The Black Dental Network hosted its inaugural event, The Evolution of Dentistry, in April. Arnold Gangaidzo explains why the community is growing so quickly and what the future holds.
With just over 1% of dentists being black, the lack of visibility and representation of black dental professionals has been challenging, especially for aspiring clinicians wanting to navigate successful careers within dentistry.
We started The Black Dental Network (BDN) to address some of these issues and to make a positive impact.
Dr Toyin Aiyegbusi and Dr Dammy Awe were nominated to lead the BDN and drive the vision forward.
The network originally started as a Whatsapp group, set up by Dr Toyin Aiyegbusi following a conversation with Dr Mide Ojo of Smilefast. This grew and grew until there were enough people and sufficient engagement that we decided we should all meet up for a meal in London. That’s when most of us met for the first time.
It was an incredibly inspiring evening. We connected and shared stories over dinner, discussing life and dentistry for hours. After that meal, we decided we wanted to continue with social events, as well as creating a safe space for ambitious clinicians who want to thrive.
The response to the network since its inception has been great, much more positive than we expected. People have been really helpful and supportive, and that’s been incredibly encouraging.
The Evolution of Dentistry
It all culminated in an event we hosted recently, on 1 April in London, entitled The Evolution of Dentistry.
Before the event, people from different sectors of dentistry were re-sharing our content and helping us to push the event to their audiences. Different Facebook groups were helping to promote the event as well.
The primary aim of The Evolution of Dentistry event was to host an inaugural meeting for the Black Dental Network.
Part of the BDN mission is to showcase black excellence within dentistry. It was really important to demonstrate that we could bring other dental professionals together and put on a high-quality, educational networking event.
From a clinical perspective, we wanted to inform our guests about two of the biggest changes in the landscape of dentistry over the past decade: digital and adhesive dentistry.
We also wanted to inspire them to be part of the shift and challenge them to think about the changes they could make to everyday clinical practice.
The pressure was absolutely on, and the BDN core team was working tirelessly to make it happen.
None of us at the BDN are event organisers, but we all got involved with roles that we’ve never had to deal with before. We were learning new skills on the go; people really wanted to help.
‘A resounding success’
Overall, the event was a resounding success, with fantastic feedback from course attendees, clinical speakers (Dr Chris Orr and Dr Martin Wanendeya) and our sponsor (the Straumann Group).
We were able to combine educational elements, interactive panel discussions, fine dining, and networking. The panel discussion topic, ‘What is success?’, was particularly enjoyable. It offered open and honest insight from our clinical speakers and one of our special guests, Joe Lovett of Catalyst Sales and Marketing. This was to set the bar for what we could aspire to in the future.
For myself, working in Lancashire, I’ve never worked in the same dental practice as another black dental professional. People were really excited to be at the event because, wherever we work, we don’t see many other black dental professionals. The event was a rare opportunity to feel part of a community and not so underrepresented within dentistry.
The main takeaway from the event was a genuine need for representation of black dental professionals within dentistry. BDN will be integral to meeting this need, both now and in the future.
Next steps for the Black Dental Network
From here, we want to grow as a network and improve our visibility so others can benefit from the representation that we wanted to see when we were trying to get into dentistry.
We want this to be a force for good for the whole dental profession.
Our next step is to make the network as easily contactable and accessible as possible, and social media is the route to achieving this.
We’ve got the Black Dental Network Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. The next development will be our website.
As well as following us, I would encourage everyone to keep an eye out for future announcements.
The Evolution of Dentistry showed the appetite for hosting such an event, so we don’t want to stop there. We’re already planning our next educational event. As well as hosting in-person events, we regularly run webinars where viewers can gain ECPD.
The Black Dental Network is a social network that will grow and support those in dentistry who don’t feel like they’re fully represented currently. We hope this can only be a positive thing for those working in dentistry and the profession as a whole.
For more information on the Black Dental Network, follow @blackdentalnetwork on Instagram.
