An exciting new challenge

So finally,I can share the secret I have been bursting to tell everyone. Today was my first day in an exciting new role for me as Senior Professional Relations Manager to Philips Oral-health Care in the UK. 


This unique role has been created to assist the already well established team in developing relationships with the dental world in the UK to encourage scientific and technological development; supporting the British Dental Profession in  keeping our rightful place among the leading countries in the dental world. 


I will work alongside the already robust and quality education programme put in place by Tricia Rawsthorne and will have input into the best way we can support all of the dental team in their quest for best practice.


I will still work in clinic and will also continue lecturing but will not be consulting in practice any more.


This amazing role allows me to grow and develop some of my favourite elements of my professional life with the strong support of a very capable team. I am so pumped by the possibilities I could just pop!


Watch this space for updates of all the great subsidised and sometimes free CPD programmes and development plans that Philips have available for the whole team.


Wish me luck!


Keep on keeping on


Mhari

All the leaves are brown (well a lot of them) and the sky is grey....

It happened last week. I swear it comes earlier every year. No, not Christmas decorations being sold in Harrods (that started in August for those that want to be appalled) but my desire to stick the heating on. You see, I am the early bird of the house, rising at 5.45am most weekdays. I am also very un-Scottish and really do like to be warm. And I have to say that last week it was decidedly nippy in the bathroom first thing. I am trying to hold out until October but can't make any promises. Work wise, I am only just getting back up to speed after my August break and September seems to be disappearing fast.

And the heating going on, leaves turning brown, and skies becoming grey (more so than in summer) all point to one thing....that this is the start of dental conference season here in the UK. And there are so many to look forward to. I will be attending: 

Dental Showcase - 20-22 October - Birmingham - FREE for all GDC registrants with some FREE CPD there too http://www.eventdata.co.uk/Forms/BDTA0Visitor.aspx?FormRef=BDTA1Visitor  

BACD Conference - 10-12 November - London - minimally invasive techniques is the future of all dental treatment including cosmetic solutions - will be a good one https://www.bacd.com/dental-professionals/dentists.html 

Pan Dental Society Meeting - 11-12 November - Liverpool - trauma is the main theme at this meeting with an amazing line up of international speakers http://www.pandental.co.uk/

BSDHT Annual Conference - 18-19 November - Bournemouth - A wealth of international speakers, and some cutting edge workshops, one of the best prevention led trade exhibitions - plus an exciting announcement from Dental Health, the societies journal - http://www.bsdht.org.uk/welcome1.html 

Phew! A busy but fantastic start back to work for me. I love to learn and develop in these environments and invariably meet some fascinating people too. I also love the social aspect of these things, a chance to develop friendships and practice my mum dancing too.

So I hope to see some of you at these meetings and will do my up most to blog the best bits of each meeting.

I was sad to hear from Pam Swain that the BADN has cancelled their meeting this year due to lack of sponsorship and support. Times are hard no doubt. But it seem crazy that some companies are short sighted and are not investing in the Dental Nurses; the hub of the practice. So we at CPDforDCP will be giving away one hour of FREE CPD from now until Christmas to help the dental nurses out. Septembers will be with you this week if we can sort out our small computer problems!! http://www.cpdfordcp.co.uk/freecpd1.html

Keep on keeping on

Mhari 

Two more of the Catalyst team

Wow it is really raining here today. But I am so excited about these brilliant days that it is not dampening my mood one bit.

Revealing another two experts on tap for you and your team to brain drain. Michael will be with us on November 4 in Birmingham only.

Michael Cahill - aka - The Pheonix

Michael is the owner of the awaard-winning Cahill Dental Care Centre in Bolton. He has been married to Fiona for almost 25 years and has 2 teenage sons. Since converting the practice to fully private over 12 years ago he has worked with some of the world's best coaches and trainers, and has been recognised with both national and local awards for Best Employer and Best Team. Michael will be sharing his ideas and methods on how to develop your very own A-Team, that will be able to deliver world-class service and build life long relationships with your patients. 

