Dr Paula Brennan, Wave Dental Spa – How I did it
Dr Paula Brennan of Wave Dental Spa, explains how she went about creating a stunning new practice in the heart of Weybridge that offers patients that something extra.
My journey through dentistry has certainly been an interesting one. I started out as a dental nurse in 1987, and even spent time working as a practice manager before I qualified as a hygienist and therapist in 1991. I really enjoyed my time working in this role, though I always found myself wanting ‘something more’. For this reason I decided it was time to turn my attentions wholly to dentistry, and graduated from Guy’s in 2000.
I’ve always been very passionate about dentistry. Quite simply, I love what I do; particularly orthodontics.
I worked as an associate just after I qualified for about 6 months. Then in August 2001 I joined a friend of mine in setting up a mixed practice in New Malden called Westbury Dental Care. After 6 months I bought it from him and focused my time on working to grow Westbury into a thriving practice.
A number of years passed and I eventually decided it was time to move on and open another practice. Though I enjoyed my time in New Malden I found it taught me a great deal about what it is I want from my ideal practice. The way I like to do dentistry I like to spend a lot of time and do things to a high standard. This, alongside factors such as location and the building we were situated in, led me to open up a fully private practice in Weybridge: Wave Dental Spa.
Naturally, my husband Dominic and I understand that due to the recession and the number of local dentists in the area, our new practice will take time to grow, but we’ve factored this into our business plan.
The location is perfect – we’re just off the high street and can be seen from the high street, so we receive a lot of passing trade from shoppers, while parking is never a problem. The building itself is very modern. It’s detached with double-height glass so patients can lie back in the dental chair and literally gaze at the blue sky. We wanted to be able to offer a very different, very bespoke service where everyone who visits us feels special in our unique environment.
To help us realise our vision of what we wanted to achieve with our new practice, we worked closely with Clark Dental. I first heard about Clark Dental when working for my previous practice as I had invested in a Schick intraoral camera. The service and support I received was exceptional so naturally they were the first name that came to mind when my husband and I set about planning the new practice.
When it came to actually designing our layout, we had a lot of input and went to the Clark Dental offices to discuss options. There, we were taken through CAD drawings on a big screen so we could really get a feel for the designs and with the help of Clark Dental’s experienced team we were able to tailor the designs to our exact needs.
Though we were a little limited by space in our new practice, the solutions that came from this process are great. The design and layout have made a huge difference to how the space works and Clark Dental were fantastic. Time was never an issue and we felt they were working with us rather than for us every step of the way.
In terms of equipment we had a few names in mind, and certainly knew what we didn’t want. In the end we decided upon an A-dec 511 dental unit as I knew from experience that A-dec make very reliable units. We also invested in Apex Elite cabinetry, and imaging equipment including the Nomad hand-held x-ray.
Equipment for us is very important. We made a point of investing in a number of unique items that lots of other practices don’t have, such as Waterlase for drill-free fillings, a decay detecting laser system (Diagnodent), and of course ‘The Wand’. At the end of the day, everything we have done with Wave Dental Spa is with the aim of making things easier and more comfortable for our patients – creating an all round better experience.
As anyone who has ever started a practice from scratch will appreciate, a successful launch requires an awful lot of hard work and determination. Dentistry has come on a long way in the last 10 years and I think the biggest lesson we’ve learnt from this whole experience is, ‘don’t underestimate how long it takes’. It was a totally different ball game 10 years ago – we didn’t have corporate dentistry or this notion of ‘branding’. Dentistry is more a business now than it’s ever been, and you’ve really got to have an image right from the start.
My husband Dominic has been a great asset in this regard. With a background as an award winning Art Director for top advertising agencies, he has been central in overseeing work on the branding of both practices. This included our beautiful new website www.wavedentalspa.com, as well as all of our marketing material such as posters, leaflets and so forth.
Planning then, is everything in my experience, and it’s thanks to careful planning, and a well thought-out business model that Wave Dental Spa finally opened its doors in February 2012. While it’s still early days we have already received a great deal of interest and if things go well, will be looking to equipping a second surgery in the near future. This should be very easy to do as we have all the fittings in place for water-lines and so on, so when the time is right, we are ready to expand.
Since opening in February we are seeing increasing numbers of patients joining Wave, and it’s proving particularly popular with people who move to the area. The quality of our ‘product’ is certainly a major selling point, as people are often taken aback by the presentation of our practice, the beautiful décor, the soothing music and the lovely smells. Even the local estate agents have come in and asked if we want to advertise in their brochures, so things are definitely looking positive for the future!
For more information call Clark Dental on 01268 733 146, email info@clarkdental.co.uk or visit www.clarkdental.co.uk
