The Probe Dental Podcast

Seven Secretaries of State and health ministers in six years. That’s the record Eddie Crouch has had to work with as Chair of the British Dental Association’s Principal Executive Committee, the elected leader of the trade union and professional association representing dentists across the UK.

In his first appearance on The Probe Dental Podcast, Eddie talks about his background and his role at the BDA, then turns to the cost of constant churn at the top of government. What happens to policy continuity when the person across the table keeps changing? Which relationships have had to be rebuilt from scratch? Has any dental policy made it from announcement to delivery intact, or has everything of substance been restarted, rebranded or quietly dropped with each reshuffle?

We also ask how the BDA runs long-term campaigns on UDA reform, contract renegotiation and workforce when it can’t count on a minister still being in post by the time a policy lands. We look at how that instability reaches dentists on the ground, in recruitment, morale and NHS commitment, and how it compares with the damage done by the underlying funding and contract problems.

Finally, Eddie gives his view on whether dentistry might now get sustained ministerial attention, or whether the BDA is planning for the pattern to repeat.

For more from the BDA, visit https://www.bda.org/

Dental Elite's Luke Moore and Phil Kolodynski join us to discuss the results of their latest Dental Practice Benchmarking Report.

We look at why independent buyers made up 69% of completed transactions despite all the talk of corporate consolidation, and how selling to an independent differs from selling to a group. We also get into the gap between turnover and EBITDA: if your practice has grown its income but profits have stayed flat, will buyers notice, and does it matter?

Luke and Phil share the first red and green flags they look for in a practice's accounts, the one thing first-time sellers wish they'd known before starting, and the single most valuable step you can take now if you're two or three years away from a possible sale.

Whether you're actively planning an exit or just curious what your practice might be worth, this one's for you.Download a copy of the report here: https://dentalelite.co.uk/benchmarking-report/

Diabetes Care From The Dental Chair, sponsored by Corsodyl, outlines the INDICATE-2 study (Introducing Diabetes Checks in the Dental Setting), a major UK initiative led by the University of Birmingham and funded by Haleon.

The study establishes a care pathway for dental teams across 50 practices to screen routine patients for diabetes and pre-diabetes using blood tests and the DDS score (Diabetes Risk in Dentistry Score). Because people often visit the dentist when they feel healthy rather than sick, dental chairs present a unique "cold face" opportunity to diagnose conditions early.

In the final episode we explore the study's lasting legacy and what the future could hold beyond diabetes:

• Policy & NHS Integration: How point-of-care screening in dental practices can align with broader NHS preventive care targets and public health strategies.
• Health Economics & Cost Savings: The economic argument for early detection in dental settings, focusing on how timely intervention saves long-term NHS costs by mitigating severe diabetes-related complications.
• Patient Perspectives & Personal Impact: Real-world feedback and patient experiences regarding being screened during a routine dental visit, including the psychological and practical impact of early diagnosis.
• Future Scaling & Long-Term Vision: Recommendations for expanding the care pathway beyond the initial pilot study to standard practice across dental surgeries nationally.

The series gathers insights from the following prominent health leaders, researchers, and frontline professionals:

• Professor Iain Chapple – Key lead researcher instrumental in bringing the study to life at the University of Birmingham.
• Dr. Zehra Yonel – Clinical researcher from the University of Birmingham who coordinates the practice-based network.
• Jason Wong – Chief Dental Officer for England.
• Dr. Nigel Carter – Former Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation.
• Abbi Castle – Lead Community Care Coordinator at OBEX Dental (sharing Frontline primary care team perspectives).
• Adam Sisson – Vice President and Head of Oral Health Research at Haleon.
• Anne – A patient who was successfully diagnosed with type 2 diabetes directly from a dental screening test.

In this episode, we dig into the landmark Joint Statement on the Role of Dental Therapists in General Anaesthesia Settings — a collaboration between the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, the British Association of Dental Therapists, the British Society of Special Care Dentistry, and the Society for the Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry.

Joining us are three people who helped shape it: Adrian Thorp, President of BAOS and Clinical Director at Community Dental Services CIC; Oosh Devalia, President of BSPD, also with a CDS background; and Debbie Hemington, President of BADT.

Together we explore what the statement actually changes for dental therapists working under GA — from restorative care and extractions in paediatric settings to the much stricter supervision rules for adult special care patients. We ask why this collaboration came together now, what part Community Dental Services played in shaping it, and what it will take to turn this "clarification" of scope into real change on hospital rotas.

With dental extraction remaining the leading cause of hospital admission for children aged 5 to 9, and NHS GA waiting lists still under serious pressure, this is a conversation about safely expanding who can do what — without compromising the standards that keep patients safe.

Dr Kostas Karagiannopoulos is an experiencedspecialist prosthodontist, academic and researcher. He works in specialist practice in St. Albans and is co-founder of Prosthoworks providing advanced prosthodontic education incontemporary prosthodontic principles and techniques.

In a new GC Podcast interview, Kostas put the focus squarelyon the management of tooth wear, not just for prosthodontic specialists, but importantly, for general dentists as well. As Kostas says, “a tooth wear case is not exclusively to be treated at specialist level; with the right skills and conversation with patients, most tooth wear cases can be managed in generalpractice.”

