Mydentist, a leading UK provider of affordable dental care, recently hosted an evening of celebration to mark its 2024 Excellence Awards in recognition of the hard work and dedication of its colleagues across the organisation.
In an evening of celebration, laughter and recognition, mydentist hosted its annual Excellence Awards ceremony on Friday 18 October to mark the achievements and hard work of the clinicians who choose to practise with the provider, and its in-practice, Support Centre, and field colleagues.
Established in 2015, the Excellence Awards take place annually to recognise outstanding individuals and teams across mydentist who make a real difference through the work that they do. While anyone across the mydentist network can be nominated in any of the 13 award categories, they are judged by 16 colleagues from a range of clinical and non-clinical roles within the business.
The award categories represent the range of clinical and non-clinical roles across mydentist from Dentist, Dental Nurse and Mentor of the Year to Support Centre and Field Colleague of the Year.
Helping the nation smile
This year, the awards took place at the Hilton Deansgate, Manchester, and were hosted by comedian and presenter, Tom Allen, alongside Tom Riall, executive chairman of mydentist, with support from headline sponsor DD.
Tom Riall commented: ‘At mydentist, our purpose is helping the nation smile. We simply cannot do that without our clinicians or our leading practice and support teams. That’s why we were so thrilled to have comedian Tom Allen join us in our celebrations to help us recognise the outstanding people that make mydentist what it is.
‘The quality of this year’s nominations was higher than ever, with each nomination bringing an individual story of colleagues who are making a huge difference every day. I want to say how much we appreciate everything that our colleagues and clinicians do for their patients and teams.’
Better people and better dentists
Nyree Whitley, chief clinical officer, and Will Smith, chief operating officer, were also on hand to present the awards. The final award of the evening, Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Contribution, was presented to Asineta Ghiriti, a dentist who has worked at mydentist St Neots for 17 years and who was nominated by her colleagues for her exceptional patient care.
Nyree Whitley commented: ‘We had another really wonderful evening here in Manchester celebrating our Excellence Awards. It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate everything that’s great about mydentist, our people and all the support they give one another. The awards ceremony really does epitomise the values that we have at mydentist, and I couldn’t be prouder of every single person that’s involved.’
The evening saw Valeriya Zlateva-Krasteva win Dentist of the Year, Qadriya Momeni be awarded Dental Nurse of the Year, while Samantha Walker was awarded Hygienist of the Year and the Regulatory Compliance team and mydentist Union Street, Torquay received Team of the Year awards.
Valeriya Zl ateva-Krasteva commented: ‘I feel so honoured to get this award. I’ve been working for mydentist for 13 years and I would like to thank them for giving the opportunity to all young dentists to become dentists like me, to support them in their journey, to encourage them to achieve more, to learn more, to be better people and better dentists. I never expected to win, but I’m really very happy.’
‘It could not mean any more to me’
Manish Prasad, clinical director, and awarded Mentor of the Year, commented: ‘I think firstly it’s a great honour and privilege, one to be nominated and again to win the award. But for me, really, this is a reflection of everything that the clinical team does. We support an ever-growing cohort of over 400 mentors supporting, engaging and developing our mentees. And I’m reminded of the fact that successful people never reach their goals alone and that’s where mentoring comes in. So, thank you very much.’
Pietro Capitelli, clinical recruiter and awarded Support Centre Colleague of the Year, commented: ‘Honestly this is the crowning achievement in my career with mydentist. I’ve worked at mydentist for so long, this is just so overwhelming. Honestly, it could not mean any more to me.’
Meanwhile, Simon Wellen was invited to this year’s event as a guest of honour. Simon, who was area development manager for London until he recently retired following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease, made an incredible impact during his time at mydentist. Simon was presented with a token of appreciation before Tom Riall announced this year’s Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Contribution.
The winners
The winners of this year’s awards were as follows:
- Dentist of the Year: Valeriya Zlateva-Krasteva, mydentist, Union Street, Torquay
- Young Dentist of the Year: Rohith Prabhakar, mydentist Copnor
- Orthodontist of the Year: Pardeep Saini, mydentist Pembroke Road, Bristol
- Therapist/Ortho Therapist/Hygienist of the year: Samantha Walker, mydentist Dorchester
- Dental Nurse of the year: Qadriya Momeni, mydentist Uxbridge
- Treatment Coordinator of the Year: Brooke Hopkins, mydentist Emerson’s Green
- Receptionist of the Year: Steff Howard, mydentist Eastleigh
- Practice Team of the Year: mydentist Union Street, Torquay
- Practice Manager of the Year: Alison Williams, mydentist Hyde
- Field Team Member of the Year: Rob Dudhill, NW – central and NI
- Support Centre Team of the Year: Regulatory Compliance
- Support Centre Colleague of the Year: Pietro Capitelli, practice support recruitment
- Mentor of the Year: Manish Prasad, clinical director
- Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Contribution: Asineta Ghiriti, dentist at mydentist St Neots.
Respect, growth and achievement
Nilesh Pandya, CEO of mydentist, commented: ‘Through the incredible work that our teams do, we’re able to put a smile on millions of faces every year, and I’m so happy that we can show our recognition of this hard work through our annual Excellence Awards.’
Nilesh continued: ‘We recently launched our new people values: We respect each other, we grow together, and we achieve as one. What better way to celebrate these values than by recognising how each of our colleagues and clinicians are living these values every day. I’m so proud that the best people in dentistry choose to work and practise at mydentist, and I would like to congratulate all of our colleagues and clinicians who were nominated for, shortlisted for or won awards this year.’
He concluded: ‘Without our brilliant colleagues and clinicians right across our Support Centre and 530+ practices, we wouldn’t be able to provide the excellent levels of care we deliver for our patients every day. I’d like to thank all of my colleagues and the clinicians who choose to practise with us for their continued hard work and dedication. It doesn’t go unnoticed and I’m proud to work with them all as we strive together to be the best place to practise dentistry in the UK.’
The 2024 mydentist Excellence Awards were supported by headline sponsor DD, as well as Straumann Group, SDI, J&S Davis, Philips, Septodont, Directa Sendoline, Enlighten, Carestream Dental, Kerr, Swift Dental, NSK, American Orthodontics, and Kulzer.
For more information about careers at mydentist, visit www.mydentist.co.uk/careers/dentist-jobs.
This article is sponsored by mydentist.
