Sean Thompson, the founder of multi-award winning Ashford Orthodontics, has been appointed CEO of Retainers 4 Life.
One of the UK’s leading specialists has joined an orthodontic business as its new CEO.
Retainers 4 Life (R4L) is a fast-growing company that helps patients preserve their straight teeth after treatment. It has recently announced that Sean Thompson will be taking the reigns as it prepares for expansion
Sean retired from his position as managing director at the UK’s largest specialist orthodontic laboratory, Ashford Orthodontics, 15 months ago. He said the allure of joining such an exciting business was too great to pass up.
‘I couldn’t turn down the chance’
Sean, who brings more than 40 years of industry knowledge to R4L and a proven track record in business, said: ‘Everybody who knows me knows of my passion for business, especially within the straight teeth industry.
‘After working with R4L to help develop its growth and business strategy, it became such a compelling and exciting opportunity that, when I was asked to direct the company on an ongoing basis, I just couldn’t turn down the chance to guide it to growth.
‘With significant demand for straight teeth the orthodontic industry continues to show huge growth and given the shortages of specialised staff needed to deliver this service, anything that can help free up valuable clinical time, while helping eliminate the dreaded “relapse” after treatment ends, has to be a win-win for everybody involved, especially the patients.’
Retainers 4 Life serves the needs of both the patient and the practice by uniquely facilitating the process of providing replacement retainers remotely, without the need to call or attend the practice.
With R4L, replacement retainers can be ordered, manufactured and dispatched directly to the patient within two working days, all by simply logging onto www.retainers4life.co.uk. Customers can place an order at any time, with various payment and ordering options available.
Once ordered, the patient is kept informed of the progress of their new retainer, as well updates on the shipping and delivery progress.
Cutting relapse cases
Sean said: ‘We have all spoken at some point to a friend or colleague who has had their teeth straightened and who has lost or broken the retainer they were given at the end of treatment.
Whether it was because of inconvenience in contacting or attending their clinic, the replacement cost – or perhaps just forgetfulness due to busy lives these days –it means they haven’t replaced their broken or lost retainer, and their teeth have drifted back from their finished position.
‘R4L’s approach to eliminating all of these issues should allow patients to conveniently order their replacement retainers from any tablet, smartphone or PC without having to attend their clinic, while also giving confidence that this service is being delivered under the supervision of their original treating clinician.
‘It should severely cut the amount of relapse cases over time, and free up clinical time within practices, allowing more patients to access their treatment.’
R4L works with any clinic providing teeth straightening – whichever system has been chosen to straighten the teeth – making replacing retainers easy and affordable for customers while also providing money back to partner practices for every order received.
Hassle-free
After trialling the services of R4L for almost 18 months, Dr Guy Deeming from Queensway Orthodontics said: ‘Encouraging more patients to wear their retainers long-term by reducing some of the barriers to retainer replacement such as cost and inconvenience is fantastic.
‘To do so while freeing up valuable clinical and admin time is the holy grail for us. Through R4L, we are coming closer than ever to achieving this.
‘Patients love the payment options and we love knowing our patients have easy hassle-free retention, potentially for life. The team wins with huge reductions in admin and the business benefits by receiving an income from the service without any direct costs or support needed.
‘More importantly though, our patients win by increasing the likelihood of maintaining properly-aligned teeth and a beautiful healthy smile for years to come.’
Sean added: ‘Even if a patient thinks they have left it ‘too long’ since losing their retainer, R4L can facilitate the process of getting them back on track by working with their partner clinics to find an easy and affordable solution to getting their beautiful smile back again.
‘I’m really looking forward to working again with so many of the brilliant clinicians I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with over the last 40 years and I hope the trust I’ve built up within the profession throughout my career should give confidence to partners to get on board with R4L.
‘The ethos of R4L is one that I truly believe in – everybody wins with this offering – and I’m sure once practices hear the many benefits R4L brings, it will become a vital part of their teeth straightening offer.’
To find out more about R4L visit www.retainers4life.co.uk.
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