CATEGORY 94 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST Portside Dental combines beauty and function FEATURE – CHAIRS, SERVICING & SPARE PARTS A decision to go it alone and establish their own dental practice has paid off for Dr Meredith Metin co-founder of Portside Dental, Newport (Melbourne), and her practice manager partner, Rachael Jones. This stylish practice goes well beyond any conventional drill and fill dentist to offer a range of treatments from oral surgery, including bone grafting, sinus lifts and dental implants, sleep dentistry and All-on-X surgery, to dermal fillers for a complete face makeover. Despite its clinical excellence, Portside Dental stands apart for its aesthetically pleasing and comfortable ambience, along with the gentle touch and reassuring manner of its highly skilled team who put patients at ease. Principal dentist, Meredith jokes that after working for over 20 years in other practices that she had an “epiphany” and decided to establish her own practice so she could do things her way, both clinically – and also by providing the type of stylish setting that she would like to work in and would also be attractive to patients. Partnering with colleague and friend, Rachael Jones, they found an ideal building in an area they know had an opening for more dental services. A modern Hamptons palette and highend finishes, including fluted marble tiles, artworks and sumptuous soft furnishings provide a relaxing haven for patients and staff. Meredith points out the décor is not the most important element, with her choice of equipment deliberately designed to make her work easier and patients comfortable. Having worked with a range of brands, Meredith consulted with A-dec Melbourne Territory Manager, Mindy Green to find equipment which would deliver the quality, comfort, ergonomics, reliability and service support that she was looking for. This is a practical consideration given the length of some more involved procedures which makes patient and dentist comfort paramount. “I was looking for the Rolls Royce of dental units and Mindy convinced me that the new A-dec 500 Continental unit was the way to go,” Meredith said. She then spoke to equipment sales specialists, Michelle De Blasis and Luke Williams from dental equipment dealer, Presidental who supplied the A-dec chairs and assisted her equip the rest of the practice. Portside Dental has another A-dec 500 chair, and an A-dec 300 chair used mostly by the Oral Health Therapists. However, Meredith says the Continental style delivery system was a bit of a revelation compared to the chairs she’s previously worked on. “I suppose it’s a bit like flying first class or business class, once you’ve experienced it, you don’t want to go back to economy, and while I’ve got other chairs in the practice, I find I can’t go back to them after using this one.” She said among the benefits of the Continental system were the support of the instruments by the soft rubber whip arms and tubing, which made the instruments very light in the hand. It also means that you don’t have to take your eyes off the patient to return an instrument to the control head, along with a reduced risk of dropping an instrument or needle stick injuries as the burs aren’t facing upwards like on traditional delivery units. The Continental delivery system glides easily into position and stays in place without drifting, thanks to the inbuilt touch-sensitive brake which activates automatically when you release the grab handle. It can also be positioned low to work on wheelchair patients. Special provision also had to be made to provide direct street access from the main surgery to comply with additional regulations concerning medical anaesthesia. The surgery is also wheelchair friendly throughout. Meredith says she moves the delivery system to the side of patient to provide a better patient experience than working right over the patient which may feel a bit claustrophobic to them. She said you can swing the delivery system away to allow the patient to get on or off the patient chair and move it out of the way while talking to the patient. The delivery system is equipped with a compact A-dec NLZ electric motor, high speed turbines and an inbuilt intraoral camera. The practice caters to mostly female patients with complementary treatments such as cosmetic injectables as well as a full range of restorative and cosmetic dental treatments. A visiting oral surgeon and medical anaesthetist also work from the practice to provide sleep dentistry, advanced oral surgery and implant procedures. The practice is open six days a week and the team has been kept busy since the new practice opened, indicating an unmet demand for comprehensive dental treatments in the portside suburb. u
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