Irish Dental Chain Triumphing Despite Recession
An Irish dental chain, which was set up during the pre-recession boom, is triumphing despite difficult economic times.
Emmet O’Neill, founder of Smiles Dental, said that the last few years have been difficult and there have been moments when he feared for the future of the business, however, the chain has expanded and the team has managed to ride the storm. O’Neill recalled the moment when a priest came in asking for a set of veneers in 2007 fondly, but said that a similar boom period was unlikely to happen again.
O’Neill founded Smiles Dental in 2005 and set about providing clients with popular treatments, such as tooth whitening and veneers and cashing in on the increased popularity of cosmetic dentistry. The chain was doing well but the owner admitted that he overestimated how vain people were and the demand was not quite as high as they anticipated.
O’Neill introduced general dental services into the practices and was eager to make the experience of going to the dentist more enjoyable. His own experiences, which he described as “reading a magazine from 15 years ago and waiting 40 minutes to see the guy” inspired his approach and he was keen to offer patients a less stressful, more relaxing waiting experience, as well as up to date magazines.
O’Neill said that the recession was very hard, but the company reacted quickly, slashing prices to keep patients interested and this enabled them to survive. He added that the budget cuts for dental schemes in 2010 had also produced worrying times, but he now feels confident that the future is bright for Smiles Dental. The chain has expanded from 10 to 20 practices and dentists treated around 150,000 patients last year.
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