Bringing Fresh Ideas to Dental Practice Management

I’m Shushaanth — a dental practice manager passionate about harnessing AI, innovation, and creative problem-solving to reimagine how dental practices operate. From using tools like ChatGPT and Sintra to streamline day-to-day administrative workflows, to piloting AI-powered reception systems that enhance patient interaction, I focus on practical, real-world applications that drive measurable impact.

My approach centres on improving efficiency, reducing operational overhead, and enabling clinical teams to spend more time on what truly matters — patient care. Through continuous experimentation, testing, and analysis, I aim to uncover actionable insights that help dental practices embrace technology with clarity, confidence, and purpose.


How i’m innovating dental practice management

AI-Powered Daily Operations

I actively leverage advanced tools such as ChatGPT and Sintra to streamline a wide range of tasks — from content creation to day-to-day administrative processes — across both Dentartistry and DH Keen Dental Surgery. Recognising the vast and evolving potential of AI, I remain committed to exploring innovative technologies that enhance efficiency, support better decision-making, and drive continuous improvement in practice management. My focus is on seamless integration — ensuring that technology not only supports operations, but elevates the entire patient and team experience.

AI Reception Experiments

We are currently piloting AI-powered systems to support patient communication and front-of-house operations within our practices. The experience so far has delivered meaningful successes, alongside important lessons that continue to shape our approach. These real-world insights are invaluable for practice managers seeking to adopt emerging technologies to enhance both operational efficiency and the patient journey. By sharing our findings, we aim to support the wider dental community in staying informed, adaptable, and strategically prepared in an ever-evolving healthcare landscape.

Creative Problem Solving

I’m focused on introducing innovative solutions to tackle traditional practice management challenges with a fresh, strategic, and forward-thinking outlook. This includes leading the transition to fully paperless operations, not only to improve efficiency and reduce overhead, but also to support sustainability goals as we work towards aligning with B Corp certification standards.

My approach blends operational excellence with ethical responsibility, aiming to position our practices at the premium end of the market while maintaining a strong commitment to people, purpose, and the planet. Innovation underpins every initiative — from digital transformation and AI integration to patient journey refinement — ensuring every aspect of practice management is optimised for modern, meaningful success.

My Current AI Toolkit

This will be updated as I incorporate new tools

As part of my mission to future-proof dental practice management, I’ve adopted and continue to refine the use of carefully selected AI-powered tools. Each plays a specific role in transforming how we operate at Dentartistry and DH Keen Dental Surgery — improving accuracy, reducing manual workload, enhancing the patient journey, and enabling real-time data-informed decisions.

Below is a breakdown of how each platform contributes to our evolving digital ecosystem:

  • At the heart of my day-to-day operations, ChatGPT serves as a versatile problem-solving assistant and content generator. Its capabilities allow us to maintain a high level of professional communication without sacrificing time or consistency.

    Use Cases:

    • Writing referral letters from structured data and clinical notes, often using patient forms and radiographs

    • Creating clear and compassionate patient emails, appointment reminders, post-op instructions, and financial correspondence

    • Generating internal documents such as job adverts, SOP drafts, team announcements, and meeting notes

    • Assisting in policy creation and patient communication strategies, including missed appointment protocols and treatment consent templates

    By integrating ChatGPT into our admin workflow, we’ve saved significant staff hours while improving the quality, speed, and tone of our written communication. It also plays a key role in content ideation — whether for patient-facing websites or internal system improvements.

  • Sintra is our task orchestration and automation tool, helping transform how repetitive, error-prone processes are managed behind the scenes. It supports the creation of smart pipelines and automates follow-ups, cross-practice coordination, and task delegation.

    Use Cases:

    • Automating recall workflows, ensuring consistent patient engagement and improved re-attendance

    • Tracking treatment journeys from initial enquiry through to completion — aligning teams on next steps

    • Systematising admin routines (e.g. sending finance plan reminders, lab follow-ups, or referral status updates)

    • Flagging overdue tasks and enabling clear accountability across the team

    Sintra empowers our practices to operate with clarity and consistency, making manual oversight less necessary and allowing for scalable, quality-controlled growth — especially as we expand to a multi-site model.

