Dr Alon Preiskel has been a Consultant Prosthodontist at Guy’s Hospital and a partner at Preiskel Prosthodontics for over 15 years. He lectures nationally and internationally about prosthodontics including immediate implant loading and factors for assessing the restorability of teeth. Dr Preiskel also lectures about the drivers and effects of corporatisation in dentistry. He is the current President of the American Prosthodontic Society and the immediate past Chairman of the Alpha Omega Dental Society (London).
Dr Preiskel completed an Executive MBA from the London Business School which led to his interest in the effects of corporate ownership and his ambition to provide dentists with a better solution. Dr Preiskel is dedicated to finding solutions that maximises dentists’ talents and skills to enable clinical professionals to provide better care for their patients and have a successful and fulfilling career.
Why did you choose dentistry?
I always thought I’d be an engineer when growing up, but when I was doing my A levels I felt that pure science was too impersonal. I loved building things, fixing stuff: Lego, Meccano etc. So I wanted to combine science with something practical involving interpersonal contact and helping people and making them feel better. Obviously I had a lot of exposure to dentistry because of my father Strangely enough, he didn’t really bring dentistry home so, all things considered, I didn’t really know what I was letting myself in for!!
What excites you most about the business and practice of dentistry?
Practice: As a prosthodontist, taking someone from a dentally broken down, anxious, self-aware and shy person and seeing them happy and excited to see us and to see them smile with confidence, is so fulfilling every time. The technical side is really interesting but to me that’s always the enabler to the personal side.
I did consider possibly being a commercial pilot, as there are some similarities in the approach to the disciplines, but I thought I would be more constrained doing the same thing every day, whereas in dentistry every patient is unique, which allows me to be more creative.
Business… Dentistry has evolved and is becoming more complex. The growth of dental corporations has made the environment more challenging still. What I find interesting is how to provide dentists the benefits of professional management and economies of scale whilst maintaining our autonomy and professionalism. The digital era will bring new tools to help us manage our practices and provide better dentistry but the question will be whether these tools liberate us or enslave us.
There are many ways of building a successful dental practice which makes it endlessly interesting and I think it’s important to remember the dentistry is primarily a relationship business building trust between everyone in the practice. I noticed that when I looked at well-established practices they usually tended to mirror the principal’s personality so that the principal, staff and patients have a particular way of connecting which may be quite different from say the practice down the road. Every practice has its own character and personality. Good management is about understanding that character and enabling the practice to thrive.
Tell me about your culture fix…. How do you unwind? Books: what are you reading now; favourite TV or Netflix programme?
Good question!
I have an international community of colleagues both here and abroad which although I wouldn’t class it as unwinding I do enjoy meeting with people from all avenues in Dentistry whom I consider to be my extended family and of course, Alpha Omega and the American Prosthodontic Society are prominent on that list!
Otherwise, I enjoy a broad range of music. I went to see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as well as to the opera which I enjoy a lot even though the heroes normally have a tragic ending.
I support Arsenal (also doesn’t quite count as unwinding!)
As a pilot, I love flying planes which takes me to another dimension and makes me feel unencumbered and relaxed.
What advice would you offer an upcoming dental student? And why join AO?
The first piece of advice is JOIN Alpha Omega!! Part of the reason is that finding mentorship and community is really important. Mentorship will help form your ideas as well as thinking about how to get there. Your understanding of your goals and aspirations will be helped by your mentors.
Community gives you a sense of belonging in the profession… you will have friends you can call on so that work isn’t just the 4 walls of the surgery. (It’s very easy getting locked in to a small space) and feeling that you are connected to something bigger has always been important to me.
I recommend joining Alpha Omega for a warm and embracing community. There are lots of AO members in different areas of dentistry who are keen to contribute and help younger members of the AO community.
How do you see dentistry in 5 or 10 years?
I think in about 5 years there will be a revolution/ evolution to truly digital dentistry which will impact what we actually do as dentists. (Currently planning a lecture on this topic!)
There are two major tensions: one is the tension between independent and corporate practice. The latter are growing quickly, but dentistry is a very personal profession so I foresee a halfway house with economies of scale.
Digital will become more prevalent, using scanners not only for taking impressions but for diagnosis and patient communication
The other element will be how we develop dental knowledge and education. There are more dental networks out there with knowledge and opinions from all over… I think it will evolve into something more structured and rigorous which will in itself enable dentists to do so much more then we can now due to the access to knowledge
Greatest challenge to date
The thing I’m most proud of is that I acquired my commercial pilot’s licence during dental school!
I condensed about three months of aviation training into one week in the States and then came back to London and did my end of 4yr exams about 2 weeks later.
Also, doing an MBA while I was teaching dentists about doing implant surgery was a challenge, as during my teaching gaps, I would be on the phone and WhatsApp with the other MBA students talking about the accounting problem of the week for instance .Switching my mind from dental mode to MBA mode was surprisingly challenging but great fun at the same time.
Who was your mentor? And what was the best piece of advice received?
My father obviously. The other way of looking at why I went into dentistry is because I always flew with my father so had a lot of dentistry rubbing off. Very much a mentor, he never pushed me into it.
He is an extraordinary role model.
Main piece of advice for someone setting up their own surgery
Join the Collaborate Dental Group! I set it up to help independent dentists. Understand why you are doing it… being clear on that it will guide the decisions you make.
Also to try to be unemotional and rational when deciding to buy a practice… and always have plan B ready for the unexpected. So surround yourself with the right people that can give you advice and can help build the team Do it when it feels right and make sure you have the support of your partners and family
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