Hygienist and therapist Lorena Pivoda chats with Payman about the view from the hygienist-therapist.

Lorena talks about studying at Plymouth University, her first impressions of London after moving from Romania, and the friendly rivalry with her sister.    

01.16 - Backstory

06.03 - London and Romania

10.45 - Discovering dental hygiene

14.40 - Dentist-nurse relationship

19.25 - Study

22.58 - Attention to detail

27.49 - Plymouth

30.07 - First post

32.23 - A day in the life

37.32 - Awards

40.12 - Goals

41.01 - Black box thinking

49.00 - Photography and social media

54.03 - Direct access

55.36 - In retrospect

59.28 - COVID

01.01.13 - Ambition and competitiveness

01.05.22 - Fantasy dinner party

01.07.52 - Last days and legacy

Lorena graduated from Plymouth Peninsula Dental School with a BSc (Hons) in dental therapy and hygiene. She practices in clinics across London. 

An encounter with a mushroom tea master led brothers Simon and Andrew Salter deep into the mycology rabbit hole. 

Simon chats with Payman and Rhona about how the brothers’ DIRTEA brings ancestral adaptive medicine into the 21st century.

Enjoy!  

01.43 - Backstory

17.12 - Discovering mushrooms

23.24 - Vision, action and effort

27.52 - Brotherhood and partnerships

32.49 - DIRTEA

36.37 - Psychedelic mushrooms

49.23 - Availability and community

58.35 - Scaling and growth

Alongside brother Andrew, Simon Salter is the co-founder of DIRTEA mushroom pure extract 

Prav welcomes 2024 with a special solo show exploring teamwork, health and wellness, and thoughts on improving the sales process and patient journey.

Prav also discusses ‘the wheel of life’ strategy for balancing family, friendships, work-life, and more, inviting listeners to set and share goals for the year ahead.

00.49 - Team

02.31 - Health and wellness

10.43 - Business journeys, sales processes

18.59 - Congruency and filtering

35.17 - The wheel of life

Prav Solanki is an entrepreneur and dental marketer who has purchased, developed and exited a successful group of clinics. He is the director of The Fresh dental marketing and growth agency and founder of Leadflo—an advanced lead management system for dental practices.  

Amy Neville chats about her work as a model, influencer and fashion blogger. She describes her experience with hyperemesis gravidarum—an extreme form of morning sickness—and how her social media followers rallied when she needed support.    

01.58 - Backstory

11.48 - Motherhood and identity

19.56 - Hyperemesis gravidarum

25.55 - Privilege

28.42 - Work-life balance 

31.27 - Social media, modelling and ageing

37.20 - Ambition, relationships and goals

Amy Neville is a model, influencer, fashion blogger and mum. Follow her on Instagram at @amynevfashiondiaries.

Dipesh Parmar introduces a special podcast originally broadcast in June 2022 with guest Louis Mackenzie who tragically passed away in December.

With Louis’ passing, the dental community has lost one of its most engaging, inspirational, and well-loved figures. 

Our thoughts are with Louis’ family, friends, and all who knew him.    

05.18 - Being an inspiration

09.53 - Talent spotting and training

15.14 - Specialising Vs generalism

17.26 - Treatment longevity

25.52 - The new generation

27.46 - Why dentistry and background

32.58 - Dental school

38.07 - Moral tension and motivation

53.10 - Bad decisions and black box thinking

01.00.12 - Leaving the NHS

01.07.04 - Denplan

01.17.07 - On stage

01.25.34 - Research and opinion leadership

01.38.52 - Fantasy dinner party

01.41.00 - Legacy

Louis Mackenzie was a GDP, clinical tutor, lecturer and educator who passed away in December 2023.

A glittering career as a bingo caller and entertainer looked like fate written in stone for Miranda Steeples—until someone dared to suggest she might be better suited to dental hygiene and therapy.

Miranda chats about the road from entertainment to therapy and the presidency of the British Society of Dental Hygienists and Therapists (BSDHT) via a near-miss as a Disney Princess. 

She also sets out her wishlist for changes and reform to her profession and tackles the often complex relationship between dentists, hygienists and therapists. 

02.38 - Backstory

18.25 - Study and graduation

24.33 - Practice culture

28.22 - BSDHT

41.13 - Reform and challenges

53.41 - Career and training

58.53 - Smoking cessation and perio

01.01.47 - Hygiene and nursing

01.05.13 - Blackbox thinking

01.17.10 - Fantasy dinner party

01.20.05 - Last days and legacy

Miranda Steeples is the president of the British Society of Dental Hygienists and Therapists (BSDHT).

