Simon Whitehouse explains how he went from springs to sings to release a CD in support of two dental charities.
I started out on my dental journey on Tuesday 5 May 1981. That was the day I started my apprenticeship at Quality Prosthetics in Shrewsbury. I gained a BTEC national diploma in 1986 followed by two years doing a City & Guilds diploma in orthodontics.
I had a big interest in orthodontics and was made head of the orthodontic department for quality prosthetics before they were taken over in 1993 by Premierdent.
This led to me starting my own laboratory, Elite Orthodontics in 1994. Running my own business has been a rollercoaster, but I’m still here! I even had five years working for the NHS at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, while still keeping my lab going.
Our lab was attached to an orthodontic practice with two orthodontists and a consultant. This was great for me and learnt a lot from all of them. It was very good practice to work with.
We then moved to bigger premises where we are now. We offer orthodontic and prosthetic services to dentists as well as a repair service to the public. I even took the plunge into digital. It was a steep learning curve but I seem to be managing now.
Being a small lab can be a bit lonely but I came across the Dental Technicians Great Britain page on Facebook and they foolishly let me join!
‘Worthy causes’
It was on this site I came across the charities Veterans Bite Back and Den-Tech. Both sounded like worthy causes for us technicians to support.
Music has been a passion of mine for a long time. I started off DJing but then I got married and that went by the wayside. Then I got divorced and had a second wind when I hit 45 years old. I started singing on karaokes, which led to a friend of mine asking me to join him in his act.
A couple of years later, I had built up the confidence to ‘go solo’. It became a second source of income – doing pubs, clubs etc. I posted a song on the technicians page and it seemed to go down well. I did a few more – all well received.
We then donated a piece of equipment that we no longer had a use for to Den-Tech. Then I had the idea of doing a CD as a way of raising funds. So with this in mind, I asked the site members to request songs to go on a CD. I put together the CD with 18 tracks – some requested, some just my favourites
Get your CD
The CD will be available from the 10 Sept – hopefully! – and will cost £10. As Elite Orthodontics are covering the production costs, every penny from the sales will go to the charities. I believe it to be a worthwhile cause and would encourage everyone to buy a CD. It won’t be in the best selling albums chart but it will be the best selling album in the technicians Facebook group.
I would like to thank the technicians on the page for their support and hope it brightens their day listening to the CD, either in the lab or in the car.
For more information about the CD, contact Elite Orthodontics on 01952 253522 or [email protected].
