been to Australia to know whether [01:13:00] what that what that’s like. But they’re much more chill. And yet you get everything you get in America. You [01:13:05] know, the service and the whatever, whatever you were after, like the burgers or, you know, these days we [01:13:10] have burgers here. We don’t have to worry about that.

Speaker1: Yep. We’re moving on. Get [01:13:15] moving with the times here.

Speaker3: Let’s let’s get on to the final [01:13:20] questions. Okay. Um, it’s starts off with a fantasy [01:13:25] dinner party.

Speaker1: Yes.

Speaker3: Three guests.

Speaker1: Yeah. I thought I’ve thought long and [01:13:30] hard about this. Dead or alive. And I could go with, you know, the usual, [01:13:35] like.

Speaker3: The Elon Musk.

Speaker1: And Dalai Lama. And. But that would be boring. [01:13:40]

Speaker3: Elon Musk, Einstein and Nelson Mandela making a lot of appearances on this list.

Speaker1: Yeah. [01:13:45] I mean, and then I thought, um, about people like, sort of Freddie [01:13:50] Mercury and Michael Schumacher, people that I’ve admired in my, you know, in my youth. [01:13:55] David Attenborough was one that I thought of as well. I think he’d be a very interesting [01:14:00] guy. But then I’ve also thought a lot of people say, if you meet your idols, you’re very disappointed by them.

Speaker3: Have [01:14:05] you met any of your idols? No, I’ve met 1 or 2 here, for instance. And [01:14:10] not always disappointed, man. Not always. Sometimes. Sometimes it’s great. [01:14:15] Yeah, but I hear what you say.

Speaker1: You know what I mean? I yeah, I’ve, like, I always thought, you [01:14:20] know, until Michael Schumacher had his terrible accident. I always thought he’s a guy I’d really like to meet because [01:14:25] I thought he’s brilliant at what he did. And he’s always come across to me as a very nice man. I thought he’s [01:14:30] someone I’d love to have a beer with in the future. Um, but then people said, oh no, no, [01:14:35] some people, when you meet like Michael, he’s very, very aloof. He’s very quiet. This sort of thing. He’s [01:14:40] not. He’s not who you think he’s going to be. And therefore, do you want to meet someone like that and be disappointed [01:14:45] by them because you’ve put them up here, you hold them, you put them on a pedestal, you hold them high in your esteem. Yeah. [01:14:50] When you meet someone and they disappoint you, you go, oh, yeah. So [01:14:55] again, like Freddy, I’d love to have met Freddy back in the day. I think he would have been a legend. Yeah, but, [01:15:00] you know, you read some stories about Freddy. Apparently a bit of an arsehole sometimes as well, you know? So [01:15:05] do I want to have a dinner party with people that might disappoint me, so I’d probably pick.

Speaker3: What have you come up with? [01:15:10]

Speaker1: Best mates and my wife. That’s it. No, no, of course [01:15:15] no, I would say, do you know what I mean? I don’t know if this is corny, but one of my [01:15:20] grandparents, who I never asked enough questions of when I was able to [01:15:25] because I was too busy wanting to go out with my friends and get pissed. Yeah. And I had [01:15:30] my grandparents. I had my grandmother around till I was in my mid-twenties, which is, you know, quite unusual. And [01:15:35] I never sat her down and asked her all the fabulous stories about the war. You know, she [01:15:40] was in concentration camps in Siberia and this sort of thing. And I never listened to her. She always wanted to talk to me. I [01:15:45] never listened. So she’s she’s someone I’d invite back, you know, if I could. Yeah.

Speaker3: That’s [01:15:50] two.

Speaker1: Okay.

Speaker3: Um, grandparents. [01:15:55]

Speaker1: Grandparents.

Speaker3: Yeah, there’s four of them. So three. We [01:16:00] could we can we can make it four if you want. All the grandparents, I thought.

Speaker1: Yeah. Okay. [01:16:05] So look, I, I don’t know is the answer. I mean, there’s lots of people I could think of, [01:16:10] but to finalise it down to three, I don’t know.

