Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Dr Rohan Krishnan is practice owner of Duneba Dental in Sydney’s northern suburbs, and the new president of ADA NSW. He’s also pioneering a holistic approach to multidisciplinary healthcare. By Shane Conroy
As a child, Dr Rohan Krishnan was scared of the dentist. He grew up in Sydney’s outer northern suburbs, and recalls dreading childhood visits to his local dentist. “I was petrified,” he laughs. “It took every fibre in my being to actually front up to the dentist, open my mouth and sit still because I was so scared of what would happen. It’s ironic that I should then become a dentist years later, but I think part of my journey was about overcoming my fear and making it less uncomfortable for others.”
Providing positive patient experiences has been an enduring theme throughout Dr Krishnan’s career. He says he always wanted to work in healthcare, and saw it as an opportunity to make a difference to an individual’s life on a person-to-person level. Dentistry, he says, appealed to him as a pathway into healthcare.
“As a young fella, I liked art and science, and dentistry perfectly marries the two disciplines. My fear of the dentist dissipated over the years, but I think the early fear I felt helps me empathise with patients today.”
Learning the trade
Dr Krishnan took his first steps into the industry at Sydney University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science in 2008, a Bachelor of Dentistry (Honours) in 2012, and returned in 2020 to study for a Masters Degree in Orofacial Pain Management.
“My grandfather was a maths teacher and I have four aunts with backgrounds in education, so it’s something that was and is very important to me,” he says. “My university experience was wonderful. I had many inspirational lectures and mentors who inspired my classmates and I to be better and continually pursue excellence in everything that we do.”
Today, Dr Krishnan continues to pay that inspiration forward as an Honorary Clinical Associate Lecturer at the University of Sydney.
“The lectures I give are all about helping graduates transition into private practice. I try to illuminate the blind spot that exists in tertiary education when it comes to the various aspects of private practice such as learning to use dental software, working with dental labs, referring to specialists, understanding contractual obligations and market differentiation in the business of dentistry.”
You need to consider every single facet of what makes up a patient’s experience when they walk through your door and, as a practice owner, your purview extends beyond yourself as an individual clinician.
Dr Rohan Krishnan
Dr Krishnan’s own transition from student to private practitioner came at The Lakes Family Dental in 2013. He spent the first five years of his career there learning about the importance of the patient experience.
“That’s not really something that’s taught at university,” he explains. “When I started, I had never worked with an oral health therapist or a dental hygienist, but I had a lead clinical dentist there who was a wonderful mentor to me. I was able to develop the knowledge and tools needed to make a patient’s experience more comfortable in a private practice setting.”
Becoming a practice owner
That knowledge and experience is still serving Dr Krishnan well, now as practice owner of Duneba Dental. He says the key to providing positive patient experiences is to develop the malleability required to communicate with each patient on their own terms—and extend that ability across your team.
“You need to consider every single facet of what makes up a patient’s experience when they walk through your door and, as a practice owner; your purview extends beyond yourself as an individual clinician,” he explains.
“You have to be really malleable as a dentist in terms of understanding the person who is sitting in your chair. Do they need you to be jovial with them and completely dissipate the clinical surrounds, do they respond better to visual cues, or do they have any other special needs? Every patient is different and we have to adapt to their persona and engage with them on a wavelength that will enable us to develop rapport, trust and communicate effectively to help empower them to make really good decisions about their healthcare.
“Then, as a practice owner, you have an extra layer of responsibility to ensure your patient has a comfortable and fulfilling experience when they come through the door of the practice, not just through your surgery door. I’m always looking at how my reception staff, dental assistants and associate dentists are looking after my patients.”
However, Dr Krishnan says that delivering a complete patient experience also extends beyond your practice’s doors. He’s cultivated a deep connection with the greater dental industry. In addition to his work at Sydney University, Dr Krishnan is a board member of the Australian Dental Council, was vice-president of the Australian Dental Association New South Wales (ADA NSW), served as chair of Filling the Gap, and was elected president of the ADA NSW late last year.
“I wanted to be part of an organisation that is aspirational and raises the professional standards of our industry,” he says. “ADA NSW is always advocating for us to push the boundaries of clinical excellence. That’s important because if we’re all pushing each other to be better, then our patients receive better care and we’re more fulfilled. ADA NSW is all about collegiality and connecting you to your profession to enable you to be successful and for your patients to receive better care.”
Dr Krishnan is also passionate about the need for dentists to build connections with a range of practitioners throughout the greater healthcare industry. He says partnering with clinicians in other medical disciplines helps to promote a holistic view of patient treatment.
“There’s a common adage that the mouth is the gateway to the body, and dentists are in a unique position to identify a range of potential health concerns—from the early signs of obstructive sleep apnoea to facial skin abnormalities and even mental health issues,” he says. “And it’s not just about referring patients out to their GP. As dentists we can partner with other healthcare practitioners and work together to deliver complete patient experiences.”
An holistic approach
Dr Krishnan is doing exactly that with a multi-disciplinary clinic he’s helping run out of Frenchs Forest in Sydney’s northern suburbs.
There’s a common adage that the mouth is the gateway to the body, and dentists are in a unique position to identify a range of potential health concerns—from the early signs of obstructive sleep apnoea to facial skin abnormalities and even mental health issues.
Dr Rohan Krishnan
“I’ve partnered with an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon and a physiotherapist to help treat patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD),” he explains. “We see patients concurrently at the same premises. We discuss cases together from different angles to come up with complete treatment plans. This helps us to combine our expertise to treat contributing factors and provide more comprehensive, holistic care for our patients.”
Dr Krishnan says this approach also helps to stop patients being bounced between different specialists who tend to view the patient’s concerns through their siloed expertise.
“This can put the patient into a vicious cycle of despondence, which may increase their anxiety and contribute to worsening their condition,” he says. “I think there’s an opportunity for dentists to play a lead role in a new, more collaborative approach to overall healthcare. We’re hoping to pioneer a path so it becomes more commonplace for patients to get access to the best care in a multidisciplinary setting.”
And it’s not just good for the patients. “I think reaching out to other healthcare practitioners drives the mutual growth of your businesses, and results in better care for your patients,” he concludes. “It’s business savvy and patient centred, so everyone wins. After all, if you’re looking after your patients better, then you’re going to run a better business.”
