BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE
How are you, really?
You are not the first. And you are not alone.
I lived inside a complaint for three years. In October 2014 the committee found my fitness to practise was not impaired. I know the waiting, the sleepless nights and the second guessing.
Dentistry is taking more out of you than it used to.
That is not weakness. It is what happens to caring people under sustained pressure. The Pressure Check is a quiet, private place to start.
A different conversation about dentistry.
After more than twenty two years in dentistry, I have learned that transformation does not always begin with changing what we do. Sometimes it begins with changing what happens within us.
I trained to heal other people’s smiles. It took me longer to learn how to protect my own peace.
Three years is a long time to live inside a question mark.
In late 2011, a complaint was raised against me with the General Dental Council.
The investigation ran for nearly three years.
In October 2014, the Professional Performance Committee concluded it. They found my fitness to practise was not impaired. They praised the remediation I had undertaken.
That period changed how I understand pressure, fear, and the quiet weight clinicians carry. It is part of why The Dental Alchemist exists.
I share this not for sympathy, but because I know how many dentists are carrying something similar right now, quietly, while continuing to care for patients as though everything is fine.
I trained and practised in Germany, Iran and the UK. I hold a doctorate from Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf and a certificate from two years of training in restorative and cosmetic dentistry with Tipton Training. I trained in dentofacial orthopaedics under the late Dr Skip Truitt and Dr Stefan Cloete, and later became a certified hypnotherapist under Paul McKenna.
The Dental Alchemist was not built from theory. Transformation is at the heart of alchemy: pressure into calm, fear into confidence and difficult experiences into growth.
The clinician caring for everyone else is also human.
Dentistry asks for precision, composure and certainty. Patient after patient, day after day. Very little of our training prepares us for what that asks of us in return.
Complaints, the fear of getting it wrong, perfectionism, isolation. They are rarely spoken about between colleagues, yet so many of us carry them quietly.
“I hope this is the beginning of a conversation that helps us better understand not only the profession we work in, but also the people behind it.”
Three countries. Three systems. One steady hand.
Some things take longer than four questions.
Different ways to begin.
One to one conversations
A private space to speak about what you are carrying. Unhurried. Human.
Talks and workshops
For practices, study groups and associations ready to talk about the clinician, not only the clinic.
Programmes
A guided path from pressure toward calm, built over time.
Words From Those I’ve Had the Privilege of Helping
Every person has a story. These are a few I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of.
[REPLACE] A real testimonial from a dentist, shared with their permission.
[REPLACE] A real testimonial from a dentist, shared with their permission.
[REPLACE] A real testimonial from a dentist, shared with their permission.
A conversation worth having out loud.
For conferences, study clubs, podcasts and publications. Honest. Grounded. Rooted in lived experience.
Before you begin.
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You did not train to live on edge. You trained to heal.
You are not alone in this, even when it feels that way.
Before anything else, take one breath with me.