Each Monday, our Money team speaks to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like. This week we chat to James Davies, a specialist orthodontist at Quayside Orthodontics in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire…
People think my job is… something they would not want to do. Looking in people’s mouths all day!
What I’d say to them is… it’s better than working with smelly feet.
One thing I’d change about the industry is… the NHS contract. Dentists used to be paid for what they did, now they are paid per course of treatment. In short, if you do one filling or 20 you get paid the same. This discourages the treatment of those in high need unless the dentist becomes a charity. What we have seen over the past 20 years is privatisation by stealth. Make the NHS contract so difficult to undertake profitably that dentists vote with their feet – then the government can blame the “greedy dentist”.
Being able to build a quick rapport is vital… Working in people’s mouths is an intrusive process, so being able to reduce anxieties and tensions over difficult, potentially painful procedures is key. Communication is the most important skill – manual dexterity is a close second to this.
Every dentist will have a small number of patients…who they would gladly pay to go elsewhere.
The biggest mistake I made with a patient was… is miscommunication. A larger lady entered the practice and I asked her “when she was due”. To my embarrassment, she replied “I had the baby 12 weeks ago.” Cringe!
Watching the complete life transformation of a patient… who has finished their course of treatment is the most rewarding thing. Often within orthodontics, patients walk in unwilling to smile and with low self-esteem. They can walk out beaming and overflowing with positivity into their new lives. I personally find treating teenagers is incredibly rewarding, they have lots of dreams and aspirations, and they help to keep me young.
Read more of this series:
What it’s really like to be a… publican
What it’s really like to be a… novelist
What it’s really like to be a… soldier
Often our hands are tied… by NHS regulation. There is so much dentists can do to improve people’s smiles, but there is an overly complex set of rules of what constitutes NHS and private (cosmetic) treatment.
A practice I worked at was bought out by a multinational… and I was left working for a company that put profits over patient care and treated everybody as a number. On the positive flip, it motivated me to set up my own practice to be everything they were not, and it has been a runaway success. Kindness and the personal touch cost nothing!
Salaries start at… £38,000 in year one, rising to about £100,000 in year five. With a specialism you can earn upwards of £150,000.
There is a huge amount of freedom to pick and choose your work schedule… as most dentists are self-employed and are contracted to a practice. I have always worked four days a week, which gives me a day to pursue other interests, be it DIY, gardening or learning Welsh.
My day begins at… around 8am with a bowl of cornflakes (something I think is grossly underrated). I always buy an i newspaper on my way to work and see my first patient by 9am. I tend to see 25 patients a day and try to fit a 5km run at lunchtime twice a week. My evenings are spent ferrying my children to various activities before retiring at 10pm.
When you’re staring into someone’s mouth… the mind does wonder. I think about things going on in the family, ambitions/dreams and how to strive to be a better person.
Dentistry in the UK is a five-year course… to attain a bachelor in dental science degree from one of 16 dental schools. It is usually an undergraduate degree, though graduate entry is available from Aberdeen and Preston. Upon graduation, you enter on a dental foundation programme within the NHS. This currently pays £38,472 a year. Most dentists can expect to earn around £60,000 to £100,000 in subsequent years. There are 13 specialisms within dentistry that dentists can choose to study and attain postgraduate qualifications. I undertook a career in orthodontics, which required a three-year post graduate degree.
I would hope to semi-retire at… 60. I am lucky enough to have a NHS pension – a defined benefit pension scheme underwritten by the government. For a dentist joining today, you will have to be 67. If I am enjoying it, which I hope I still am, I would happily work two days a week for as long as I can or am allowed!
If I had my time again I would have… slowed down and lived my life at a jog rather than a sprint. I would have worried less about the future and enjoyed the journey more rather than the destination.