The title of this episode is taken from the first report card of Mille Morrison’s university orthodontic training.

But within a year of graduating, Millie proved the tutors wrong—and then some—when she was invited to become an Invisalign trainer by Invisalign and offered a prestigious position by the legendary Chris Orr.

In this week’s episode, Mille recounts how it all happened—despite her penchant for partying.   

She also talks about the impact of clinical mentors like Chris Orr, reveals her black box moments, and discusses why she’ll never be a practice owner.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

02.17 - Success and work ethic

15.29 - The year out

17.03 - Deciding on dentistry

21.09 - The Best of Birmingham

27.26 - Vocational training

31.42 - Giving advice

37.54 - Teaching

49.16 - Chris Orr and mentors

58.12 - Invisalign and complex cases

01.06.41 - Blackbox thinking

01.24.56 - Training Vs practice ownership

01.29.05 - A-ha moments and unfair questions

01.36.23 - Fantasy dinner party

01.41.13 - Last days and legacy

About Millie Morrison

Millie Morrison graduated from Birmingham Dental School and now divides her time between under the Dr Mille moniker and training and mentoring fellow dentists.

She is a committee member of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. 

The tables turn this week as Dental Leaders host Payman turns podcast guest in a chat with Stuart Campbell and Algraffee —hosts of the brilliant One in the Chair and Two Waiting podcast.

Payman tells the history of Enlighten and how attending a dental show brought the brand back from the brink of disaster in its early days. He discusses innovation in whitening and dentistry, reveals his best and worst days, and speculates on what the future may have in store for dentistry’s next generation.

This wide-ranging conversation was originally aired as an episode of One in the Chair and Two Waiting in March 2023.         

Enjoy!

In This Episode

02.15 - Podcasting

06.01 - The Enlighten story

23.47 - Product evolution and innovation

34.44 - Impressions and alginate

38.38 - Whitening protocols

47.42 - Leadership, culture and perfectionism

58.07 - Dentistry Vs business

01.05.08 - Mini Smile Makeover training

01.13.59 - Best days, worst days

01.19.01 - The next generation of dentistry and dentists

01.33.02 - NHS dentistry and work-life balance

01.39.07 - The Richard Kiel prize

01.41.14 - Desert Island Discs

If you’re a regular conference-goer, today won’t be the first time you’ve heard Yasmin George—a regular and engaging voice on the lecture circuit.

This week, Yasmin chats with Payman about her journey so far. She reveals what it’s like to study and teach at the legendary Pankey Institute and how working with the institute has shaped her approach to patient communication.

Enjoy!

02.11 - Backstory and education

12.03 - Schools and social standing

18.05 - Choosing and studying dentistry

24.04 - Gen Y and Gen Z

28.35 - First job

33.44 - Entering private practice

36.41 - Pankey and communication styles

55.09 - Patient retention and treatment longevity

01.01.01 - Ortho journey

01.04.41 - Orthopaedic orthodontics

01.07.53 - Curiosity, perfectionism and development

01.12.16 - COVID and reassessing commitments

01.14.57 - Darker days

01.24.48 - Blackbox thinking

01.31.36 - Different roles

01.36.13 - Fantasy dinner party

01.38.17 - Last days and legacy

01.39.47 - Fantasy podcast guest

About Yasmin George

Yasmin George graduated from Guy’s Hospital Dental School in 1988. She is a teacher at The Pankey Institute in Florida, US, and a former member of the Panel of Examiners for the Certificate in Dental Sedation for Nurses. She was also involved in the development of the orthodontics for general dentists with Dr Derek Mahoney and the City of London Dental School.

Around half of the UK population have dental phobia, and 12% have severe anxiety. Few clinicians understand this as keenly as this week’s guest, Laleh Sharifian, who now spends her time as a sedationist.

Laleh recounts her journey pursuing a lifelong vocation into dentistry and sedation from being an early entrant at Guy’s, aged just 17. 

