How I Did It

In 2007 Jon Fribbins started work on an ambitious project, combining his dental laboratory with a primary care practice, and just four years later the Hockley Dental Laboratory & Surgery in Essex is a hugely successful two-surgery business. Here Jon tells us what made him decide to make the move to primary dental care and how he went about creating his dream practice.

“My father was a dental technician before me and the family lab had been established in Hockley village for 36 years when I decided to make the move to a bigger premises. Dental technicians have been campaigning to be allowed to work directly with patients for many years and in 2006 the GDC announced plans to open registration to all technicians. Before that I had been making dentures for 20 years so was already more than familiar with the dental industry and the one thing that I’d noticed was that patients are often recalcitrant when it comes to dealing directly with their dentist because of dental phobia or skepticism. I thought that if I could open a practice within my laboratory then patients would feel more comfortable dealing with the practitioner, knowing that they had an onsite lab taking care of all the details. However, the first thing I needed to do was find bigger premises in which to house my new venture and I was lucky enough to find a beautiful ex-residential property, which had been converted into a veterinary surgery, conveniently situated just off Hockley high street. I set about purchasing the property and looked into hiring staff in the hopes of converting many lifetime dental phobic denture wearers to dentistry!”

The work began in January 2007 and Jon was faced with the task of creating an entire practice out of what used to be a veterinary surgery. His first step was to engage the services of a design team to help him visualise his dream.

“Once I had the designs finalised, the builders moved in and they really had their work cut out for them. The place was a bit of a mess so a complete overhaul was called for but thankfully the whole thing went off without a hitch and I was able to open with two surgeries and a fully compliant sterilisation room. It was a massive undertaking and when combined with CQC registration and my studies it meant that I was extremely fraught for a while! It was all worth it however as business immediately took off and our patients loved both the practice and the services we offered.”

Jon has recently completed the first ever, official UK based clinical dental technician’s course along with approximately 80 other technicians and is using his credentials to further his already impressive reputation.

“Even with a proliferation of new dental practices nationwide, we’ve managed to do extremely well. Business was so good that in November 2010 we extended into more of the building, adding a new, larger sterilisation room in order to be fully CQC and HTM 01-05 compliant. The new room has larger clean and dirty areas and more sinks so that we can cater to our growing client base. The only downside to all this has been that I now have such a long waiting list that we have too much work for our part time dentist. In the autumn I plan on extending still further and taking on another practitioner, as I hate the thought not being able to see patients straight away.”

Jon is very clear on why his business is so successful and says it comes down to customer care.

“I always listen to my patients and have done since I began my career. What I hear is that they want reliability and speed from their service. By combining the lab with the practice we’re giving them years of technical expertise as well as dental expertise and ensuring a fast turnaround because everything is done on site. Many patients who once wore only dentures now have implants as well and they’re very comfortable knowing that I’m right there to process their orders. The other way in which we’ve improved the speed and convenience of our service is by employing digital imaging technology in the practice. I’ve always worked with digital so it was the obvious choice for me and the patients really appreciate the instant results and lower radiation doses. Being able to see exactly what’s going on in their mouths and have treatments explained visually has also helped patient consent rates so all in all, the practice and lab are the ideal combination for patient convenience.”

When Jon first started the project he rang around several companies but was shocked to find that many simply could not offer everything he needed. It was after several disappointments that he discovered Clark Dental.

“I contacted Clark Dental because they had a really good reputation in the dental industry and straight away I knew that they were the right people for the job. The design was done quickly and efficiently and they took care of everything from the initial build to supplying the equipment. When I had my sterilisation room redone I knew it had to be Clark Dental again, and again they really came through so I’ve been recommending them to colleagues ever since!”

Jon’s dedication to his lab and his practice is a true testament to what can be achieved through hard work and perseverance and with business booming, the future looks very bright.

For more information on a wide range of cutting edge equipment solutions to suit every budget, please call Clark Dental on 01268 733 146 or email enquiries@clarkdental.co.uk