When you choose a dentist, you’re really choosing their training. At The London Smile Clinic in Fitzrovia, five of the clinicians don’t just hold advanced qualifications, they teach them. They lecture, examine and train the wider profession, which means the people planning your treatment are the ones other dentists learn from.
Most dental websites tell you their team is “highly qualified”. Fair enough. But there’s a quieter, more telling question worth asking about any practice.
Who taught the people who treat you? And who do they teach?
Here’s the thing about this clinic, tucked just off Great Portland Street since 1999. Five of its clinicians sit on the teaching side of the profession, not only the treating side. That’s unusual, and it’s worth explaining why it matters to you in the chair.
The difference between doing a treatment and teaching it
Anyone can learn to carry out a procedure. Teaching it is a different level entirely.
To stand in front of a room of qualified dentists, or to examine the next generation of specialists, you have to understand not just how a treatment is done, but why each step works, what goes wrong, and how to fix it when a case refuses to follow the textbook. You can’t teach what you only half understand. Students ask the awkward questions.
So when a clinician trains others, it tells you something a certificate on the wall can’t. It says the wider profession has judged them good enough to set the standard, not just meet it.
That’s the thread running through this practice. Let me introduce the five.
Dr Tim Bradstock-Smith: training dentists through Straight Talk Seminars
The founder qualified at University College London in 1989 and built The London Smile Clinic in 1999 around a clear idea of what a natural smile should look like.
He directs Straight Talk Seminars, a programme that trains other dentists in cosmetic technique. He was one of the first British members of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and one of the first directors of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He’s the only dentist in the UK to hold accreditation with both bodies at once.
Across his career he’s placed more than 50,000 porcelain veneers. The people he teaches are learning from a quarter of a century of that work.
Dr Pratik Sharma: Consultant and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Royal London
If you want straight teeth planned by someone who trains orthodontic specialists, this is the detail that matters.
Dr Sharma is a GDC-registered Specialist in Orthodontics. He divides his week between this practice and the Royal London Hospital, where he’s a Consultant and Senior Clinical Lecturer, training the orthodontic consultants and specialists of the future. His research has been published in leading journals and recognised with awards from the American Journal of Orthodontics and the British Orthodontic Society.
Read that carefully. The person who could plan your orthodontic treatment teaches the people who will become specialists themselves.
Dr Zaki Kanaan: international lecturer and President-Elect of the ADI
Implant surgery is unforgiving. The position, angle and depth of a single post decide whether it lasts decades or causes problems. So it helps to know who’s teaching the surgeons.
Dr Kanaan lectures internationally for Nobel Biocare, one of the biggest names in implant systems. He’s Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and President-Elect of the Association of Dental Implantology, the UK’s main implant body. He’s also been named UK Dentist of the Year and performed complex implant work on national television.
He holds diplomas in sedation and hypnosis too, which is why nervous patients seek him out. You can read more about the clinic’s approach to dental implants and how comfort is built into the surgery.
Dr Mariana Alves: Assistant Professor in endodontics
Root canals frighten people. The irony is that the clinician doing them here helps train others in exactly that field.
Dr Alves completed her Master’s in Endodontics at Harvard University in 2015 and is an Assistant Professor on a postgraduate endodontics programme at the University of Lisbon. Her practice is limited exclusively to endodontics and endodontic microsurgery, carried out under a dental microscope. She’s a certified member of the European Society of Endodontology and a Fellow of the International College of Dentists.
She teaches the procedure people dread, which is a reassuring thing to know before you have it.
Dr Michelle Sayour: the artist’s eye
Not every kind of teaching happens in a lecture hall. Some of it is about a way of seeing.
Dr Sayour practised cosmetic dentistry for more than 20 years in Canada before joining the clinic. She’s also an accomplished abstract painter whose work has been exhibited at Vancouver Fashion Week. She approaches every smile as a composition of balance, proportion and colour, which is the kind of trained eye that cosmetic dentistry genuinely needs.
The five at a glance
Here’s how the teaching credentials line up across the team.
| Clinician |
Teaching or academic role |
Field |
| Dr Tim Bradstock-Smith |
Director, Straight Talk Seminars |
Cosmetic dentistry |
| Dr Pratik Sharma |
Consultant and Senior Clinical Lecturer, Royal London Hospital |
Specialist orthodontics |
| Dr Zaki Kanaan |
International lecturer, Nobel Biocare; President-Elect, ADI |
Implant surgery |
| Dr Mariana Alves |
Assistant Professor, University of Lisbon |
Endodontics |
| Dr Michelle Sayour |
20+ years’ practice; exhibited artist |
Cosmetic dentistry |
Why this matters when you sit in the chair
You might reasonably ask whether any of this changes your appointment. It does, in a practical way.
A clinician who teaches keeps up to date by necessity. They can’t fall behind, because their students would notice. They tend to plan cases more carefully, because explaining a plan to a room of dentists sharpens how you think about your own. And the practice as a whole is the kind of place that attracts this calibre of person, which says something about the standards it holds itself to.
As of September 2026, all five see patients at The London Smile Clinic in Fitzrovia, a short walk from Marylebone, Bloomsbury and Regent Street. The clinic has also won UK Dental Practice of the Year twice, the only practice in the country to do so, and backs its cosmetic work with an industry-exclusive 10-year guarantee.
FAQ
Why does it matter if my dentist teaches other dentists?
A clinician who teaches has to understand a treatment deeply enough to explain it, defend it and fix it when it goes wrong. They stay current because their students expect it, and they tend to plan cases more carefully. At The London Smile Clinic in Fitzrovia, five clinicians teach, lecture or examine, so you’re treated by people the profession learns from.
Who is the most qualified clinician at The London Smile Clinic?
It depends on what you need. Dr Pratik Sharma is a GDC-registered Specialist Orthodontist and hospital Consultant. Dr Zaki Kanaan is President-Elect of the Association of Dental Implantology. Dr Mariana Alves trained at Harvard. Dr Tim Bradstock-Smith holds dual cosmetic accreditation. Your consultation matches you to the right clinician for your case.
Is The London Smile Clinic a specialist practice?
It offers specialist orthodontics through Dr Pratik Sharma, a GDC-registered Specialist in Orthodontics, alongside experienced cosmetic, implant and endodontic care. The clinic has won UK Dental Practice of the Year twice and several of its clinicians hold academic and teaching roles. A consultation will confirm which clinician suits your particular treatment.
What awards has the practice won?
The London Smile Clinic is the only practice in the UK to have won UK Dental Practice of the Year on two separate occasions. It also won Private Dentistry Practice of the Year in 2004 and has featured on Channel 4. Beyond awards, several clinicians hold individual recognition, including UK Dentist of the Year for Dr Zaki Kanaan.
Can I choose which clinician treats me?
Often, yes, though the right choice depends on your treatment. Specialist orthodontics is provided by Dr Pratik Sharma, implants by Dr Zaki Kanaan, endodontics by Dr Mariana Alves, and cosmetic work by Dr Tim Bradstock-Smith and Dr Michelle Sayour. At your consultation the team will recommend the clinician whose focus best fits your needs.
What to do next
If you’d rather be treated by the people who train the profession, the first step is a consultation. You’ll meet the clinician suited to your case, talk through what’s on your mind, and see a clear plan before you decide anything.
Call The London Smile Clinic in Fitzrovia on 020 7255 2559, or use the contact page to arrange your visit. You can also read more about us and meet the full team.