She lets us in on the experiences that promoted her to decide that practice ownership wasn’t for her, discusses a day in the life of a sedationist and talks about her love of scents and fragrances. 

Enjoy! 

In This Episode

02.20 - Patient management

10.23 - Favourite practices

15.28 - Focusing on sedation

19.38 - Heavy duty Vs shorter treatments

23.04 - Introducing sedation to patients

27.26 - ICS Guidelines

31.15 - Sedation for children and young people

33.45 - Medical histories, contraindications and complications

39.11 - Challenging scenarios

48.00 - Blackbox thinking

53.52 - Backstory

01.00.49 - Why dentistry

01.03.57 - Parents, flavour and fragrances

01.09.40 - Guy’s and London

01.14.55 - Student life

01.17.21 - Specialising

01.20.20 - VT, first practice, ownership and beyond

01.31.37 - Regrets and failures

01.34.37 - Instagram and spirits

01.36.56 - Fantasy dinner party

01.45.21 - Last days and legacy

About Laleh Sharifian 

Laleh Sharifian graduated from Guy’s Hospital in 1999, where her final year of research working on sedation and dental anxiety won the Malleson prize.

She completed a postgraduate diploma in sedation at GKT in 2002 under Drs  David Craig and Carole Boyle.

Laleh is part of the faculty of the Society for Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry (SAAD) and practices sedation under the Ivy Sedation brand.

Liza Benting took ownership of her first practice after arriving in the UK from Cape Town, South Africa, in 2000—but life had other plans.

In this week’s episode, Liza describes her path from practice owner to associate and how feeling confined by the clinic's four walls led to an exciting new career as a negotiator for one of the country’s leading dental clinic sales and acquisition specialists.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

02.01 - Coming to the UK

05.00 - From owner to associate

16.02 - Rapport building and treatment longevity

23.15 - Joining Pluto Partners

44.27 - Values and value

49.42 - Dentistry Vs business

53.53 - A week in the life

56.44 - Last days and legacy

59.47 - Fantasy dinner party

About Liza Benting

Liza graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2000. She now divides her time between clinical practice in the Midlands and acting as a negotiator for the dental M&A specialist, Pluto Partners.

Limber up! This week Prav sits down for a chat with dentist-cum-fitness coach Rohan Verna.

Rohan reveals how finding fitness helped him overcome anxiety to discover a new lease of life. Now dividing his time between dentistry and fitness coaching for fellow clinicians, Rohan discusses the importance of self-care inside and outside the profession, revealing his top five fitness and wellness for busy GDPs.

Enjoy!  

01.09 - Self-care

13.51 - Finding fitness

18.56 - Dental career

22.43 - The client journey

26.52 - Nutrition

33.18 - Top five tips

37.10 - Dentistry Vs coaching

43.13 - Bloodwork and supplements

49.29 - Last days and legacy

53.00 - Fantasy dinner party

About Rohan Verma

Roha Verma graduated from Bristol University and has practised in Surrey, Buckinghamshire, and Central London. 

He now divides his time between dentistry and online fitness coaching for dental professionals.

On Saturday, March 11th, over 1000 dentists and 138 exhibitors and 85 guest speakers will gather at Manchester Central for the North of England Dentistry Show.

In the first part of this special episode, Payman chats with FMC’s managing and marketing directors and event organisers, Craig Welling and Laurie Glover as they prepare for one of the biggest events in the dentistry calendar.

But that’s not all. We also hear Prav’s rapid-fire conversation with specialist periodontist Manish Bose, recorded in December 2022 at Neodent’s community event, also in Manchester.           

Enjoy!

In This Episode

03.30 - Craig Welling and Laurie Glover

15.45 - Manish Bose

17.13 - Practice purchase

22.26 - Blackbox thinking

28.23 - Referrals, goodwill and support

29.32 - Last days and legacy

31.51 - Fantasy dinnerparty

About the Guests

Craig Welling and Laurie Glover are managing and marketing directors at FMC, the dental communication company behind the North of England Dentistry Show held at Manchester Central on March 11th.

