Alun Rees

Alun Rees

Author at Dentistry Online

Alun Rees is a dental business coach
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Maybe it’s time to consider ‘followership’

Maybe it’s time for leaders to encourage followers to consider the ways they can and should work, Alun Rees says. One of the current buzzwords in (UK) dentistry is ‘leadership’. The GDC wants it, the CQC insists that you show it and I keep hearing how the profession needs it. There is no end of people telling…

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Hares and tortoises

Hares or tortoises, who is going to help grow your dental practice, Alun Rees questions. The late Colin Hall Dexter, godfather of private dental practice, talked about ‘trinket dentistry’. During his courses he would show a picture of extensive and expensive restorative dentistry, which he had carried out – and had subsequently failed. The lesson…

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Fake news and reviews

Word of mouth is still one of the most trustworthy forms of marketing and should not be forgotten about, Alun Rees says. Florence Foster Jenkins, the tone deaf heroine of a recent film had a dream to become a vocal diva and even managed to stage a show at Carnegie Hall. In constant support of…

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Sale or auction?

Are practice agents really taking into account what’s best for their clients or just trying to get the highest practice price, Alun Rees questions. ‘It has happened again, I thought we were in a sale not an auction, what do you advise?’ A brief email on a Tuesday morning and more hopes dashed. My clients…

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What happens if…??

Do you have a plan if the catastrophic were to happen, Alun Rees questions. When my mother was widowed she wisely organised her affairs, drew up a new will and appointed me to have enduring power of attorney in the event of her becoming mentally unable to conduct her affairs. When she developed dementia it made…

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Oh, what a circus!

The GDC is showing little common sense with the Gordon Pate case, Alun Rees says. Every registrant present and past should know how their hard earned cash is being spent. Gordon Pate is a retired dentist. His career is complete, his practice sold and any desire to carry on working long gone. An outspoken individual,…

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What’s in a name?

Treating patients as consumers can cause expectations to increase beyond realistic, Alun Rees says. I am an advocate of excellent customer service. Ryanair excepted, who isn’t? The best book that I have read in years on running a successful dental business is Danny Meyer’s Setting the table where he tells his story of establishing a number of unique restaurants in…

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Sugar tax – an initial skirmish

The sugar tax is the start of a long war on sugar, Alun Rees warns. When our son was born 25 years ago, my wife Susan, a dental hygienist, and I were running a small practice on a large new suburban housing estate. Our philosophy of practice was founded on the unsexy triad of paediatric…

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Built to last

How are you ensuring that your practice is built to last for 100 years, Alun Rees questions. Change in dentistry is happening at a faster rate than ever. Whether it is in our understanding of diseases, use of digital technology or deployment of personnel, it reflects the ‘VUCA’ world in which we live. VUCA (volatile,…

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HMRC and the evolving status of associates

Looking at the work patterns of some associate dentists, Alun Rees struggles to justify their status as self employed. The BDA has emailed its members working in general practice to tell them that HMRC is reviewing the status of associate dentists. This is no surprise to many observers, but to some in the profession it will be…

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Skin in the game

There’s less ‘skin in the game’ now in dentistry because of the current NHS dental contract, Alun Rees says. I was provoked to write this piece after reading the mixed reviews of Nicholas Taleb’s new book Skin in the game. The concept of ‘skin in the game’ refers to having risk (monetary or otherwise) in…

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The problem with young dentists…

It might not be the young dentists at fault, it may be the older dentists getting in the way, Alun Rees says. I qualified from Newcastle University nearly 40 years ago. Some people would have you believe that this was the ‘Golden Age’ of British dentistry. A working world of dentistry where rubber gloves were…

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Delegate or die

Dental hygienists and therapists should be embraced in all dental practices, Alun Rees says. Early in my career I heard an opinion from a leader of the profession that: ‘Dental hygienists should be resisted, because they will take the bread out of our mouths’. I put his opinion down to the conservatism of his age and…

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The Carillion effect

How does the Carillion collapse relate to NHS dentistry? Alun Rees explains. Carillion has gone. Another rude awakening from the easy delusions that ‘bigger is better’ and some companies are ‘too big to fail’. For months the writing was on the wall for Carillion, yet it was still being granted taxpayer funded contracts on the misguided presumption that it would trade itself out…

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Cognitive dissonance – again

With increasing expectations from patients, dentists are spending more time worrying about what could go wrong than enjoying the work they do, Alun Rees says. In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. Two years ago I…

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Is dentistry making you sick?

Don’t leave it too late and make sure you get help if you need it, Alun Rees says. Dentistry is tough, with unique pressures. All professions expect knowledge and skills, but dentists do intricate, exacting work in one of the most sensitive areas of the body with conscious patients. Add to the mix the increasing…


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