Ciaran Gillan, principal dentist at Dental Solutions, reveals why winning Practice of the Year at the 2019 Irish Dentistry Awards has been the pinnacle of his professional career
Congratulations on your success at the Irish Dentistry Awards! What did winning the overall Practice of the Year award mean to you?
It was an amazing experience and has to be the pinnacle of my professional career! To be judged the best in Ireland by a group of my peers was both humbling and empowering for both myself and the rest of the team.
How did you feel when you were announced as the winners on the night?
I had to do a double take that it was really our practice that was called out! The rest of it still doesn’t seem quite real – I still find myself popping down to reception to check that the trophies are actually there and that I didn’t imagine the whole thing.
Why do you think the judges picked your entry out as the best?
I got speaking to a few of the awards judges afterwards and they told me that it was the quality of the clinical work that we were able to demonstrate that set us apart.
For me, personally, that was the best bit of it all, as everything we do is geared towards giving our patients the best treatment possible and to have that recognised was immense.
Talk us through your winning entry for Best Patient Care
Extensive postgraduate training helps us to provide a high standard of treatment. We care for our patients the way that we would like to be cared for, and we never provide treatment that we would not want for ourselves or our family.
Why did you enter the awards?
A friend and colleague suggested we entered as he was really impressed with what we were doing. I did take a bit of convincing, as I know how many great practices are out there, but thought it was worth a go.
Did you enjoy the ceremony and evening?
We had a brilliant time celebrating as you can imagine! We made the mistake of heading out afterwards with a few other practices, and it all gets a bit blurry after that…
In all seriousness, it was a great way to celebrate as a team and recognise all the hard work that it takes to achieve high-end dentistry.
The event itself was very professionally run and the live band was excellent.
Never having been to an awards ceremony before, I was a little worried that the presenting of the awards would be long and tedious with loads of speeches but everything was very efficient.
Where will you be displaying your trophies?
At the moment, they are sitting at our reception desk, although we keep moving them around, and I am toying with the idea of getting my father-in-law to make up a trophy cabinet!
What does the future hold for Dental Solutions – will you be entering the Irish Dentistry Awards again?
We are currently using our success from the awards to promote our practice and the work we do, so that is keeping us busy at the moment. The team all have plans to further our training so that will be keeping us busy this year.
Look out for us in the next couple of years – we would like to take home best practice in Ireland again!
To enter the Irish Dentistry Awards 2020, visit www.irishdentistryawards.com.
