One of the UK’s best-known dentists is behind the launch of a new clinic in Altrincham.
Professor Paul Tipton, who has lived in Altrincham for most of his life, has trained 5,000 dentists – up to 15% of the UK’s total number – through his Tipton Training Academy.
Driven by an entrepreneurial desire to start a new dental brand closer to home, he has now launched My New Smile, a “private but affordable” clinic in Broadheath, in one of the units next door to Waitrose.
Professor Tipton has invested £250,000 in the state-of-the-art facility, which will ultimately have three surgical rooms with capacity for up to 750 patients – with dentists all trained in specialist treatment through his own academy.
“The service we are providing here is twofold,” he said. “It’s a service for general dental health, so you can have your fillings or whatever other needs here, including an emergency service.
“We’ll also have the cosmetic side as well. The dentists here at My New Smile have all been through my training programme, which is the most important part for me as I know that they have been well trained. I know that they’re good with their hands and have got the latest theoretical knowledge.”
Professor Tipton has long-standing links with the Altrincham area. Although he now lives in Ashley, he has lived in the town for most of his life and his father used to work at the Linotype Works factory in Broadheath. He is a keen cricket fan, even playing alongside the likes of Clive Lloyd and David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd at Lancashire Cricket in the 1970s, and his son Jack is the current 1st XI captain at Bowdon.
After training in Sheffield and London, he has since specialised as a prosthodontist, meaning he focuses on repairing and replacing teeth. He was awarded his professorship after working for the City of London Dental School, where he is still a visiting professor, and was recognised with a lifetime achievement award at the recent Private Dentistry Awards.
He says a big motivation for the launch of My New Smile has been the current state of NHS dentistry.
“It’s a huge problem,” he says. “People are doing their own dentistry and trying to do their own fillings and taking out their own teeth, and it’s because of the lack of NHS dentists. NHS dentistry has been so badly paid over the last 10 years and dentists are voting with their feet and going private because they can’t do it anymore.
“About 5,000 dentists also left the country when Brexit happened, so we’re probably about 10 to 20,000 dentists short in this country.”
Many dentists also left the industry during Covid, when protocols regarding PPE wear – more restrictive than anywhere else in the world – made working conditions intolerable.
Professor Tipton hopes his “affordable, carbon-neutral” clinic will provide a sensible alternative to the increasing number of people seeking cheaper ‘Turkey Teeth’ solutions abroad.
“I get a lot of referrals from dentists whose patients have gone to Turkey for their treatment,” Professor Tipton said.
“I’m not castigating all Turkish dentists – they are some very good ones – but there are also people who have been ripped off. I’m treating two people at the moment who have spent £5-7,000 going to Turkey, and they need all that work doing again.
“Our service is not Turkey teeth price, but it’s only about 20 or 30% more and we’ll do it properly.”
My New Smile will be the first dental practice in the North West to offer a new insurance-based product called the ‘Sound Teeth Guarantee’.
For a small monthly fee, patients are guaranteed cover of up to £3,000.
“If you’re eating your breakfast cereal today and your tooth fractures in half and you need a crown or an implant, which could cost between £1-2,000, you’re totally covered.
“You can get cover for extra-oral damage at the moment – if you get hit in the face and break a tooth, for instance – but this is the first insurance product in the UK that covers you for intra oral damage.”
So what is the ambition for My New Smile?
“We’d like to grow it to five or 10 clinics in the North West or Greater Manchester area. We think that we’ve got something different to offer – very affordable prices, Sound Teeth Guarantee, green and eco friendly, and very high quality. That’s our USP.”
My New Smile Altrincham, 6 Draybank Rd, West Timperley, Timperley, Altrincham WA14 5ZL. For more information, visit mynewsmilealtrincham.co.uk or follow @mynewsmile_altrincham on Instagram.