Patricia Rawsthorne - aka - The Mentor

Patricia Rawsthorne is Professional Education Manager for Philips Oral Healthcare and has been with Philips for nine years. She is solely responsible for the implementation of  dental education programmes for students and qualified dental professionals and has underpinned the Philips Transitional Support Programme for dental hygienists and therapists. She is a qualified Dental Nurse and Oral Health Educator and recently qualified from Surrey University in Level Three Mentorship

Book your place now and take a team member for FREE 

http://www.mharicoxon.com/paycatalyst.html

Catalyst days - the plan of action - and another superhero for your practice

I am winding down for summer now. Yesterday was my last clinical day and today my last office day until September 1. Quality family time was one priority when I built my business plan for the last 3 years. 


It might be one of the things you want to look at in your development and vision for your practice. 


With our unique Catalyst days, each delegate has a detailed form to fill out before the day to help them focus on what they want to achieve. These detailed appraisals will help us to help you. They will be confidential but we do want to use the small group of like minded people to your advantage so we will ask you to share. The environment will be relaxed an open to encourage honesty and development as a group.


"Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes." Peter Senge


Introducing another superhero of the dental world here to save the day:

Sarah Fiddaman - aka - The Baking Implementer


Working as an Independent Practice Manager Sarah brings a spark to the business (as well as cakes!) Dentistry continues to evolve as an industry and Sarah helps teams, and principals work to their strengths.  Having worked outside of the industry (predominately in Hospitality) she brings a wide range of skills with her including Project management, Excel spreadsheets and a determination to make Exact support business decisions.  You always know where Sarah is – either by her laugh, or the smell of freshly baked goodies – providing Practical Practice Support so that Principals can do what they do best – Teeth not paperwork.

More superheroes to be revealed this week. Places are filling up so book early and take advantage of the FREE team member place.

http://www.mharicoxon.com/catalyst.html

Keep on keeping on

Mhari

Catalyst days - Time to meet the team that will change your practice

So here it is, the first peek at 3 of the 6 strong team that will be your Catalysts for change should you chose to join us for an honest, unpretentious, mentoring day.        

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin

For more information - http://www.mharicoxon.com/catalyst.html

Book your place NOW 

http://www.mharicoxon.com/paycatalyst.html

Krishan Joshi aka The Master

Krishan Joshi was recently voted #4 in the Dentistry Top 50. He is the Internet Marketing Director at Dental Focus Web Design with over 10 years experience in dental web marketing, creating over 350 dental websites with thousands of Google Page 1 rankings. Learn how to attract new patients to your dental practice with Google, Videos, Email Marketing and Facebook. Get empowered.

Mhari Coxon - aka The Inspirer

#15 in Dentistry top 50. A superb natural communicator and motivator, Mhari keeps teams moving in one direction, using clear goals and targets to complete each phase of development. From Chairing the London BSDHT for 3 years, and working as an MD; Mhari excels at motivating and co-ordinating a team and utilising skills, decentralising leadership and developing self efficacy in members.Throughout her career Mhari has developed hygiene protocols and plans in practices which have continued to be used with great success. Since scope of practice in 2006, she has developed a team package for use in practice which is rewarding to the staff and financially rewarding to the practice. 

Paul Howe, - aka - The Sales Dragon

Providing unrivalled sales and service training that is customer focused and uses modern day techniques, not only without compromising your brand integrity, but actually adding to it.

Having worked all over the World with companies such as Marriott, Audi, VW, LloydsTSB and Bourne Leisure, amongst others, why not discover the secrets to successful selling with sustainable results

The next three dental superheroes will be revealed to you next week. We are here to empower and inspire you.

Keep on keeping on

http://www.mharicoxon.com/paycatalyst.html

Mhari

Catalyst for change - closing one door and opening another

This has been a week for wrapping things up, closing some doors and opening others. 

I had my fantastic new crowns fitted, courtesy of Lance Kruger, a maxillary facial surgeon who is such a kind perfectionist and did my preps as a huge favour, and the talented Simon Newbold from Creative dental laboratory @w1. It has allowed me to appreciate just how good we make our patients feel when we help them to get their smile back or better. I have been grinning like a fool all week. The quality of work has really blown me away and exceeded any expectations I had.

I also wrapped up a great practice consultancy where we have improved the patient journey, developed confidence and profitable skills in the team, and increased revenue. The next phase is developing the leadership skills with a willing and visionary principle after summer.

