It’s an exciting time at The Essex Smile Centre as we welcome our new Treatment Care Coordinator, Sophie Dawson to the team. Sophie is the main point of contact for our patients throughout their smile transformation, providing them with support and information to make their experience as pleasant as possible.

We have a wide range of dental and aesthetic treatments at the practice and Sophie has wasted no time in learning all about them for the benefit of our patients. We caught up with Sophie earlier this month to find out more about her and her experience of the role.

How long have you worked in the dental industry?

I’ve worked in the dental industry for 8 years. I was a qualified nurse for 5 of those before taking my first care coordinator role in 2021. I joined The Essex Smile Centre in January 2024.

What does your role involve?

When we take on new patients, I welcome them to the practice, answering any questions they may have and talking them through what their smile transformation will involve. Throughout the day, I’ll help the customer service team deal with queries and arrange appointments and when I’m not speaking to customers or talking them through our payment plans, I create content for our social media to help keep our patients informed, a responsibility I also held in my previous role.

What do you enjoy about the role?

I enjoy working in a care-focused role because I love helping people. I worked in retail for a while and although it involved helping people in a way, I wanted to make more of a difference. It was this desire to help that drew me to nursing. As a nurse I really enjoyed putting people’s minds at ease, comforting them and reassuring them but I also enjoyed the organisation that came with it. My new role enables me to combine both these skills nicely.

Going to the dentist can be intimidating for some so I really enjoy making people feel like they’re being looked after, something that the practice places a lot of importance on. I want patients to feel like they’ve got someone to talk to about any concerns and that everything’s being taken care of.

How is The Essex Smile Centre different to other practices you’ve work at?

My responsibilities at The Essex Smile Centre are more customer-focused than in my previous role so I get to spend more time interacting with our patients. The practice is keen to keep patients informed throughout their treatments so I’m able to provide them with more information and check in with them on a more regular basis to ensure they’re happy with the service they’re receiving.

The team are lovely and a number of the staff have worked here for a long time so there’s a real sense of family here, which is nice to be a part of. This sense of inclusion also extends to the patients, many of which know members of the team by name.

What do you do outside of work?

I go swimming 4 times a week at my local pool in Southend. I’ve got to know some of the other members there now too so we swim together. Besides that, I enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephews and going out with my family and friends.

If you’d like Sophie to talk you through our range of dental and aesthetic treatments, call 01268 742333 and select option 3.