Dundee dental clinic adds 3,500 new NHS patients

By Gavin Harper

September 26 2022, 5:55am

Smile Tech dental clinic owners Abraham McCarthy and Richard Wilbraham.

A Dundee dental clinic that has taken on more than 3,000 new NHS patients has warned the industry faces major challenges ahead.

Smile Tech dental clinic, on Old Glamis Road, first opened about four years ago.

It was taken over by its current owners, Richard Wilbraham and Abraham McCarthy, during the first Covid lockdown in 2020.

Dundee dental clinic demand

The business, which is being rebranded to the Snowdrop Clinic, has acquired 3,500 new NHS patients this year.

Abraham said: “At a time when nobody is taking on new patients, taking on 3,500 is quite a tall order.

“It has meant we’re not able to take on any other NHS patients though.”

Immediately after taking over, the Dundee dentists was not open full-time, with Richard juggling another job, and because of Covid lockdowns.

The Smile Tech team. The business is being rebranded as the Snowdrop Clinic.

The impact of the pandemic is still being felt on the business, Abraham added.

“One of the big issues has been cuts to funding,” he said.

“The sector has been hit in a number of ways. We had to invest in ventilation and new equipment that cost about £12,000.

“The NHS gave us some money towards that but when we came out of Covid restrictions, they said we didn’t need it any more.

“They also said they weren’t going to give us any extra funding.”

Material costs and staffing issues

Material costs have also soared since 2019. Abraham said a box of gloves used to cost around £2 but are now selling for double that.

That’s a dramatic drop from £22 a box at the height of the pandemic.

Finding staff is also a challenge. The Smile Tech bosses want to add to their team of 10, but Abraham said there has been a big change in the dental industry recently.

“The industry lost so many clinicians and there’s not been any new dentists coming through the universities in the past couple of years,” he said.

“Some nurses left during the pandemic because they were getting paid more to work in Tesco.”

Dr Abraham McCarthy administers some botox treatment to staff member Alisha Callaghan.

But despite the challenges the practice, which also offers botox and lip fillers, has managed to grow since its current owners took over two years ago.

“We’re picking up our feet quite nicely,” Abraham said.