23rd September 2020 | Careers, Industry Trends

Dentistry in a post-Covid-19 world

by Dr Nyree Whitley, Group Clinical Director

Since March, dentistry has changed faster than ever before. Clinicians have had to adapt quickly while coping with fears for their safety and that of their loved ones, anxiety over their livelihoods, and concern for their patients, many of whom desperately needed care during lockdown. There has never been a more uncertain time, but one thing that has been clear is just how important it is for dentists to work together and support each other. {my}dentist is the largest network of dental professionals anywhere in the country. And, during the COVID-19 pandemic we have proven just how important that network really is. Since the start of the pandemic, we have had one priority: protecting the safety of all of our colleagues and patients. We acted ahead of government guidance to suspend routine treatment. We have communicated continuously with our clinicians to keep them up-to-date with the latest guidance. We’ve set up local networks of dentists so colleagues know who to turn to if they have questions. And we have made the right investments to put in place a chain of protective measures across our practices. But as much as the coronavirus pandemic has been a health emergency, it has also been an economic one. Our scale has meant clinicians have been protected. The financial support we have from our owners means we can continue to invest in our practices. And, with 75% of our revenues coming from the NHS, we have been able to pass on all continuing payments to NHS clinicians to ensure they are supported. We have also used our position as the largest provider of dentistry in the country to press the government for more support for self-employed private clinicians, and worked to develop solutions such as the rollout of teledentistry so that private clinicians can continue to meet with patients and develop treatment plans out of the surgery.

Investment

But this support didn’t start with the pandemic and it won’t end with it either. Over the last four years, we’ve invested more than £100 million in our practices. We’ve built the largest clinical leadership team in the dental sector. We’ve put clinicians in charge of what materials are approved. We’ve created a community of more than 500 clinician mentors, helping NHS and private dentists grow their careers. We’ve built a patient support team, a clinical compliance team, and a legal team, to make sure dentists always have someone to turn to when they need help. We’ve increased the pay of our nurses and provided enhanced training through the {my}dentist academy. And we’ve launched new initiatives, like {my}options, our affordable approach to private dentistry, which last year helped the average clinician at {my}dentist grow their private revenues by more than 25%. These changes have made a difference, and in the last four years, more dentists than ever before have applied to join one of our practices. For those people, being part of a connected community of dentists really matters. And, since COVID-19, it matters more than ever.

Necessary steps

Nobody knows what the long-term impact of coronavirus will be on dentistry and we cannot say what the new normal will look like. The world has changed, and dentistry has to change too. But we are determined to take the necessary steps to protect our clinicians and to continue supporting them in developing their careers. One thing we we know is that, since we have started to return to routine dentistry again, there is huge demand from patients, and we need your help to make sure they are supported Get in touch with our recruitment team by emailing mydentistresourcing@mydentist.co.uk, or by visiting mydentistcareers.agencyprojects.com/ to find out how, in return, we can be there to support you too.