The Dentistry Awards have returned for 2024 – here is everything you need to know about entering, including the full list of categories.
The Dentistry Awards is the largest dental awards ceremony in the UK. Tagged as ‘dentistry’s biggest party’, the occasion has become a well-respected ceremony, recognising excellence in dentistry across the whole of the UK.
Taking place on Friday 13 September 2024 at The Athena in Leicester, this ceremony is not to be missed.
Being honoured with a Dentistry Award, or even just receiving a nomination, can bring significant advantages to you and your practice. Patients are more likely to choose practices that have been officially recognised for providing top-notch care. These awards also offer invaluable visibility, showcasing your prominence in the field of dentistry.
In addition, the awards help to boost team spirit and morale. It is far easier to attract and retain talented staff when your practice is acknowledged for its outstanding standards.
Whether you think your practice or laboratory has exceptional qualities or your team consistently goes above and beyond, we want to hear from you.
2024 categories
The Dentistry Awards exist to recognise progress, effort and excellence in general dental practice. The individuals and team members shortlisted represent the rising standards in UK dentistry, striving to provide a higher calibre of patient experience.
To be eligible for an award, you should not be subject to any ongoing FTP investigation by the GDC, or be practising under any conditions imposed as a result of such an investigation.
Patient Care
To give yourself the best chance of being recognised, simply send up to 750 words explaining why your patient care is the best through any, or a combination, of the following:
- Demonstrate a great team approach to patient care
- Show us how you are different from a regular practice
- Provide patient literature
- Include an image of the practice
- Describe how you go above and beyond regular care
- Provide credible and relevant testimonials
- Include examples of clinical excellence – clinical photography is an essential part of your submission
- Supporting evidence and pictures are welcome.
Team Members
This category is open to team members, nurses, hygienists, therapists, dental technicians, clinical dental technicians, practice managers and receptionists. Submit up to 750 words including any, or a combination, of the following:
- Demonstrate your passion for the profession
- Tell the judges of anything outstanding you have done or been involved in
- Detail any hurdles you have overcome
- Provide evidence of excellent patient care or where you go beyond the regular duty of care
- Show how or why you are different from others
- Show evidence of connection with the local community or a charity
- Include relevant testimonials and supporting evidence
- Include an image of the team member.
Young Dentist
This category is open to those born on or after 31 October 1988. Send up to 750 words explaining why you are a contender for this award through the following:
- Detail your professional credentials, achievements, training, and any accolades you have received
- Explain where you are different to other young dentists, or share your biggest achievement in your dental career to date
- Share any hurdles you have overcome in your life/career
- Provide evidence of how you go beyond the regular duty of care: pay specific attention to the fundamentals of dentistry such as caries management, periodontal care, tooth wear and oral cancer
- Explain your approach to diagnosis and patient communication, both in-surgery and on a wider scale if relevant
- Describe any work you do with charity or in your local communities
- Share examples (three/five cases) of your clinical work to showcase the breadth of your practise
- Supply any relevant patient and colleague testimonials
- Please include a high-resolution image of the dentist.
Dental Laboratory of the Year
Simply send up to 750 words explaining why your laboratory should win this award. Consider the following:
- Highlight how you maintain consistent high standards of work throughout the laboratory
- Provide evidence of how you go beyond the regular duty of client care
- Describe how the team is led
- Show how you keep the team happy
- Demonstrate how you connect with the local community
- Include examples of clinical excellence • Include pictures of the laboratory and team
- Include relevant videos if possible
- Show your marketing plan and demonstrate its effectiveness
- Give evidence of investment and development in your lab and your team
- Include a few relevant testimonials
- Financial progress: is the lab successful and viable?
- Labs part of a group must enter each lab site separately.
Website of the Year
To enter this category simply submit up to 750 words explaining why your website should win. Include screenshots to support your entry.
- Show how content is supportive of the website’s conversion rate
- Show excellent structure
- Show excellent navigation
- Demonstrate how the website has been carefully designed to connect quickly with its target audience
- Explain what measures have been taken to reduce bounce rate
- Explain what measures have been taken to increase conversion rate
- If you are entering on behalf of a dental practice/client. Each entry must be individual and personal to that practice
- Show the creative process that ensures the website doesn’t look like a ‘template’ website
- Demonstrate the website’s speed
- Explain what measures have been taken to make the mobile experience conducive to increased patient conversion
- Show SEO visibility and usage numbers
- Show website is GDC, CQC and GDPR compliant
- Explain anything that makes this website unique
- Explain how your website is different.
Sustainable Business Award
To enter this category, submit up to 750 words detailing your commitment to operating a sustainable business, and how you’ve taken steps to examine every area of its environmental footprint. You must describe the actions taken and provide evidence of the commitments.
The winning practice should also offer clinical dentistry in a great environment. Include the following in your submission:
- Why is being a sustainable business important to you? Why are you committed to this?
- How do you organise yourself to deliver on your sustainability commitments?
- How do your commitments filter into aspects such as procurement, waste management, decision making and communications?
- How have you sought to engage with patients and staff over your sustainability commitments?
Specifics:
- Single-use – describe how you have sought to reduce single-use plastics and other materials in the practice, outside of HTM-0105 requirements
- Carbon footprint and emissions – 65% of the average practices carbon footprint is travel. Explain how you have sought to minimise your carbon emissions through your travel policy, initiatives and energy usage
- Management – explain who manages the sustainability and environmental aspects of the practice, how they are empowered and what they do
- Consumption – explain how you seek to reduce the consumption of natural resources, power etc
- Biodiversity – describe how you have used your grounds or window boxes/ planters to encourage biodiversity and support insect and bird life
- Infrastructure and buildings – describe how you have integrated sustainability into decisions on building refurbishments, equipment purchase etc
- Communication – explain how you have shared your commitment to sustainability with your patients and staff.
Team of the Year
To give your team the best chance to be recognised, simply send up to 750 words demonstrating the following elements:
- Demonstrate a great team atmosphere and approach to patient care
- How does your practice invest in team development and training?
- How are you different from the competition?
- Show where your team goes above and beyond the regular duty of care
- Provide evidence of connection with the local community or charity
- Must include an image of the team.
Practice of the Year
Simply send up to 750 words explaining why your practice is a contender for this award, including the following:
- Evidence of uniqueness in your practice and how you go beyond the regular duty of care
- Evidence of team leadership/ happiness
- Marketing literature
- Demonstrate how you connect with the local community
- Examples of clinical excellence (ie, before and after pictures)
- Team training/development information
- Pictures/videos of your practice
- Patient testimonials
- Include an image of the practice
- Practices part of a group must enter each practice separately.
How to enter
Head over to dentistry.co.uk/the-dentistry-awards and click ‘register now’. You will then be able to add your details and select your categories.
As soon as entry for submissions has opened, you will be notified. Submissions must be received by the entry deadline, which is Wednesday 3 July.
To be eligible for an award, you should not be subject to any ongoing fitness to practise investigation by the GDC or be practising under any conditions imposed as a result of such an investigation.
When you are ready to submit your entry, complete the online form and then upload your entry. In an effort to simplify the process, this is now the only way to submit entries for every awards.
For more information or for help with your submission, contact [email protected] or +44 1923 851777.
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