Botulinum Toxin Club founder, Harry Singh, talks to Dentistry about winning Outstanding Business of the Year at the Dental Industry Awards
How did you get involved in facial aesthetics?
After qualifying from Leeds Dental School in 1996, I followed the traditional VT, associate and principal routes in dentistry, owning three dental practices along the way. Amongst these was Aesthetics, my award-winning private practice in Hertfordshire.
I’ve actually been carrying out facial aesthetics since 2002 and in my last dental practice, which was focused on aesthetics, I ended up performing more facial aesthetic treatments than dental treatments. Due to the very high profit margins associated with facial aesthetics, I decided to concentrate on this area.
I was then shortlisted at the Private Dentistry Awards in 2012 and 2013 for the Best Facial Aesthetics Clinic and was a finalist in 2012 at the Myfacemybody awards for the Best Aesthetics Clinic, which, of course, spurred me on.
You now also have the Outstanding Business of the Year award under your belt. What does that mean to you?
It means the world! When you enter the healthcare profession your number one goal is to help patients, but to get there you need to have a practice that can survive in the real world of business.
So, while clinical expertise and experience is key, you also need to be a keen marketer; that’s vital to attract and retain patients requesting facial aesthetic services.
I set up BTC to share with fellow dentists how they can unlock a new revenue stream from their existing patient base as well as win new customers by offering facial aesthetics.
It is a skill set that offers great satisfaction and improves business, and I want to help others in these endeavours irrespective of receiving incredible recognition like this, so I am humbled and delighted.
You mentioned marketing. Is it really that important to success?
Yes! It’s about effective communication in terms of who you are and what you do. Without initial and ongoing marketing strategies you will fail to attract patients to your services. You may be the finest clinician, have outstanding customer care and have each patient’s best interests at heart, but if they don’t know about the services in the first place you won’t have any clients.
What is the Botulinum Toxin Club about?
I created it to provide dentists – and other qualifying health professionals – with the opportunity to attend accredited clinical workshops for a range of non-surgical aesthetic treatments.
Offering support before, during and after the workshop, my participants can rest assured that everything will be in place to allow them to concentrate on treating facial aesthetic patients.
How does facial aesthetic treatment fit in with dental care?
It’s very simple – our patients trust us. That means that we have a head start when it comes to offering facial aesthetics in a safe and comforting environment.
In addition, we have mastered how to give injections with minimal discomfort and are experts in the facial anatomy and structures.
As for actual treatment, the most obvious area to complement cosmetic dentistry is the lips. Patients may have lovely straight, white teeth, for example, but if the lips are thin or out of proportion then eyes will inevitably be drawn to what you might call a ‘flaw’ rather than the great dental results achieved. In such a case, plumping up the lips subtly may well enhance the patient’s new smile.
What advice would you offer to dentists thinking about adding facial aesthetic treatment to their offering?
To get started you need to choose an accredited course, make sure you’re indemnified, have a mentor, understand any medicolegal requirements, and be able offer all treatments in a safe and ethical manner. After that, everything you need to grow your practice is in your hands.
If you manage to make a going concern of either combined dental care and facial aesthetics or facial aesthetics alone, there’s a good possibility you can take more time off but still earn a good wage.
To find out how you can build more profit for your practice through facial aesthetics, visit www.botulinumtoxinclub.co.uk, call 0800 047 2038 or email [email protected].
