Shivani Patel, consultant orthodontist at elleven, has done quite a lot of community outreach work in London over the past six months.

Shivani has visited several schools to give an educational presentation about how children need to look after their teeth and gums through not only good cleaning and regular hygienist visits, but also eating and drinking the right things. There has been a lot of coverage in the media about the need to reduce sugar in our diet and particularly the dangers of hidden sugars and fortunately many of the children did seem aware of this. She also talked about teen orthodontics explaining that it is easier to move teeth with braces at this age and showing different examples of why a child may need orthodontic work.

There has also been a lot in the media about the need to inspire more girls to go into careers in science and technology and Shivani has done her bit as an ‘Inspiring Woman’. She spoke to Year 9 pupils at St Marylebone School ahead of them choosing their GCSE options and spoke to them about the academic subjects and people skills required for Dentistry. Shivani has also invited local sixth formers applying for university to elleven so that they can see first hand what a top practice is like and ask questions which their teachers may not be able to answer.