Manish Bose is a specialist periodontist and the owner of IKON, a specialist-led dental practice in Ealing, West London.  

From humble beginnings in a two-up, two-down in Birmingham, Saaqib Ali has gone on to create the city’s largest practice with a list of over 52K patients.

In this week’s episode, Saaqib talks about how his upbringing has shaped his definition of success. He reveals how he capitalised on the lull in business during lockdown to pull ahead of the competition and discusses how kindness pays off in practice for team members and patients.  

Enjoy!

In This Episode

03.50 - Backstory and upbringing

29.06 - Rishi Sunak

32.32 - University and discovering dentistry

46.29 - Defining success

01.03.26 - Post COVID

01.13.10 - Culture and kindness

01.24.07 - Retaining associates

01.34.50 - Blackbox thinking

01.55.31 - Fantasy dinnerparty

About Saaqib Ali

Saaqib Ali graduated from Guy’s Hospital London in 1999. He is the principal dentist at Sherwood Dental practice—one of the Midlands’ largest mixed practices. 

This week, Prav and Payman sit down for a chat with a dental and implantology leader from a short hop over the water in Northern Ireland. 

James Hamill chats about growing up in Enniskillen, NI, and how his entrepreneurial mindset led from practice purchase to eventual burnout. But it’s not all doom and gloom: James talks about how close relationships with patients and an inspirational figure provided a ray of light.

James also reveals how he blagged the NI distribution rights to innovative US implant guidance tech, Chrome, and gives the lowdown on how the system is making life easier for patients and clinicians.  

In This Episode

01.39 - NI frame of mind

07.36 - Discovering dentistry

16.52 - Dundee

20.19 - Business

26.09 - Starting with surgery

29.31 - Marketing the business

34.01 - Lows

42.02 - Highs

49.09 - Time out and 3D printing

53.44 - Chrome

01.19.15 - Blackbox thinking

01.26.08 - Work ethic

01.30.48 - Fantasy dinner party

01.34.28 - Last days and legacy

About James Hamill

Multi-award-winning dentist James Hamill is the CEO of Quoris3D dental 3D printing and design tech company. 

He is Europe’s leading Chrome GuidedSMILE guided surgery clinician and one of the foremost Chrome clinicians worldwide. 

James is a fellow of the International Team for Implantology (ITI) and a prolific implantology teacher and mentor.   

He holds a diploma in implant dentistry from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and is a member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery.

Imran ‘Imi’ Nasser has discovered his Ikigai—a sense of meaning and purpose. He sits down for a chat with Payman and Prav about purchasing his specialist-led practice in Cheltenham shortly before COVID brought UK dentistry crashing to a halt.

Imi also chats about his training endeavours with 15C, revealing where the course provider got his enigmatic name, talks about the trials and tribulations of teaching, and discusses the importance of creating supportive working environments where team members can flourish and grow.  

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00.35 - The podcast quiz

04.03 - Lessons and surprises

10.27 - A specialist practice

13.09 - Treating referrals

19.24 - Ikigai

24.24 - On teaching

31.05 - Backstory

37.17 - Mum

41.35 - Dental school

43.32 - Long-term plans

48.10 - Putting skills into practice

52.18 - Finding and creating supportive environments

01.00.04 - Blackbox thinking

01.03.33 - Training pathways

01.10.37 - A day in the life

01.18.16 - Fantasy dinnerparty

01.22.24 - Last days and legacy 

About Imran Nasser

Imran Naser graduated from Bristol University in 2006. He was awarded a fellowship in dental surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons in 2009 and completed a master’s degree in implantology in 2014.

He is a prolific implantology educator with AestheticProsthetic and 15C and has also written a book on cosmetic dentistry.