Irish Dentistry chats to Ace Braces Orthodontics owner Kevin O’Regan about the team’s big win this year, taking home five awards at the 2015 Irish Dentistry Awards

Why did you decide to enter the awards?

It is easy to be complacent and while it can be a challenge, it is more important to say ‘we can do more’.

The awards give dental practices a goal to work towards and are motivational for staff throughout the entry process. Once we decided on our plan of action, the Ace Braces team put a lot of hard work in – and we had a lot of fun too!

What do you think made the Ace Braces team stand out?

I think it was a number of things. Each person on our team has their own talent and we try to help them make the most of their skills and ability.

The team gives their best outside of work as well, through community and charity projects, which brings us all closer together. We have a relaxed and happy atmosphere while always being professional, which our patients often comment on.

We have put a lot of hard work into creating what we have at Ace Braces and will continue to do so, embracing the new challenges each year with renewed energy from our many awards.

How do you prepare your entries for all the various categories?

We discussed our entries as a team 12 months ago and reviewed all aspects of the practice, including patient care, in order to put positive changes in place to achieve orthodontic excellence across the board.

We ran patient surveys and asked each team member to give feedback from their particular areas where they thought improvements could be made. Regular meetings were held to ensure the team were cohesively working together towards a common goal: ‘to be the best and give of our best’.

What advice would you give specialist practices looking to bring their practice to the next level?

Aim for the gold standard. We helped achieve this when we decided to brand our practice under the name Ace Braces. This meant we could be easily identified to prospective patients in a competitive market.

Every practice needs to consider having a Facebook page as well. We have a 24/7 live answering service 365 days of the year and an appointment text alert system that is reassuring and helpful for our patients. We have an Invisalign blog on the website for patients to follow and this has been met with very positive reaction.

We employ practice management consultants (Lena Craven and Laura Horton in 2014) who regularly give in-house workshops that are invaluable to us and have helped shape us into who we are.

Do you think the Irish Dentistry Awards are important for the profession?

Yes, I do. Entering awards is a reassessment of what you do as a professional. Having started in private practice with one nurse and one receptionist in 1990, the practice grew and we moved eight years ago to a purpose built practice, and subsequently rebranded as Ace Braces Orthodontics.

It has been tremendously hard work to bring the practice to where it is today, and it was a good time to stand back and look at where we were. The awards reflect all of that.

We intend to continue creating beautiful smiles for new and existing patients in the midlands and the surrounding counties in Ireland.

We have learned a lot this year about what it takes to win awards and we look forward to maintaining and improving what we have at Ace Braces.

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Ace Braces Orthodontics won Overall Practice of the Year, Practice of the Year Leinster & Munster, Best Specialist Practice, Best Website and Best Dental Team at the 2015 Irish Dentistry Awards. Read the full interview in this month’s March issue.

Dr Kevin O’Regan is a dentistry graduate from University College Cork and completed his specialist  postgraduate orthodontic training in Liverpool in 1986. He has been practising exclusively in orthodontics in Tullamore since 1990. He is a past president of the Orthodontic Society of Ireland, having previously held the position of hon secretary. Dr O’Regan is married and has four children.