  • Carestack is our cloud-based, all-in-one practice management platform, serving as the digital hub for both clinical and operational activities. We are rolling it out across both practices to centralise data, standardise procedures, and eliminate the fragmentation caused by multiple disconnected systems.

    Use Cases:

    • Centralised appointment scheduling, with real-time access across both locations

    • Unified clinical documentation, treatment planning, and radiograph management

    • Streamlined billing, NHS claims processing, and payment tracking

    • Built-in compliance support to meet CQC, GDPR, and HTM 01-05 requirements

    • Detailed reporting and performance dashboards to inform business decisions and staff development

    Carestack’s integration capabilities also support our goal of moving towards paperless operations and a fully digital patient journey, aligning with our broader sustainability and B Corp certification ambitions.

  • Voicestack is an AI-powered virtual receptionist that we are actively piloting to support front-of-house operations. Designed to handle high volumes of patient communication with professionalism and consistency, it helps ensure no call goes unanswered — even during peak periods.

    Use Cases:

    • Answering inbound calls when the reception team is unavailable or busy

    • Taking messages and routing them to the appropriate team members instantly

    • Sharing key information with patients, such as directions, appointment times, and treatment fees

    • Allowing patients to book or reschedule appointments via voice interface

    By blending human warmth with AI reliability, Voicestack is helping us create a hybrid reception model — freeing up staff to be more present for in-practice patients, while ensuring those calling in still receive a timely and helpful experience. This tool is especially useful for after-hours or high-traffic call times, where traditionally, many calls would have been missed.

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Why It Matters

This toolkit represents more than just a group of platforms — it forms part of a broader, intentional strategy to modernise dental practice management through innovation with purpose. Each tool has been carefully selected and tested to help us improve the patient experience while maintaining full operational control, reduce inefficiencies that often lead to burnout or unnecessary costs, and support our transition towards a paperless, data-driven, and environmentally conscious way of working. Most importantly, these technologies enable our teams to focus on what truly matters — the human side of care.

By openly sharing how we integrate and use these tools, my goal is to provide practical, real-world insights for other dental professionals and practice managers who are exploring how to adopt AI confidently, ethically, and with measurable impact.

Why Share This Journey?

For most people, the world of dental practice management exists behind the scenes — invisible but essential. Yet, behind every smooth-running practice is a team navigating complex decisions, evolving technology, compliance challenges, patient expectations, and staff development — often all at once.

Sharing this journey is my way of lifting the curtain. It’s about being transparent not just about the successes, but also the uncertainties, experiments, and lessons learned along the way. Too often, leadership in healthcare settings is portrayed as polished and perfected. But real leadership — especially in a fast-changing, patient-focused industry — is much messier, more dynamic, and far more human.

My role as a Practice Manager goes beyond the day-to-day logistics of staffing and scheduling. It’s about creating environments where clinicians can focus on delivering excellent care, where patients feel genuinely supported, and where teams feel empowered to do their best work. That means managing change, adopting new technologies like AI, handling NHS complexities, and having difficult conversations when things don’t go to plan.

I’ve chosen to share this journey because I know I’m not alone. Many others are navigating similar paths — trying to bridge the gap between clinical care and operational strategy, between compliance and innovation, between growth and sustainability. By documenting what works (and what doesn’t), I hope to provide real-world insight for others who might be building something similar — whether you're managing a practice, training as a healthcare professional, or just exploring what it takes to deliver care that’s both excellent and efficient.

But it’s more than just insight — it’s also about connection. Every decision I make is rooted in people: the patients who trust us with their care, the staff who show up every day to make it happen, and the wider network of professionals who shape the future of healthcare. Sharing this journey is an invitation — to learn, to reflect, to challenge, and to build better systems together.

Because ultimately, growth in healthcare isn’t just clinical or operational. It’s personal. And it’s in sharing the personal that we discover how to truly move forward.

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