Speaker3: It’s so interesting when you say grandparents because we had [01:16:15] our kids, grandparents had my wife’s parents over with us in Christmas. Yeah. [01:16:20] And we were talking about this notion of, um, hardly anyone knows the name of their grandparents. [01:16:25] Grandparents. Yeah. And and why is that like, is it, I mean, and [01:16:30] I was saying to my kids that your grandparents are right here, ask them about their grandparents. And [01:16:35] they did. They did. But we were sort of reflecting on that question of almost even though the [01:16:40] person’s there and they were in touch with that other person. And, you know, it goes to this question [01:16:45] of regretting not asking the questions. Right. It’s interesting.

Speaker1: And it’s something [01:16:50] I’ve actually said to my, my children as well that, um, they need to spend more time with. They’ve got four [01:16:55] grandparents at the moment. My kids. Yeah. No one’s passed away yet. They’ve got four people. They could be sitting down [01:17:00] and asking questions. Right? Yeah. And they don’t. They just it’s.

Speaker3: The kind of thing you only figure [01:17:05] out once you’ve lost it sort of thing, isn’t it?

Speaker1: And I try I like my dad’s been on well this year, the last year and this [01:17:10] year he’s on the mend now. But it’s one of the things I when he became unwell, I said to [01:17:15] my daughter, you need to talk to granddad a bit more, you know, just ask him stuff. He knows [01:17:20] stuff that you can’t even comprehend, you know? And once he’s gone, all that information [01:17:25] is gone with him. So it’s one of the things I do, I do believe strongly in. Yeah.

Speaker3: The [01:17:30] final question. Yeah, it’s a deathbed question on [01:17:35] your deathbed surrounded by your loved ones. Yeah. And [01:17:40] you had to give him three pieces of advice. What would they be?

Speaker1: Oh. Hold [01:17:45] your head high in failure and be humble [01:17:50] in success. Um, one of my dad’s favourites. [01:17:55] Don’t tell people what you’re going to do. Just do it. [01:18:00] Don’t. Don’t tell people what you’re going to get. Just get it. Because if you don’t get what you’re telling me, you’re going [01:18:05] to get, you come across the bullshit. So just, you know, just do things [01:18:10] rather than tell people about what you’re going to do. And then I think the other one is, again, one of my dad’s [01:18:15] don’t buy crap. Always, always buy [01:18:20] the best thing you can possibly afford. Don’t buy rubbish, because if you buy rubbish, you buy it twice, three times, etc. [01:18:25] etc. something I’m trying to get through to my kids. They live in this very sort of, you know, Chinese throwaway, sort [01:18:30] of, you know, Chinese plastic throwaway stuff. If it breaks, just chuck it out, chuck it out. I say to them, when we were younger, we used [01:18:35] to fix things. No one fixes anything anymore. Yeah. You know, buy quality.

Speaker3: I’m guilty of shopping [01:18:40] on Tick Tock Shop. Unfortunately, I know I’ve suffered with it. I don’t know why I don’t [01:18:45] learn my lesson, but what’s amazing about it is how frictionless it is to buy one [01:18:50] button when it comes to your house. Um, we didn’t really touch on. I [01:18:55] mean, you kind of alluded to it right there. Why are you so low profile, [01:19:00] Pete? Is it on purpose or by mistake?

Speaker1: I’m just not a very [01:19:05] showy person. I, I’m quite sort of humble. I like to keep things. I’m deliberately [01:19:10] low profile. Yeah. I don’t like putting myself out there too much. [01:19:15] Like doing this. I feel I’m, I felt quite nervous about doing it. I don’t like.

Speaker3: I caught that [01:19:20] vibe from you when I asked you.

Speaker1: Yeah, yeah. I don’t like cameras in my face I don’t like. So I’m, I’m [01:19:25] quite, I’m quite sort of, um, quite shy by nature. Really. Are you. Yeah. So [01:19:30] putting myself out there was probably through choice.

