Manchester Imaging Limited (MIL), the company behind AssistDent, announces two new appointments, as Ben Atkins and Jana Denzel join their expanding team of dental technology specialists.
Ben takes up the new role of director of corporate social responsibility and regulatory compliance, whilst Jana joins as clinical director following the retirement of Professor Hugh Devlin, co-founder of Manchester Imaging and a highly respected and widely published leader in dentistry research.
As immediate past president of the Oral Health Foundation, Ben brings wealth of expertise to Manchester Imaging, in the policy and public health advisory field, as a practitioner who built up a group of dental practices in the north of England and as a former tutor at Manchester Dental Hospital. His advisory roles include press and Parliamentary representative for the British Dental Association; former healthcare commission adviser on dental complaints; co-optee of the NICE Public Health Advisory Committee; member of the Periodontal Steering Group for the department of health; chair of Salford Local Dental Committee; ambassador for Wrigleys, and performance list panel member for NHS England.
Since graduating in dentistry in 2019, Jana has made a significant impact on the dental profession. This year, Jana has been awarded the position of Honorary Global Ambassador for Slow Dentistry, recognising his outstanding contribution to improving the quality of dentistry in practice, in education, on the lecture circuit and with the general public - recognition from his peers as being a leader in excellence on the world stage. Jana lectures internationally on the subject of dental psychology and dental anxiety, harnessing his expertise in psychology alongside his dental clinical practice.
Commenting on the role of director of CSR and regulatory compliance at MIL, Ben said, “As a new position within the company, this is a role which brings together two of my greatest passions in the field of dentistry: an ethical stance on the development of the profession combined with a focus on providing dentists with the technology and tools to really help in the day-to-day running of professional and clinical practice and business growth. I have long championed and spearheaded initiatives focused on hard-to-reach patients alongside patient education for preventive dentistry. The CSR element of my role at MIL will enable me to bring that passion and expertise to a company that clearly puts these at the forefront of their product development and research. Equally, regulatory compliance is a vital element for the profession, and I’ll be bringing both my clinical expertise and my experience of the business of dentistry to advise and guide MIL as the company expands.”
Taking up the position of clinical director at MIL, Jana comments, “I am delighted to be joining MIL at such an exciting time in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence in dentistry. Embracing new technology, AI is an area where I have a particular interest, and my passion is in communicating the real benefits such technology offers to the dental community. Leading the clinical direction of the company, I will be focused on continuing to develop my own emphasis on clinical excellence whilst promoting the ways that technology can really benefit the profession. The combination of a continued drive for clinical excellence, together with the opportunity to communicate the outcomes of cutting-edge research and new product development to my peers make this an exciting, and personally rewarding, position for myself and within the wider team at MIL.”
Manchester Imaging are leading the development of AI for the UK dental profession. Commercialising research from The University of Manchester’s Dental School, their AssistDent AI software, the first product to be launched by MIL, is proven to enhance dentists’ ability to detect enamel-only proximal caries and their peer-reviewed ADEPT Study, published in the British Dental Journal, demonstrates a 75.8 per cent identification rate using the AI software as compared to a 44..3 per cent rate for participants in the study working without the guidance of AssistDent.
Commenting on the new appointments to MIL, Tony Travers, CEO, said, “We are very pleased to welcome Ben and Jana to the company. That two such high profile experts in dentistry have joined the MIL team is testament to our strength in the marketplace and the credibility we have within the profession. We look forward to a year of significant growth, harnessing the expertise that both Ben and Jana add to our company for the benefit of the profession as a whole.”