My final wrap up is me leaving The Fresh Breath Centre after 6 and a half years as the main hygienist. I am cutting down my clinical time and increasing my non clinical work. It feels like the right thing at the right time. It was impossible to cut down there as patients were so familiar with me they didn't want to see anyone else. My replacement is lovely and should thrive there.

And so another chapter begins. I will be joining a colleague from an old practice in his new venture and can't wait to help him develop.

There are lots of new things happening too. Working in partnership with CPDforDCPs and Philips I have two practice development days planned for this year. They will see my vision become reality in creating a 'try before you buy' opportunity to have experienced advisors on hand to inspire, support and aid development of you, your practice and your team. The sessions will be very relaxed and supportive, with casual wear the order of the day as there are some fun bits that are best done out of suits. The places are limited as we need small numbers for it to work. For booking details visit www.mharicoxon.com Until August 19 if a principle books, they can bring one team member for free.

There is also a great taster day for dental nurses to develop their skills planned for October. It will include impression taking, fluoride application and interviewing skills. For booking details visit http://www.cpdfordcp.co.uk/teamexpansion.html 

And there are a few things that will see more doors opening which I should be able to share with you by September.

August is my break month and I am looking forward to some quality family time. Hope you have a lovely summer.

Keep on keeping on.

I'll name that bacteria in.......

So, this week was a busy mix of clinic with some very interesting meetings thrown in. I have a few bits of good information I want to share but can't yet. All of it is newsworthy so will let those cats out of their bags as soon as I can.


I have started a product review section for Preventative Dentistry and am really excited by it. I have trialled lots of products for people previously and provided feedback to the companies; often the products are prototypes. This feedback was never disclosed before. The difference here is that my findings will be published and the products will be sale ready. I have always told every company the same thing at the start. I will be honest and if it is good will say so happily. Equally, if I do find problems then I will report them also. My patients are so used to it now they are disappointed if I don't have something new to try out on them at their recall sessions. Preventative Dentistry is going from strength to strength just now and is one to watch.


The big dental news for me this week is that Kings have been awarded an enormous grant to take on the equivalently large task of making a comprehensive list of oral bacterium. They are going to sort out the 1,000 odd species and hopefully be able to understand more about why a healthy biofilm can become aggressive, who the aggressors are, and what can be done to prevent their domination. I know, I know for the most part what we do now works. But for around 5%-15% of the population who will lose the battle with them despite best efforts, this piece of research could be the change we are waiting for to give us the upper hand. I would love them to run a competition to name one of the new found species. It would be a toss up between Bob or leaving a lasting impression and going for Mhari as the ultimate reminder of my geeky obsession with oral bacteria! I am genuinely so interested in the development of biofilm I would be willing to volunteer on this one for free, and if I could, get a visit to look at how it develops. Bacteria heaven!


Finally, we were told that females who have gingivitis or periodontal disease could find it harder to conceive. We are also told that kissing is good for the oral health as it produces more saliva and makes a good ph balance in the mouth. So it seems we all need to floss more and snog more for the sake of our oral health.


Keep on keeping on


Mhari

Wimbledon with Philips

Last Tuesday, for one day only, I was a bona fide lady what lunches. Philips were kind enough to invite myself and others from the dental world to enjoy the day at their corporate box at Wimbledon. It was a wonderful day, and of course the champagne, fantastic food, great tennis and lots and lots of polite, handsome young men in uniform were nice (really nice), but the most enjoyable thing was the good company it offered.


I had lunch with Ed Lynch and Ian Peace among others and am constantly impressed by how unassuming these leaders in their fields are. I still get a little star struck at Prof Lynch but he is such a charming, approachable man. There was no boasting, gossiping, back biting or talking over people, just a genuine joy at sharing information and having great discussion and debate; dental and non dental. They are going to be touring together with Philips bringing what I believe will be a "one not to miss" one day course for GDPs and Hygienists.


The day long meetings will include the following subjects:

- Top tips for quality clinical dentistry

- Faster, easier and better dentistry

- Minimally invasive dentistry for the 21st Century

- How to include prevention as part of every consultation 

- Patient motivation

- Profitable prevention

- Interdental cleaning using technology in practice 
More information can be found at http://www.dentinaltubules.com/courses/view/192 


I have also been trialling a caries detection machine for fissures and pits. This is a great machine and I will be reviewing it fully for Preventative Dentistry in the first of my series of product tests for hygienists. CariesScan Pro is well thought out and my patients are really interested in having this as part of their routine hygiene assessment and review. For more information visit www.cariescan.com More information to follow. 