Speaker3: But. [01:19:35] And now I’ve got to.

Speaker1: Try and get myself out there more for the course. [01:19:40]

Speaker3: Are you happy about it or are you sad about it? Because you look. I’m shy, I [01:19:45] wish I wasn’t.

Speaker1: Yeah, of course, I mean, I wish I was more naturally extrovert. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker3: I [01:19:50] mean, and definitely you need to get out there more if you want to do a course. [01:19:55]

Speaker1: Yeah I know, yeah.

Speaker3: It’s, it’s of course it’s a very difficult thing, you know, to [01:20:00] keep it going for a long time. I take my hat off to people like, uh, Spear and Chris [01:20:05] and Chris Horn, you know, people who have been doing a tipped and people doing courses [01:20:10] for a long time. Yeah. And stayed relevant over a long period. [01:20:15] Um, because it’s very it’s great fun teaching. Let’s not get [01:20:20] this wrong. It’s wonderful, fun teaching those little light bulb moments what you said was [01:20:25] particularly pertinent. Right. We’re still in the area that you’re interested in and passionate about, but a different [01:20:30] angle on it and a bit of a change, you know, a bit of variety. Absolutely.

Speaker1: I don’t know [01:20:35] anything else. You know, like we talked about earlier, I started I made a decision to be a dentist at the age of 14. [01:20:40] I don’t know anything else. I, I literally if I had to have a career [01:20:45] change, I don’t know what it would be because I don’t know anything else.

Speaker3: Indulge us. What would it be? Not [01:20:50] not not what you’re good at. But what would I.

Speaker1: Like if.

Speaker3: Let’s just say alternate [01:20:55] universe, what other job would you do?

Speaker1: I like food [01:21:00] and wine. I think maybe something to do with food and wine. I don’t think [01:21:05] I’d like to be a chef because that’s. That’s hard. Food critic. Food critic. [01:21:10] Very good. Yeah. Wine taster, something like that. Um, I so I like things [01:21:15] like I say to my wife, there’s only two things I’m actually good at, and that’s fixing teeth and cooking. Um, [01:21:20] she agrees with me so she doesn’t try and, you know, say, no, no, you’re good at other things too. [01:21:25] But, you know, so if you had.

Speaker3: Half a day to yourself without any sort of expectation. Cooking, cooking, always [01:21:30] cooking.

Speaker1: Yeah.

Speaker3: Would you cook.

Speaker1: Everything and anything I like? I particularly like slow cooking stuff. So [01:21:35] get, get me, um, like a pork shoulder or something like that. Beef ribs. Yeah. Love [01:21:40] it. Absolutely love it. I got myself on those, um, barbecue eggs. The green ones. [01:21:45] Not the green ones. I got a black one, a black, a black egg and, um. Yeah. Charcoal [01:21:50] cooking. I love it. So this. I can’t wait for the sun to come out so I can start doing it again. [01:21:55] But that that sort of thing is just a huge, huge, huge hobby of mine. Amazing.

Speaker3: Thank [01:22:00] you so much for doing this, buddy. You’re welcome. Thanks for coming. Coming in as well to do having me. Let’s [01:22:05] go get a steak. Thanks a lot man.

Speaker2: This [01:22:10] is Dental Leaders the podcast where you get [01:22:15] to go one on one with emerging leaders in dentistry. Your [01:22:20] hosts Payman Langroudi and Prav Solanki. [01:22:25]

Speaker4: Thanks for listening guys. Hope you enjoyed today’s episode. Make sure you tune in [01:22:30] for future episodes. Hit subscribe in iTunes or Google Play or whatever [01:22:35] platform it is. And you know, we really, really appreciate it. If you would, um, give [01:22:40] us a.

Speaker1: Six star rating.

Speaker4: Six star rating. That’s what I always leave my Uber [01:22:45] driver.

Speaker3: Thanks a lot, guys. Bye.

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