Improve the patient journey with ‘excellent’ Dentalplus

We discuss Dentalplus with Thomas Rayner, who talks about his experiences introducing it into his practices and how the team has got on using it.

Please introduce yourself and give us a bit of background on yourself and your practice

I qualified from Manchester in 2008 with honours. I run and lead two mixed practices in Bradford that I have taken over from my parents. They have owned them for over 35 years and are just about to retire clinically.

I have been a DFT trainer for seven years. We have run various post-graduate training courses on varying aspects of dentistry during this time.

I have around 23,000 UDAs to manage over the two sites. As well as an ever-growing demand for private treatments.

Much of my time is spent managing the two sites and moving them forward whilst supporting, encouraging, and providing opportunities for our expanding and fantastically hard-working team.

For around 3.5 days a week, I provide general dentistry for our long-standing patients.

Although stressful at times, I enjoy my job and try to approach it with enthusiasm and energy every day. If I am not at the practices or spending time with my wife and kids, I can be found on my bike. I am a Strava ‘junkie’ and rocked up 7,000 miles on my bike last year.

I am a big believer in the N+1 rule (for the cyclists out there!).

What treatments do you provide at your practice?

We are about 80% NHS and offer a full range of general dentistry. One of our practices is involved with the Dental Contract Reform Programme and has been since it started.

Our team includes oral health educators and therapists who we try to utilise as part of the programme. However, like most of the profession, we are frustrated at the rate of progress.

We also have both a trainee dental therapist and DFT. They are real bonuses for the practice.

We are able to offer increased access to patients in Bradford, which has a big NHS dental access problem. Sadly this has worsened during the COVID 19 pandemic.

Our private practice is rapidly expanding, largely due to the increase in demand for cosmetic work.

We now offer a range of cosmetic treatment such as Invisalign and anti-wrinkle treatments. Following an ongoing period of building expansion and refurbishment, we intend to invest in a digital scanner and move as near to 100% fully digital as possible. We would also like to be offer implants in-house.

What attracted you to Dentalplus?

Dentalplus was originally recommended to us by a fellow practice owner back in 2013.

Following a demo, I was instantly attracted to it. It is easy to use, has remote login access, cloud features and a transparent pricing structure. The small but attentive support team was also really appealing.

Having looked and tried other dental practice management systems, I had no doubt that Dentalplus could offer the modern features I wanted.

What is it about Dentalplus that makes it stand out above other competitors?

The customer service offered by Dentalplus is excellent. There is no waiting in a queue to get any help and any queries are answered quickly.

They are constantly developing it with improved features and always listen and act on feedback. I like the fact it is part cloud/part server based. Thus we get the best of both worlds!

Making the patient journey as effortless as possible for both the patient and my reception/dental team is now more than important than ever. Dentalplus facilitates this and is constantly trying to improve itself based on our feedback.

How do your staff find using Dentalplus?

As with anything new, some members of our team were very unsure about using new dental software.

However, with the training provided and ongoing support offered, our team have found Dentalplus easy to navigate and very intuitive.

Additionally, it can do the in-depth reports that our practice manager requires. And, more or less everything is customisable to the needs of the practice. It integrates with our dental radiography and intraoral camera software seamlessly.

How has Dentalplus benefited your practice?

Having an efficient, modern, well-supported practice management system is integral to a dental practice.

It allows us to improve the patient journey, save time for not only the patients but also for the practice manager, dentists, nurses, and reception team.

It helps us to develop new patient services and improve our administrative efficiency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this has become invaluable to ensure the patients’ and team’s safety.

What have your patients said about it?

The online medical histories, FP17s, dental booking system, online payments and COVID-19 screening has really helped us and our patients organise and navigate the ‘patient journey’.

You can become truly paperless. Text and email reminders are easy to integrate with Dentalplus. Patients really appreciate the modern features that Dentalplus can offer them to improve their experience.

There are no third-party ‘tie ins’ that you typically get when trying to choose text or card providers to integrate.

What has been your experience with Dentalplus support?

Their support is excellent. There is no waiting in a queue on the phone like you often get with bigger companies. They get back to you very quickly via emails and are very patient with inexperienced members of our team who require help.

There is also plenty of information on the website about how to use certain features.

They provide in-house training before you start using the  and fix any problems immediately, so it doesn’t affect your clinics. To be able to get instantly back up and running if there is a problem is critical when it comes to IT. The team at Dentalplus certainly do this if there is a rare hiccup.

Would you recommend Dentalplus?

I would highly recommend Dentalplus to any practices of thinking of changing systems or even becoming computerised! I am a happy customer.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Just a big thank you to the team at Dentalplus for their help over the years!