Often seen as a dreaded yearly appointment, a check-up can now be performed alongside a routine weekly shop at the supermarket.
Positioning dentists at such a familiar family landmark is a force for behavioural change encouraging people who have stayed away or simply not had time to pop in for relaxed consultations.
Centre for Dentistry, which launched its first dental practice inside a Sainsbury’s supermarket in 2012, has expanded across 25 branches with 75,000 registered patients.
“I get weekly feedback from patients who say they came to do their shopping and hadn’t realised there was a dentist, but it prompted them to come in because they hadn’t been for a long time,” says Seyed Alroyayamina, a dentist at Centre for Dentistry Brookwood in Surrey.
“It is convenient because we are open late and on Saturdays, so you don’t have to take time off work and you can always get a space in the supermarket car park.
“Being at a place that is part of a routine, where you shop regularly, can take away that mental build-up of seeing a dentist. There is a potential for a paradigm shift in behaviour by taking the stress out of thinking about and planning to visit the dentist.”
Mr Alroyayamina, a graduate of King’s College London Dental Institute and specialist in root canal treatment, has experience carrying out a full range of routine and complex treatment plans.
“We have more time for appointments and that is also good for the patients who are now more knowledgeable about all aspects of health and appreciate the opportunity to talk about their treatment,” he adds. “Going into greater depth helps them relax, which also makes my job more pleasurable.
“Every day we get patients coming in with their bags of shopping and popping in for a check-up or a bit of treatment as it is an easy and relaxed thing to do.”
Centre for Dentistry received a WhatClinic Award this April in recognition of its high performance with results collated from a full year of patient reviews and feedback data.
Lisa Riley, Centre for Dentistry chief executive, says: “Patient care is our top priority and we do our utmost to make the experience of dentistry a positive one for every patient. To receive such positive feedback from our patients is fantastic.”
The centres use affordable annual dental plans, which cover regular check-ups, X-rays, and scale-and-polish appointments, with other treatments at competitive rates.
For more information please visit www.centrefordentistry.com
