CATEGORY AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST47 AUSTRALIAN DENTISTRY AWARDS of the Year – alongside her work at Norlane Dental Aesthetics & Implants – so signi cant. e culture she has built starts with a clear operating principle. “At Norlane Dental Aesthetics & Implants, our culture is built around a simple but powerful belief: we show up, take ownership, and deliver care that truly matters,” she explains. “Patients always come rst, with compassion, precision, and heart.” at philosophy extends to how the team is expected to behave internally – what Dr Gupta calls leading above the line. She rmly believes in leadership role-modelling grounded in ownership, accountability, and solutions rather than blame or de ection. In a eld that requires patients to place considerable trust in a clinician’s hands, Dr Gupta’s approach to building that trust is methodical. “My approach always begins with listening – understanding each patient’s concerns, goals, and expectations – and then combining that with careful diagnosis, thorough treatment planning, technical precision, and honest communication.” She has invested heavily in her own development, undertaking advanced education in full-arch treatment, implantology, complications management, and leadership. She has also structured the practice around what she calls a golden triangle – her Practice Manager, Front O ce Coordinator, and Clinical Coordinator – each supporting a di erent wing of the patient journey. e award, she says, carries a message beyond the individual. “I also hope this recognition sends a strong message to other dental professionals, especially those in community-based settings, that it is absolutely possible to build something exceptional wherever you are. With clear values, consistency, courage, and heart, you can create a practice that delivers outstanding care and makes a real di erence in people’s lives.” Warrnambool Dental – Team of the Year (Joint) / Regional Practice of the Year (Joint) / Charity & Community Practice of the Year Warrnambool, Victoria Some practices treat community engagement as a footnote – a charitable initiative held at arm’s length from the main business of dentistry. At Warrnambool Dental, it is the main business. e practice’s three-award haul, spanning team performance, regional excellence, and charity, re ects a deeply integrated model in which clinical values and community responsibility are not separate disciplines. ey are the same discipline, expressed di erently. e team culture at Warrnambool Dental is, in the words of principal Dr Nishant Hurria, built deliberately, not accidentally. Recruitment prioritises empathy, accountability, and cultural humility ahead of technical skill alone. Onboarding pathways include ADA-aligned clinical training, cultural competence modules, trauma-informed care principles, and daily huddles with end-of-day debriefs for real-time learning. Over 300 hours of structured training were completed this year, with junior sta mentored into leadership roles through tailored development plans and regular check-ins. What sets Warrnambool Dental apart, however, is the way purpose is operationalised – not as aspiration, but as policy. e practice’s agship Smile Forward program delivers free dental screenings, oral health education, and hygiene workshops to schoolchildren in low-income and remote areas, aged care residents at Lyndoch Living, and residents of local shelters, women’s refuges, and transitional housing. Every sta member receives a paid charity day each year to volunteer with an organisation of their choice. Monthly nancial contributions support a local community kitchen providing free meals to those in need. “Our team is driven by empathy and equity,” says Dr Hurria. “We see the systemic barriers regional communities face – distance, cost, stigma – and we act because we believe care should be accessible, digni ed, and culturally sensitive.” e team’s understanding of why they do the work – not merely what they do – is the foundation on which the practice’s awards recognition rests. It is also, perhaps, the clearest articulation of what the Australian Dental Awards exist to honour: not just clinical skill, but the kind of dentistry that changes the terms of what a practice can mean to its community. u Part 3 of our Australian Dental Awards 2025 Winners’ Roundtable series continues next issue. patients,” she recalls. e questions that followed were the kind that reorient an entire operation: What experience do we truly want our patients to have? How do we attract the best people to a regional clinic? How can we build a dental brand that people associate with quality, honesty, and integrity? e answers accumulated through deliberate, incremental decisions – aligning values, improving communication, building systems and embedding clarity across the practice. “It wasn’t about one major change, but a series of purposeful decisions,” Dr Holmes explains. “Over time, those small, consistent shifts created meaningful momentum.” Her leadership philosophy re ects the same orientation. “I see leadership not as a position, but as a service,” she says. “Dayto-day, that means being present, setting clear expectations, and making sure the team feels supported in achieving them.” Within the team structure, senior members carry delegated authority and genuine accountability – a design choice that Dr Holmes views as one of the most rewarding aspects of practice ownership. Rowan Williamson points to the operational discipline that underpinned the growth: structured daily huddles, a move to a four-day full-time model, regular performance reviews, and an ongoing investment in technology and technology. “ e improvement wasn’t occasional, but ongoing,” he notes. “It just became a normal part of our daily routine.” Looking ahead, the ambition is clear: to build a practice that is not merely highperforming, but a brand that genuinely stands out for the way it cares for patients and supports its people. Dr Rashi Gupta – Practice Principal of the Year (Joint) Norlane Dental Aesthetics & Implants, Geelong Norlane is not a suburb typically associated with award-winning aesthetic dentistry. at is precisely what makes Dr Rashi Gupta’s recognition as Practice Principal
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