LONDON (TIP): Seven British-Indians have received the Young Dentist Award in recognition of their excellence in dentistry across the whole of the UK.

The 2022 Dentistry Awards, feted as ‘dentistry’s biggest party’, took place late last month at The Athena in Leicester. While Kiran Shankla and Rohit Keshav Sunil Patel won from the Southeast, Sorabh Patel and Vishal Patel won from London. Viraj Patel and Paavan Chouhan from the Northwest and Chetan Sharma from Midlands won along with 20 others who were honored in the Young Dentist award category.

There was a total of 13 categories in the award, including Dental Laboratory of the Year, Therapist of the Year, Young Dentist, Hygienist of the Year, Dental Nurse of the Year, and more.

To be considered for the award, the young dentists had to give 750-word answers to a list of questions, provide supporting evidence of their work and their participation in the local community.

“It’s amazing to be recognized at such a high level. All the hard work and sacrifices made over nine years came down to this one moment,” Kiran Shankla, who works at Wood Lane Dentistry in Berkshire, told Henley Standard.

Shankla, 32, graduated from the University of Birmingham. Her areas of interest are minimally invasive dentistry, treating young children and cosmetic dentistry. “When the awards first started 22 years ago there were just five entries. This year there were over 900 entries,” said James Goolnik, founder of Bow Lane dental group, and one of the long-standing judges of the awards. Goolnik noted that the awardees via their practices are giving back more to their local communities and emphasizing more on team approach and training.