Building The Dental Cafe

Seb Evans spoke to Clare Robinson about the launch of The Dental Cafe in Garston, Liverpool.

The Dental Cafe is an innovative new dental practice found in south Liverpool. Launched in 2018, the idea behind the Dental Cafe was to create a relaxed, non-intimidating environment for patients to drop in when walking by and ask about their oral health, before discussing any possible treatments. And it’s an idea that has since snowballed.

‘I didn’t expect for it to be as popular as it has been to be honest,’ Clare Robinson, dentist and principal at The Dental Cafe, says. ‘The Dental Cafe got so much media attention after its launch.’

Building ‘The Dental Cafe’ idea

Clare started in dentistry taking over the NHS Garston Dental Practice eight years ago. It is a well-known dental practice and part of the community for the last 70 years. Due to its popularity amongst patients the practice quickly built up a waiting list, but it was difficult getting patients in the area to look after their teeth and have any treatment other than a check-up.

‘Most of the patients would come and see us, but they weren’t coming back here to have any cosmetic dentistry,’ Clare explained. ‘They were going to Turkey to have full smile makeovers, or the beauty salon around the corner to get teeth whitening. It frustrated me that you’d see all these patients come in who would be happy spending a fortune on getting their eyebrows done or false nails, but they weren’t willing to spend time looking after their teeth.’

In 2017, another NHS dental practice just around the corner from Garston Dental Practice came…