Have you ever thought about how to choose a dentist for a smile makeover? How far would you be prepared to travel? Would you get on a plane to attend a dental appointment?

For Dr Sam Jethwa’s patients at Bespoke Smile, the answer to these questions is a resounding “yes!”

Many people choose to improve their smile, but what makes someone fly across the continent rather than choosing a local dentist?

“what we do, is not replicated in the same way, anywhere in the world, and that is why my patients will find a way to get to us.” Says Dr Sam Jethwa.

So what is so unique about this dentistry?

“my practice focusses on cosmetic and advanced dentistry, so we see patients who have the highest expectations, or have severe functional and confidence issues with their smiles. When dentistry is done the traditional way, the design of the appearance and bite of the new teeth is left entirely to a dental laboratory, but what I do is actually hand sculpt each individual tooth myself and I let my patients test drive that ‘trial smile’ before we convert it to the final porcelain veneers, with my master ceramist. This means we have hand created, a bespoke design, with very few unknowns, and nearly no guesswork.”

It is this unique process that pulls in clients from all over the globe, who are even prepared to quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic to get an appointment with Dr Sam Jethwa. The clinic, based in the historic town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire is a vibrant and high end location, and a tourist hotspot in itself, with the banks of the river Thames a stones throw from the clinic.

“our patient concierge at Bespoke Smile, will help to arrange flights, accommodation, and provides a transfer service where clients are collected from London Heathrow airport (a 20minute drive), in our chauffer driven Porsche”

Once clients arrive at the clinic, they are welcomed by a team trained by the top consultants in the hospitality sector, and proceed to have a 2-3 hour consultation and clinical assessment with Dr Jethwa himself before finalising the treatment choices and arranging their subsequent visits.

“Every smile we create, is discussed in our clinical debrief where our dentists, therapists, and specialists get together and plan every detail of the case. This way, each patient gets not only my opinion or advice, but the recommendations of my entire team, so every possibility, and also limitation is discussed. This also allows every member of the team to provide a seamless experience, especially for clients who are on a deadline, with flights to catch.”

Given the attention from international clients, Bespoke Smile has had to develop unique workflows and formulas to limit visits, carry out complex work efficiently, and minimise complications to allow dentistry to be done for travelling patients with little disruption to their lives.

In addition to the clinic, Dr Sam Jethwa trains aspirational dentists each year at The Bespoke Smile Academy, on the topic of smile makeovers and ultra thin veneers and is invited to lecture internationally on the topic. These training courses are booked by dentists a year in advance, and allow dentists to take this magic to their patients in their own parts of the world.