Dentist demonstrates benefits of baring your teeth in the boardroom

May 6 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

A MERSEYSIDE dentist has described how businessmen are increasingly turning to him to help their smile – and seal important deals.

Thornton Hough-based Ian Buckle has been made the first overseas faculty member of the Florida-based Dawson Academy.

Dr Buckle said: “It is a source of enormous pride that our practice here on Merseyside will be bringing the Dawson Academy’s training expertise to the dental industry in the UK and more widely Europe.

“Moreover, having additional expertise and resource will significantly reinforce our offering to patients, ensuring they receive the most advanced levels of care available.”

He said his practice had recently seen a big increase in business people seeking his services because of the importance of making a good first impression.

He said: “There is a big uptake, increasingly from men, in an area which has largely been seen as a female thing.

“From a business point of view, there is a lot of research that people with nice smiley faces do better than their less smiley colleagues.

“People in business meetings are often wondering how people are judging them – and if people are self-conscious about their teeth it helps them go into meetings.”

Teeth whitening can cost from £300, but Dr Buckle insists his approach takes into account the “functionality” of his patients’ teeth. He aims to find long-term solutions to problems which have brought patients back and forth to his surgery, even offering every schoolchild’s dream – invisible braces.

He said: “I’m passionate about making sure people get the right choices and we will find a way of helping them.”

Founded in 1979 as the Center for Advanced Dental Study, the Dawson Academy is dedicated to teaching dentists.