And  finally, on a totally non dental subject. My lovely sister turned 40 yesterday so I took her out to Windsor for Brunch and a day of pampering. I treated her with a new cut and colour, nails and eyebrows. A lot of champagne and cocktails and some amazing cakes from http://www.candycakes.com/ where the lovely man flirted outrageously with my sister too and made her day! I guess what I am saying is that at two out of seven days like this this week; maybe I am a lunching lady in the making.


Keep on keeping on


Mhari

Do we know how to be good leaders?

Today saw me enjoying my family time, cycling with the kids and ignoring work. My 13 year old son decided our route and planned the timing and picnic. He delegated duties to all of us to make this happen and asked for advice and support when he needed it. He took the time to show his 7 year old sister how to peel a carrot. It was a fabulous outing and a lovely picnic.

He used a combination of authoritative, participative and delegating styles and allowed free reign when he knew others had the better knowledge. The boy is a natural born leader though I may be a little biased as his (extremely proud) mother.

And it made me look at myself as a clinician being a leader. You can be the most skilled, natural clinician but not be a good leader. Leading involves reading others and developing the workforce. It means taking responsibility for the good and bad that happens, and recognising a need to change. It means blending and developing good leadership skills to get the best out of everyone. And it means being able to hear criticism and take it on board. Not easy.

The main styles of leading are:

Authoritive: - you go and do what I say and then bring it back for me to sign off.
Participant: - let's work together to find the best solution and way forward
Delegation - you go and find out this while I do something else

I believe we need to have a good understanding of all three styles and recognise when to use which to develop as a leader. I also believe that as dental folks we tend to lean heavily towards being autocratic and authoritative. It fits in with our training and how we work as a clinician. It fits in less well with how we work as a team and the modern dental environment. Developing our leadership skills can lead to greater job satisfaction and increased revenue.

There is a simple survey link here that will let you see what kind of leader you tend to be. Then it is a case of learning how to blend your leadership approaches to get the best out of your team. Harder than it sounds.

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/survstyl.html

And one last thing while you are here..............

My role as a preventative health advisor has grown a lot in the last 15 years. I discuss diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress, smoking, diabetes risk and now, according to this clip http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13806007 we should be discussing STD and the risks with patients too. Initially I thought 'Really?!?' but when you think about it, it is as good a time as any.

My only concern is, as with most of the advice I offer, the patient has to be ready to hear the message and receive the support. So how do we discuss all of this and remember to care for their oral health too in whatever time frame you work to in practice.

Again (I am in danger of sounding like a broken record) we all need to move towards the team working as a unit with the nurses gathering and imparting as much information as possible in the practice. This not only gives more value to the patients but also gives value to the team members.

Devils advocate hat on now, the issue I  have with extending our care to cover more general health issues, is that we need good information and understanding of a subject to be able to offer the right support, information and advice to our patients.

And so it comes down to training again. My husband often jokes when I say I don't know about something "you mean they DIDN'T cover that in the hygiene course?!" It is a reference to just how much we do understand about general health and lifestyle and the effects in the oral cavity. I have to be honest and say, apart from some amazing photos of herpes on a tongue; STDs were not featured heavily on our training programme.

http://www2a.cdc.gov/stdtraining/self-study/default.asp this is the closest I have found to a course we could do as dental professionals.

I feel that while it is commendable and desirable for us to deliver as much health care support as possible we must remember the mantra of the GDC that we should only carry out treatment and provide advice that we feel confident and competent to do and is within our scope of practice.

Rainy days and Sundays - a chance to catch up

With Talking Points a fading but everlasting memory of something quite fantastic in my life, I am  back in clinic the majority of my working week from now until August. I have missed the interaction with my patients and find it therapeutic to be back caring in that form.

Never switching off from my consulting, I have an update day with a team from an ongoing consultancy and a fun training and development day with a new team in the mix too.

