In this article, we interview Natalie Wong and Dr. Marco Fedele, Dental Hygienist and GP Dentist, respectively, at Swiss Dental Clinic. Swiss Dental Clinic is located in Dubai, and is ideal for international patients- the dentists speak French, Italian, Spanish and German, along with English. Combining Dr. Fedele’s 37 years of experience, passion for dentistry, and top-of-the-line technologies, makes this clinic a great choice for your next treatment.
What is the ethos of your clinic?
Providing patients with high quality, up-to-date knowledge and treatment. We want to be honest and trustworthy with our patients to ensure they are provided with the best treatment and support they require. Making sure our relationship with patients is based on human respect, and communication is based on a sympathetic approach to individual needs.
What conditions, treatments do you specialise in?
We offer a wide choice of treatments: aesthetics, implants, surgery, joint disorders. We also offer pain-free Dental Hygiene: providing all treatments related to gums whether that be general maintenance, mouth refreshing & disease detection to more advanced treatments to treat periodontal disease. Additionally, we offer tooth whitening.
What makes you stand out as a clinic?
We stand out as a clinic as we are one of the few clinics in Dubai that has existed for over 23 years. We strive to be the best clinicians for our patients by continuous professional development. Learning new techniques, educating ourselves on the latest findings in dentistry and translating this into our daily practice. We have never advertised previously and we are grown by word of mouth and referral from existing clients. We are known for giving the most honest and trustworthy advice and are often sought out as 2nd opinion.
Can you tell us about a success story where you treated a particularly difficult case?
I had experience with a patient with 32 loose teeth, black-stained, gums inflamed, loss of bone of the jaws and we restored their mouth with 12 implants and replacement of all the missing teeth to give the patient the function of chewing with a beautiful smile.
For Dental Hygiene, it’s not normally the patient’s favorite place. Dental Hygienists in the past tend to give us clinicians that are newer to the profession a bad reputation. Therefore, I tend to have a lot of patients who have lost their confidence in cleaning visits. But by working closely with these patients I ensure it is a pain-free visit. Dental hygiene should be a pleasant experience and should not be feared. I allow my patients to take control of their treatment by hand signals and by providing various options throughout their appointment. In order to have my patients feel relaxed, I have implemented the use of essential oils, calming meditation music and high mounted TV screen displaying relaxing and calming videos. I am passionate about providing high quality and pain-free treatment for all of my patients and this shows through my treatment. I have many patients who no longer consider themselves as dental phobic after a few visits to myself.
How do you keep up to date with the latest research and technology?
With the wealth of knowledge at our fingertips online we use any downtime in the clinic on trying to increase understanding and knowledge of new technology or treatment through an online system called Isopharm. This is an accredited CPD website recognised by our governing bodies DHA and GDC. We also attend as many Dental conferences in the region as we can which happens various times throughout the year. I, Natalie, am also part of a collective group called Emirates Dental Hygienist Club which allows us all to share our latest findings or where more research is required.
We are very concerned being up-to-date attending lectures, training courses and especially in digital dentistry using the concept of “ONE VISIT DENTISTRY’, which means reconstruction of one or many teeth from scratch to the final crown in only one session.
As a clinic, you are engaging in patient feedback with Doctify – what importance do you place on patient feedback?
I would like to know whether patients are satisfied with their treatment and that they understand everything we discussed. I feel it is important as Clinicians to gain feedback in order for us to grow or change how we practice. Something we might think is working might not be well received by the client and we need to find out how best to engage with them. For us, feedback is essential because it is a powerful way to improve all the aspects of the clinic and the treatments.
How do you think the wider medical field is adapting to a more connected and informed patient?
I feel like we, as the medical profession, need to adapt and it is slowly happening as more patients are seeing that they have such a large choice of clinics to choose from. We need to stand out and display our expertise and knowledge in order for these patients to make the decision to choose us and for them to make the best decision for their health. We have to teach the patient and explain what we suggest as a treatment using all the actual means to justify our expertise.
For more information about Swiss Dental Clinic, such as reviews and to book an appointment, you can click the button below.
Book an appointment