Kostas kicks off the interview with his experience of the tooth wear referrals he sees in his specialist practice, and what he says may surprise you. Not only is the prevalence of tooth wear increasing as people are living longer and retaining their natural teeth for longer, but it’s also affecting people from much younger age groups, especially those in their 20s and 30s.

Kostas concludes that there’s a need to create more awareness of the problem of tooth wear, highlighting the implications and benefits of treatment, as well as aftercare and maintenance.

What’s in store

In this 24-minute interview, Kostas talks in depth about the main causes of tooth wear, how the perception of tooth wear has changed over recent years, and about his strategies for diagnosis and treatment using the latest materials and techniques.

Highlights include:

• The questions to ask patients who present with tooth wear, such as finding out more about their diet, whether they notice any gastric reflux, and, because of the links to bruxism and sleep apnoea, their quality of sleep or if they snore.
• Why the first line of the management of tooth wear is not cutting the teeth down aggressively for crowns but to replace lost volume by using adhesive techniques.
• Why Kostas is such an advocate of the Injection Moulding Technique to restore tooth wear and why he believes G-ænial Universal Injectable high-strength restorative flowable composite has become the gold standard for injection moulding.
• Why, in certain cases, when there’s a limit to what universal composites can do, in these cases Kostas and his lab technician turn to GC’s Initial LiSi Block and Initial LiSi Press as restorative chairside solutions.
• How to manage sensitivity in tooth wear cases and why patients love using GC’s Tooth Mousse.

Details about the courses available from Prosthoworks to learn more about injection moulding and treating tooth wear “in an additive way, in a minimalistic way, in a non-aggressive way, in practice.”

Find out more about GC’s solutions for tooth wear here.

Diabetes Care From The Dental Chair, sponsored by Corsodyl, outlines the INDICATE-2 study (Introducing Diabetes Checks in the Dental Setting), a major UK initiative led by the University of Birmingham and funded by Haleon. The study establishes a care pathway for dental teams across 50 practices to screen routine patients for diabetes and pre-diabetes using blood tests and the DDS score (Diabetes Risk in Dentistry Score). Because people often visit the dentist when they feel healthy rather than sick, dental chairs present a unique "cold face" opportunity to diagnose conditions early.In this episode we explore:

• Policy & NHS Integration: How point-of-care screening in dental practices can align with broader NHS preventive care targets and public health strategies.
• Health Economics & Cost Savings: The economic argument for early detection in dental settings, focusing on how timely intervention saves long-term NHS costs by mitigating severe diabetes-related complications.
• Patient Perspectives & Personal Impact: Real-world feedback and patient experiences regarding being screened during a routine dental visit, including the psychological and practical impact of early diagnosis.
• Future Scaling & Long-Term Vision: Recommendations for expanding the care pathway beyond the initial pilot study to standard practice across dental surgeries nationally.

The series gathers insights from the following prominent health leaders, researchers, and frontline professionals:

• Professor Iain Chapple – Key lead researcher instrumental in bringing the study to life at the University of Birmingham.
• Dr. Zehra Yonel – Clinical researcher from the University of Birmingham who coordinates the practice-based network.
• Jason Wong – Chief Dental Officer for England.
• Dr. Nigel Carter – Former Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation.
• Abbi Castle – Lead Community Care Coordinator at OBEX Dental (sharing Frontline primary care team perspectives).
• Adam Sisson – Vice President and Head of Oral Health Research at Haleon.
• Anne – A patient who was successfully diagnosed with type 2 diabetes directly from a dental screening test.

As Oarline — the new UK subsidiary of US agency Pain-Free Dental Marketing — prepares to launch, we caught up with Founder Eric Hubbard to discuss what it takes to bring an American approach to dental marketing across the Atlantic.

Eric shares the biggest culture shock in how British and American patients approach private dental care, and where the two markets surprisingly overlap. He also outlines which other countries Pain-Free Dental Marketing is currently active in as the business continues to expand internationally.

With UK advertising bound by GDC and Advertising Standards Agency rules that leave little room for the bold, direct claims common in US marketing, Eric explains how Oarline is adapting its strategy to stay compliant without blunting its competitive edge — and why so much of that work starts before a single ad ever runs.

For mixed practices looking to reduce NHS dependence and grow private income, Eric breaks down Oarline's "private-ready" model: getting the website, Google Business Profile and content presence right first, so prospective private patients actually have a reason to choose the practice, before spending a penny generating demand. He also discusses why Oarline has deliberately built its client relationships with no long-term lock-in, and what practices need to see early on to feel confident they've found the right marketing partner.

