Wigan dental practice celebrates 20 years with smile makeover competition

A borough dentist’s is celebrating its 20th anniversary and to mark the milestone, is running a competition for the chance to win a smile makeover.
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Hindley Dental Practice opened its doors for the first time on April 15 2002 and by December that year had over 1,000 registered patients.

Today the business has grown into a large practice and looks after the mouths of 20,000 patients across the Wigan borough.

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It started with an original team of just three: principal dentist Shaz Mirtorabi, his wife Frances, and dental nurse Jane Ratcliffe.

Staff at Hindley Dental Practice, Ladies Lane, Hinldye, celebrate their 20th anniversary, from left, Zara Allen, Beth Derricott, Shaz Mirtorabi, Toni Gates, Claire Andrews and Jodie Sculthorpe.Staff at Hindley Dental Practice, Ladies Lane, Hinldye, celebrate their 20th anniversary, from left, Zara Allen, Beth Derricott, Shaz Mirtorabi, Toni Gates, Claire Andrews and Jodie Sculthorpe.
Staff at Hindley Dental Practice, Ladies Lane, Hinldye, celebrate their 20th anniversary, from left, Zara Allen, Beth Derricott, Shaz Mirtorabi, Toni Gates, Claire Andrews and Jodie Sculthorpe.

But it has now expanded over the years into a versatile team of 13 staff with a great skill set of dentists, a therapist and hygienist, several dental nurses and their multi-tasking receptionist and manager, Toni Gates, who has also been at the practice almost since the beginning too.

Mr Mirtorabi, has organised the competition which is open to anybody who wishes to nominate someone special in their life for a new smile.

The cost of the work on the smile makeover could potentially run into several thousands of pounds worth of dental work and materials, but the winner would get it completely free.

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Entries of up to 500 words must be submitted by the end of May 2022 and entrants must give a detailed description of why the person they have chosen deserves to have this smile makeover.

Staff at Hindley Dental Practice, Ladies Lane, Hinldye, celebrate their 20th anniversary, from left, Zara Allen, Beth Derricott, Shaz Mirtorabi, Toni Gates, Claire Andrews and Jodie Sculthorpe.Staff at Hindley Dental Practice, Ladies Lane, Hinldye, celebrate their 20th anniversary, from left, Zara Allen, Beth Derricott, Shaz Mirtorabi, Toni Gates, Claire Andrews and Jodie Sculthorpe.
Staff at Hindley Dental Practice, Ladies Lane, Hinldye, celebrate their 20th anniversary, from left, Zara Allen, Beth Derricott, Shaz Mirtorabi, Toni Gates, Claire Andrews and Jodie Sculthorpe.

The competition is now open.

Mr Mirtorabi said: “We would like to celebrate our 20th aniversary with this smile makeover competition.

“It is open to everyone to nominate someone who they feel really deserves and would appreciate a great smile.

“Perhaps this person is unhappy or embarrassed about their smile and teeth and having this makeover would massively increase their confidence and change their life for the better.”

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“We have always been a family-friendly dental practice providing all aspects of dentistry to our patients and we pride ourselves on being a dedicated, caring and professional team.

“We are passionate about delivery ethical, preventative excellent dental care.”

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Mr Mirtorabi says it has been tough returning the business to normal after the Covid emergency.

He said: “The pandemic hit us hard as we were not able to see our patients face to face from, March until May 2020, and deliver that important oral health advice.

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“From June 2020 we became an Urgent Dental Centre but we were only able to see one patient per hour.

"Since June 2021 we have been able to see patients on a more regular basis but due to regulations, infection control and heavy weight of PPE, we could only provide 50 per cent of our normal capacity. “However, since January 2022 due to eased restrictions we have been operating on a more normal level.”

“The statistics are pretty bleak for the North West as a whole and in Wigan does rate quite high on the national scale for Decayed Milling and Filled Teeth (DMFT) statistics, especially for children.

“Mr During my 20 years of working in Wigan, I have been lucky to meet some of the nicest people.

"Our aim as a dental practice is to educate from a young age to ensure the importance of good oral hygiene.”

To enter the competition email [email protected]

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