Paul Harris explains how he and Crown Dental Burs are transforming the profession to improve the work of dentists, technicians and dental nurses.
How did you get into dentistry?
I started my sales career working in the giftware industry. My sales manager left the giftware company and joined an oral hygiene supplier –shortly after he left I followed him in the world of dentistry. It only seems like five minutes ago but the last 22 years has gone by so quickly.
Why dental burs?
Dental burs are one of the first items which come in contact with the patient, without them clinicians and technicians are unable to work. There are many brands of dental burs within the industry, which all vary in price and quality.
However, when starting my own business I wanted to supply a comprehensive range of quality dental burs, which both clinicians and technicians can rely on. However what is also important to me is being able to supply them at a competitive price.
We are proud to be the UK partner for Frank Dental, who are a family-owned dental bur manufacturer in Germany. Frank Dental only use exquisite natural diamonds along with high density, high-quality ultra fine Tungsten Carbide burs and polishers.
What’s the story behind Crown Dental Burs Ltd?
The recent pandemic gave me time to think and reevaluate my working life. After speaking with my wife and customers who have supported me over the last 22 years, we decided to set up Crown Dental Burs Ltd in October 2021 (www.crowndentalburs.co.uk).
We are proud to offer our customers quality dental burs at an affordable price. All of our family help out with our business – from supporting dental exhibitions to picking and packing orders.
We offer over 4,000 different rotary instruments, which includes a very nice selection of crown cutting burs, especially for Zirconia and Porcelain bonded to metal crowns. We also have a very nice comprehensive range of quality surgical burs.
How do you/the company help to make a difference in the profession?
As mentioned earlier there are many different brands available in the dental market. Many dentists and technicians purchase an own label diamond bur as they feel this will save them money. However, this is not always the case and can often end up costing more as they don’t last long.
As discussed earlier our diamonds are 100% natural. They will outlast the less expensive burs as many will contain synthetic diamonds.
Natural diamond burs are well known for their outstanding hardness and low friction, which will reduce heat build up. Natural diamonds and high density tungsten carbide burs will also cause less wear and tear on your dental handpieces.
One of our unique solutions is the Frank Dental Rota System.
The Rota System is a time and money saving solution for every dentist and dental nurse. We can create a custom bur ordering solution for every dentist and technician. Once we have a list of your favourite dental burs, we create a Rota Card.
Custom system
This will contain an image and product code for each of your burs you use. We will then create the Rota Box, which is a storage system for your entire bur selection.
This will allow you to see how many burs you have in stock so you will not over or under order, and will avoid leaving you without your bur when you are about to perform a procedure.
Finally, we then create the Rota Set Card. This will lay your burs out in your own custom numbered bur block (we offer 12, 20 and 30 holes).
All of your burs are placed into a numbered position, which then allows you to ask your assistant for bur number one, two, three etc.
When you eventually need to replace your bur, the dentist/dental nurse can go in to the Rota Box and replace the bur by the number and when you need to order your refills, you can contact us to ask for bur number, one, two, three and so on.
We have created to custom system for you so we will be able to send you the exact bur every time – eliminating the chance for the wrong burs ever being sent out. More information can be found here Rota System – Crown Dental Bur.
I see you have done charity work – why is this important to you?
I stopped playing football 19 years ago when our eldest daughter was born. Over an eight year period I was at a point in my life where I felt unhappy in my working life – I started drinking excessively and found I was not in a good place physically and mentally.
I made a commitment to myself that I wanted to be a better parent and husband, so as a result I decided to enter a local half marathon where I lived and decided I would raise money for a local charity.
As my wife and I have three beautiful, healthy girls, I wanted to help and support families who were not as fortunate as our own. After looking around, I could not see a charity that offered what I was looking for so this led me to set up my own charity.
In my 10 years of running the charity, we helped more than 400 local families and raised in excess of £600,000.
What was your toughest challenge?
I have taken on various fundraising events; many half and full marathons – the London Marathon was amazing. The atmosphere was unbelievable. I have completed lots of half Ironman and full Ironman triathlons. I have also been fortunate to be part of five teams to swim cross the English Channel and Irish Channel.
As for my most challenging event, I would say it was swimming solo across the English Channel in 2019. I spent many mornings, evenings and weekends in the cold water trying to acclimatise to the water temperature locally and also with other Channel swimmers in Dover, Kent.
My swim took me 12 hours and 20 minutes and was everything I thought it would be – cold and wet, with lots of jelly fish. My swim was the 2001st in history – you can watch it here English Channel Swim – Paul Harris Solo – Youtube.
For more information, visit www.crowndentalburs.co.uk