Find out more about Oarline, visit https://oarline.co.uk/

Diabetes Care From The Dental Chair, sponsored by Corsodyl, outlines the INDICATE-2 study (Introducing Diabetes Checks in the Dental Setting), a major UK initiative led by the University of Birmingham and funded by Haleon. The study establishes a care pathway for dental teams across 50 practices to screen routine patients for diabetes and pre-diabetes using blood tests and the DDS score (Diabetes Risk in Dentistry Score). Because people often visit the dentist when they feel healthy rather than sick, dental chairs present a unique "cold face" opportunity to diagnose conditions early.In this episode we explore:

• The Screening Imperative & Patient Reach: Explores why dental practices are ideally positioned to act as frontline screening hubs, reaching populations who may rarely visit a GP but attend regular dental check-ups.
• The Oral-Systemic Connection Reinforced: Further investigates the bi-directional relationship between periodontal health and glycemic control, emphasizing how early intervention in the dental chair can disrupt this vicious cycle.
• Chairside Point-of-Care Testing: Details the practical implementation of point-of-care HbA1c finger-prick testing and risk questionnaires during routine dental appointments to catch undiagnosed prediabetes and diabetes early.
• Workflow & Seamless Integration: Demonstrates how dental teams can incorporate diabetes screening directly into existing medical history reviews and routine check-ups with minimal disruption to clinical workflow.
• Interprofessional Referral Pathways: Outlines the critical link between dental professionals and general practitioners (GPs), ensuring high-risk patients are smoothly transitioned to primary medical care for formal diagnosis and treatment.

The series gathers insights from the following prominent health leaders, researchers, and frontline professionals:

• Professor Iain Chapple – Key lead researcher instrumental in bringing the study to life at the University of Birmingham.
• Dr. Zehra Yonel – Clinical researcher from the University of Birmingham who coordinates the practice-based network.
• Jason Wong – Chief Dental Officer for England.
• Dr. Nigel Carter – Former Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation.
• Abbi Castle – Lead Community Care Coordinator at OBEX Dental (sharing Frontline primary care team perspectives).
• Adam Sisson – Vice President and Head of Oral Health Research at Haleon.
• Anne – A patient who was successfully diagnosed with type 2 diabetes directly from a dental screening test.

In this episode, we speak with Tom Bereznicki about his foundation, the disconnect between undergraduate curricula and contemporary clinical practice, digital technology and more.The Tom Bereznicki Charitable Educational Foundation was launched in 2023, with a mission is to inspire early career dental professionals to achieve their maximum clinical potential.Using his own funds, Dr Tom Bereznicki formed the new dental charity after noticing a gradual decline in the clinical experience of both students and young dentists. To address this, the Foundation provides fully-funded or heavily-discounted training tailored to practitioners at the start of their career.Working in conjunction with the College of General Dentistry and other organisations, the Foundation runs a range of clinical skills competitions offering fully-funded, hands-on training, and one-day symposia on key topics. A free CPD webinar series is also planned.To find out how you can get involved, visit the Foundation’s website at https://tombereznicki.com/trust/ and follow them on Instagram for regular updates - @bereznicki_dentaleducation

Diabetes Care From The Dental Chair, sponsored by Corsodyl, outlines the INDICATE-2 study (Introducing Diabetes Checks in the Dental Setting), a major UK initiative led by the University of Birmingham and funded by Haleon.

The study establishes a care pathway for dental teams across 50 practices to screen routine patients for diabetes and pre-diabetes using blood tests and the DDS score (Diabetes Risk in Dentistry Score). Because people often visit the dentist when they feel healthy rather than sick, dental chairs present a unique "cold face" opportunity to diagnose conditions early.

In this episode:

• The INDICATE 2 Study & The DDS Score: Explains the expansion of the screening program from 13 practices in the southeast to a UK-wide network of 50 practices, tracking data on thousands of patients.

• The Oral-Systemic Link (The Two-Way Street): Covers the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontitis (severe gum disease). Uncontrolled diabetes triples the risk of gum disease, while untreated gum disease actively worsens blood sugar control.

• The Trillion-Dollar Economic Impact: Highlights data modeled by The Economist, revealing that treating periodontitis in at-risk groups could prevent 57 million cases of type 2 diabetes globally and save $163 billion in healthcare costs over a decade.

• Patient Case Study (Anne's Story): A firsthand account from Anne, a dental hospital patient whose stubborn gum pockets led to a finger-prick blood test, revealing critically high triple-figure blood sugar levels that her standard dietary management had missed. This prompt discovery allowed her to immediately start life-saving medication.

• The Corsodyl Clinical Sponsor Feature: Focuses on the role of effective daily plaque control between routine dental visits, highlighting how sodium bicarbonate toothpaste clinically reduces bleeding and reverses early gum disease.

The episode gathers insights from the following prominent health leaders, researchers, and frontline professionals:

• Professor Iain Chapple – Key lead researcher instrumental in bringing the study to life at the University of Birmingham.

• Dr. Zehra Yonel – Clinical researcher from the University of Birmingham who coordinates the practice-based network.

• Jason Wong – Chief Dental Officer for England.

• Dr. Nigel Carter – Former Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation.

• Abbi Castle – Lead Community Care Coordinator at OBEX Dental (sharing Frontline primary care team perspectives).

• Adam Sisson – Vice President and Head of Oral Health Research at Haleon.

• Anne – A patient who was successfully diagnosed with type 2 diabetes directly from a dental screening test.