CATEGORY 36 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST AUSTRALIAN DENTISTRY AWARDS Australian Dental Awards 2025: The Winners’ Roundtable Talks (PART 3) Sustainable Practice of the Year – Beaconsfield Dental Beaconsfield Dental has spent more than a decade building one of the most comprehensive sustainability programs in Australian dentistry. The journey started before the clinic existed. In 2000, when the Panjkovs built their home, sustainability was part of the structure. When Beaconsfield Dental was purposebuilt in 2014, the logic carried over. “As it was a greenfield project, it presented the ideal opportunity to incorporate sustainability measures into the build,” says Lisa Panjkov, co-owner of Beaconsfield Dental. What that has produced is a practice that manages 14 compost streams, runs a 144-panel solar array generating over 30 megawatts across ten years, and stores 17,000 litres of rainwater annually – saving over 100,000 litres of mains water each year. The water tanks are painted with Victoria’s endangered flora and fauna. When time permits, the team also collects rubbish around the local Akoonah Park. Dr Robert Panjkov has spoken about the practice’s approach to the FDI, ADA groups, Melbourne University dental students, and the Men’s Shed. To practices considering their own sustainability path, Mrs Panjkov’s advice is direct: “Start implementing sustainability, even if it is something small. It ranges from placing amalgam separators to collecting rubbish locally – there are so many opportunities. If building a clinic, incorporating sustainability into the build will reap future benefits not just financially but also in community goodwill.” The award, she says, “vindicates our decision to pursue sustainability at Beaconsfield Dental. The feedback from the team, community and patients has been all positive. It demonstrates to the broader community that we genuinely care about our surroundings and environment.” By Danny Chan Four ADA2025 winners reveal why the profession’s future belongs to those who look beyond the chair. New Practice of the Year – Happy Dentistry Dr Jenny Liu acquired Happy Dentistry in 2022. She is direct about what compelled her. “The honest answer is that being an associate never felt like enough. I’ve always enjoyed the clinical side of dentistry, but I knew I wanted to build something of my own, and to stretch myself in the areas dental school never touches: business, brand, leadership.” The practice she set out to build had a specific design principle at its centre – cultural fluency built into the operating system itself. “What I wanted was to build cultural fluency into the system, into how we book, communicate, record people’s preferences and follow up, so it actually serves the patient rather than depending on who happens to be rostered that day.” The test she returns to: whether a patient leaves feeling seen and safe. “Whether I’ve done it as well as I want to, I couldn’t tell you. But that was the intent, and we keep working at getting it closer.” On the early years, she is surprisingly candid. “There was no financial stability, the stress was constant, and there was a personal cost I didn’t fully see coming. There’s no clever system that spares you from that part. You carry it.” What At Beaconsfield Dental, the water tanks are hand-painted with Victoria’s endangered species; the practice runs on 144 solar panels; and the team picks up litter from nearby Akoonah Park when they’ve got a spare moment. Dr Jenny Liu, who bought Happy Dentistry in 2022, is blunt about her early years – “mostly survival” – though her real focus was building a practice where patients actually felt seen. Dr Harry Marget, who learned to handle difficult conversations by performing Shakespeare on stage, wholeheartedly believes that “the human touch is the most important touch ever.” Dr Geoff Hall has treated over 15,000 orthodontic cases but still won’t leave the room until every last person grasps the biomechanics. The 2025 Australian Dental Awards, held in Melbourne, recognised four practitioners whose work – and work ethic – beckons a closer look.
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