She is a hygienist and therapist at West Dental Dental Practice in Eastbourne and Bupa, Hastings and Hailsham.

If you hang around the dental community on Instagram, you’ll probably have come across this week’s guest. Known online as @GeorgeTheDentist, George Cheetham’s down-to-earth educational content has earned him an army of loyal followers.

George chats with Payman about balancing his prolific social output with running three practices. He also reveals his superpowers, talks about plans for the future, and discusses why the NHS is an ideal training ground for ambitious dentists.

Enjoy! 

01.48 - Instagram

06.31 - Chasing excellence

11.41 - Backstory, work ethic and people skills

24.08 - Blackbox thinking

36.38 - Superpowers and work-life balance

41.30 - Partnerships and practice ownership

50.55 - Positioning and growth

01.02.38 - VT year, NHS practice and training

01.12.50 - In retrospect

01.15.31 - Hiring and firing

01.22.08 - Teaching Vs Instagram

01.27.40 - Patient journey and culture

01.32.11 - Patient journey

01.44.55 - A day in the life

01.51.40 - Fantasy dinner party

01.54.44 - Last days and legacy

01.57.21 - Darkest days

George Cheetham is a multi-award-winning restorative dentist and founder and director of three dental clinics. He is best known by his Instagram moniker @GeorgeTheDentist.

Payman chats with Hasham Ali about his journey from the Middle East to Manchester, UK, where he now practices as a specialist orthodontist. 

Hesham discusses the value and challenges of professional networking, what it takes to turn GDPs into competent orthodontists, and why the term specialist orthodontist will always be a secondary identity.    

02:00 - Specialising

08.04 - The UK, NHS and private work

12.15 - Networking, communication and social media

24.57 - Teaching and events

28.28 - Roots and relationships

37.15 - Ortho training, planning and treatment

57.35 - Blackbox thinking

01.02.54 - Knowing Vs not knowing

01.06.05 - Orthodontics and health

01.11.06 - Dark days

01.21.21 - In retrospect

01.22.55 - Free time

01.25.24 - Being a twin

01.27.58 - Fantasy dinner party

01.35.49 - Last days and legacy

Hesham Ali is a specialist orthodontist and consultant at the Royal Bolton Hospital in Greater Manchester. He also teaches orthodontics through his Orthodontia brand.

In this week’s Mind Movers, Tara Francis recounts a tumultuous year of study at dental school while struggling to live up to her parents' high expectations, followed by the eventual realisation that dentistry wasn’t her calling.

Tara also explores the challenges of delegating and letting go in business, career lows and highs, and the many links between her passion for facial aesthetics and mental health. 

01.46 - Leaving dentistry

05.44 - The Middle-Eastern Experience

13.47 - Transitioning to facial aesthetics

18.06 - Aesthetics and mental health

21.37 - Control and letting go

26.11 - Low points

28.43 - Image and aesthetics

32.22 - Finding balance

33.59 - Teaching vs practice

36.08 - When things go wrong

44.45 - Toxicity and resilience

50.48 - Alternate careers

53.41 - The aesthetics industry

57.01 - Introverted entrepreneurs

Former dentist Tara Francis is a facial aesthetics practitioner and founder of Enhance by Tara. She is also a London Academy of Aesthetic Medicine (LAAM) trainer.  

Mydentist associate Luisa Mateescu says she inherited a can-do attitude from her father—a shrewd entrepreneur with a head for numbers.

Not content to stay in her native Romania, Luisa followed her heart to the UK, diving headfirst into mastering new skills and tech.

Luisa recounts her story so far, chatting about the contrast between UK and Romanian dentistry, achieving a healthy work-life balance, and thoughts on where her burning ambition may take her next.

Enjoy!  

00.46 - Backstory

07.48 - Study

16.38 - First job

20.32 - Moving to the UK

30.09 - Romania Vs the UK

35.39 - Mindset

40.43 - Work-life balance

46.28 - Clinical progress

49.17 - Working culture

53.15 - Patient wants and needs

56.38 - Five-year plan

01.00.55 - The worst thing about being a dentist

01.05.20 - Industry predictions

01.09.47 - Blackbox thinking

01.24.57 - Fantasy dinner party

01.27.46 - Last days and legacy

Luisa Mateescu graduated from the University of Bucharest in 2017. She is an associate dentist at mydentist.