Dr Aditi Desai, sleep specialist at 76 Harley Street, has recently been interviewed by the British Dental Journal.
As President of the British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine, she was delighted to have the opportunity to showcase the importance of dental sleep medicine (DSM) in such a well-respected journal.
Dr Desai’s interview covered her background, as she arrived from Kenya in 1972 to follow her dream of becoming a dentist. She passed her A-levels in just six months, before completing her dentistry training at Cardiff University. After working as a restorative dentist for over 36 years, many of which were spent as a dentist at the BBC, Dr Desai became interested in the emerging field of dental sleep medicine.
This is a multi-disciplinary field; Dr Desai works with respiratory, chest and sleep physicians, ENT consultants, psychologists and neurologists to provide effective treatment programs for those suffering from snoring and sleep apnoea.
In 2013, Dr Desai established Global Sleep Solutions, with the aim of providing an invaluable resource for patients suffering from these often challenging, and potentially serious, health conditions. In one location, they can be presented with, and make an informed choice from, all the possible treatment options.
Dr Desai is passionate about education, and for 13 years she was a clinical teacher at Guy’s and St Thomas’. Her hope is to encourage dental educators to introduce dental sleep medicine as part of dental training. The BSDSM will be offering affiliate membership to any student of dentistry or medicine, and also to the new DCPs so they can all learn more about this emerging field as a team. “These people will be the future of dentistry,” Dr Desai explains.
In the UK there is no formal dental sleep medicine accreditation currently, but one of Dr Desai’s aims as President of the BSDSM is to introduce this, so that patients can be assured of receiving the very highest standard of treatment. As Dr Desai states in the interview: “If the patient experience is positive then the patient’s treatment outcome is going to be positive.”
Dr Desai also spoke about her experience at 76 Harley Street: “I’m so lucky that the practice at 76 Harley Street, where I am based, allows me a free hand to do what I want, treat who I want, introduce any treatments that I want and market DSM the way I want. The Principal is a brilliant dentist, and has done all he can to help establish the DSM practice here. We have every specialty under the one roof, and I complete the circle.”
Our aim at our London specialist dental practice is to bring together leaders in their different fields for the ultimate benefit of our patients.