It is safe to say I am officially Chairing the Hygienist and Therapist Symposium at the Dentistry Show 2012 and have lots to discuss and plan this week. Exciting plans, innovations and speakers in the pipeline. Will be giving you the insider information when I can.

And....so so excited to say, I am making my first trip to Wimbledon! Tuesday 28 Ladies quarter final day (unless the rain delays play then maybe some men quarter final too). There is a celebration going on and I am lucky enough to be party to it. I will look forward to reporting on it to you. Something new and exciting to discuss.

Today it has poured continually here, stopping all play at this household and at Queens. It has allowed me to catch up on all my articles and invoices which makes for a tidy mind and desktop.

I have been doing a series of lectures for Dhru Shah on his expanding website http://www.dentinaltubules.com/MhariCoxon4 is week one with another 3 following and hopefully tying together to offer you something useful. I am amalgamating my writings from the past 4 years now and separating them into sections. It is now conceivable that I have the makings of a book here. Maybe another rainy Sunday will see me finish it.

Bolton, Bristol, Birmingham then Bernie

So here I am at week three of the Talking Points tour. It has been amazing to be part of it. Although I have loved the energy of travelling, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for a while.

The BDA starts on Thursday 19 just as I finish. For the sake of sanity, and my marriage, I won't be there in Manchester but look forward to hearing the highlights through twitter and Facebook.

One of the topics that is being visited in several forms at the BDA, is that of access to dental services and resources.Things are changing and a lot of thought has gone into where we should be heading as a profession. If I were to attend I would be watching Sue Gregory, who has her finger firmly on the pulse of dentistry, Iain Chapple, as I do love a bit of perio, Soren Holm as I feel I need to revisit ethics and law to be sure I am doing everything possible, and finally the Friday session at 14.00 Chaired by Stephen Lambert Humble. This session see a panel representing GDPs and DCPs talk about how to utilise your team.

As this is in essence my bread and butter, I would very much like to hear the thoughts of the panel about the future of teamwork, triage systems and a prescribing nurse type scenario in dentistry. Even if they limit themselves to only talking about the hear and now, getting the message out about how you can utilise the team can only be a good thing. I have friends taking notes for me and look forward to hearing how the whole conference went.

I hope they will mention the review of Standards and Scope of Practice the GDC us undertaking just now and how we can all have a positive input by visiting www.gdc-uk.org and filling in the questionnaire about standards and having our say on scope of practice too.

Keep on keeping on

Mhari

Mhari has her blog back - change is good

This last week has been fantastic and fantastically busy. As Talking Points was in the south I tried to get some clinical lists in to keep control of the waiting list I have. The girls in our office are fantastic and make sure they have a list of people who want to be seen earlier, what days and times would suit and how they want to be contacted. I am lucky enough to be booked up 6 weeks ahead just now.

My regulars know this and book their recall sessions in advance, up to 9 months. As a rule, even if you aren't that busy, always ask people if they would like to be seen earlier. Make a list of people, what days suit and times. It means if you walk in on a Monday to messages cancelling for the Tuesday you can bring appointments forward and provide and efficient service as well as filling the book well.

I was inspired on Friday, my day off, listening to Wyman Chang, Tif Quereshi and James Russell. I could see myself and especially dually qualified hygienist therapists being well utilised when using whitening, inman aligners and composite bondings. I loved meeting Eddie Lynch and can see why he is such an influence in dentistry. And a wonderful humble man to boot. We are both looking at a new caries detection system which has the potential to become an essential piece of equipment in every practice. I will keep you posted on my trials.

The emails I have received about the Talking Points tour have been encouraging and to have the Deputy Chief Dental Officer Sue Gregory attend in London and say that she loved the talk was amazing to say the least. My talk is focused on change of behaviour and opinion in the team to develop better preventative practice together. I am looking forward to the second of the 3 weeks, taking me to Leeds, Falkirk and Newcastle.

Change is constant in dentistry, and should be part of the dental team to bring about improvements and ideas which will keep us all ahead of the game. Saying "I am old school" is no longer a good thing believe me. Cutting edge and evidence based care lines, individually planned to each patient is what we should aim for, not familiarity. So go ahead, look as a team at what you are doing and say "is there a better way?" to each other. The answer might be just the thing your practice needs.