The new ‘Slow Dentistry’ initiative held its first UK event in London last month.
Slow Dentistry is the brainchild of Dr Miguel Stanley, who’s building a movement focused on achieving the best for patients.
At the first UK event, held on 23 November, early adopters including Koray Feran, Simon Chard, Jameel Gardee, Rhona Eskander and Marcus Engelschalk explained why it is an important concept.
‘Some of us have already been practising Slow Dentistry in our clinics,’ Zaki Kanaan, global ambassador, said.
‘When teaching on our courses, we always emphasise that planning is key.
‘Slow Dentistry means we take our time planning and thinking about our patients’ individual cases (that’s the slow bit).
‘But ultimately it is the time planning, which makes our dentistry faster, safer and more predictable for our patients.’
Matching ethos
Voco supported the launch event, explaining that the Slow Dentistry ethos perfectly matched its own.
‘We applaud the whole concept,’ Andrew Thurston, country manager for Voco in the UK and Ireland, explained.
‘It dovetails with our view about the long-term success of dental care.
‘In order to guarantee the success of a treatment, the dentist must be able to achieve certain standards.
‘Voco and Slow Dentistry will certainly continue and expand their successful cooperation.’
Slow Dentistry movement
The Slow Dentistry movement is aimed at both the dentist and the patient.
It encourages hour-long dental appointments, also enabling the highest standards of anti-infection measures.
Dr Stanley believes rushed appointments endanger patients and increase infection risks.
‘It is good to have a name for something we have already been doing,’ Mr Kanaan continued.
‘Having the logo in my waiting room intrigues some patients, to whom we explain exactly how we work.
‘We sign up to a charter where we make a pledge to our patients that we commit to taking time with their treatment from planning to execution.
‘With a bit of explanation, patients love the concept and are on board with it.
‘In practice very little has changed.
‘Our consultations have always been 45 minutes allowing plenty of time for co-diagnosis and to answer questions and present a plan.
‘However we had to train our staff who get asked about Slow Dentistry all the time, how to explain what it is about.’
