Ten years on

I opened my first practice 20 years ago in Totnes, Devon. It was housed in a Tudor building, located over a shoe shop in the High Street. It was compact and rickety, but full of character.

I installed state-of-the-art dental equipment into two surgeries, and as soon as we found a way to stop the intra-oral X-ray arm from falling off the funny old walls, we were in business. 

Once I had installed a nurse, a receptionist and later a hygienist, the patients couldn’t come in fast enough. A small marketing campaign and the offer of private dentistry, unusual in Devon at the time, allowed me the chance to make a comfortable 45 per cent net profit.  

I experienced some discomfort from other practitioners in the area, who were unsure about the marketing practices I employed. Anything other than a brass plaque was unheard of at the time. In 1992 everyone became irate about the NHS contract. Sensing an opportunity I resigned my NHS number and went fully private; the only practitioner locally to do so.