The Dental Architect Leeds: Meet the dentist behind the stunning city centre practice named the best in the UK

One of the top Invisalign providers in the world, Martina has collected a string of award wins and nominations over her 21-year career as a dentist, including Invisalign’s sought-after Diamond Apex Award. Her new Leeds city centre practice, The Dental Architect, has recently been named the UK Practice of the Year at the Dentistry Awards - just nine months after opening.

“I’ve wanted to be a dentist since I was 13,” Martina told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “I really enjoyed science but I was a good violinist as well, so I was quite dextrous with my hands. I feel like dentistry is an amazing mix of science and art.”

Martina, who grew up in Essex, moved to Leeds to study dentistry for five years before relocating to the city permanently in 2005. She has owned East Ardsley practice The Dental Studio for 15 years and is named in the UK’s Dentistry Top 50.

Martina said: “It took a huge amount of work to get there, but also a passion for patient care and creating beautiful smiles. A smile is part of that person. What you can do to someone’s teeth, and how it completely changes their life, is really inspiring and why I love my job so much.”

Located on Wellington Street in a stunning Grade-II listed building, The Dental Architect opened in March this year. It attracts a different clientele to her “salt-of-the-earth” East Ardsley practice, but Martina said the ethos is the same.

The 44-year-old said: “The important thing about it is the team and the heart and soul of it, not how it looks. We pride ourselves on delivering world-class customer care. How you’re treated and how you’re made to feel - that’s what you’ll remember about a place.”

After taking home Best Practice in the North East at The Dentistry Awards 2022, held in Leicester last month, The Dental Architect was named the best overall practice in the UK.

“It was absolutely incredible,” Martina said. “It’s a reflection of everything I’ve put into it in terms of developing my team, providing that amazing patient journey, providing a beautiful environment and somewhere that my team can grow and deliver real dental excellence to our patients.”

While demand for cosmetic dentistry boomed over lockdown, dubbed the ‘Zoom effect’, Martina said this year has been a challenge - dentistry hasn’t been at the top of everyone’s priorities during the cost of living crisis.

Martina added: “There’s been a huge access problem in terms of NHS dentistry, which is frankly appalling. It upsets me so much that the funding isn’t there. I think people don’t realise that private dentistry can be affordable - our plans start from £10.40 a month.

"For that, you’re able to access private dental care with no waiting list. It’s so important to keep on top of your oral health and not let things slip, because the longer you leave it the harder and more expensive it gets to treat.

"It has been a challenging year, but we’re here. If someone wants a healthy mouth and a healthy smile, we go out of our way to help them in any way we can.”