By Danny Chan
In the second instalment of our six-part series, we turn to four more standout winners from the Australian Dental Awards 2025
The Australian Dental Awards 2025 once again confirmed what many in the profession already sense: that the gap between good dentistry and great dentistry is almost never found in a clinical technique. It is found in culture, intention, and the willingness to build something that outlasts any single procedure. The four winners profiled here each embody that truth in their own distinct way.
Dr Daniel Tan
Daniel Tan & Associates
Practice of the Year 2025 (Joint)
Practice Design & Brand 2025 (Joint)
Patient Care 2025 (Joint)
To win one category at the Australian Dental Awards is a significant achievement. To win three – and across categories as varied as patient care, physical design, and overall practice excellence – demands something more than operational competence. For Dr Daniel Tan of Launceston’s Dr Daniel Tan & Associates, that something is a unifying philosophy that permeates every layer of what his practice does and how it looks doing it.
“Whilst our practice has continued to evolve and grow over the past two decades, our guiding philosophy has remained
consistent: holistic, patient-centred care,” he explains. “Whether it’s our tailored clinical approach, the unique design of our spaces, or how we nurture and develop our team, everything that we do seeks to empower our patients to achieve their goals and enhance their quality of life.”
That commitment to patient experience imbues the physical fabric of the Launceston practice. The recent transformation drew on Artedomus natural stone, handcrafted Tasmanian timber furniture, extensive glazing and peaceful garden views. “Every design choice was made with the patient experience in mind, balancing professionalism with warmth, and contemporary sensibility with the heritage character of our building,” Dr Tan says.
Running a multi-award-winning practice across two decades has sharpened his conviction that dentistry and systemic health are inseparable. “More than two decades of experience in the dentistry and health fields have convinced me that the great majority of disease can be tracked back to problems arising in the mouth,” he reflects. “This passion, along with a natural alignment with the transformational leadership style, provides a strong foundation upon which to balance my clinical responsibilities with the operational demands of leading my practice.” “The recognition”, he says, “is both humbling and energising – and a mandate to push further.
“These awards reinforce our mission to provide a patient-centred healthcare experience, and motivates me to continue pushing the boundaries to ensure that DDTA continues to set new benchmarks for holistic care in Australia.”
Dr Isabel Holmes
Illumident
Practice Principal of the Year 2025 (Joint)
Regional Practice of the Year 2025 (Joint)
Most Improved Practice 2025
There is a particular kind of achievement in winning Most Improved Practice, Regional Practice of the Year and Practice Principal of the Year at the same event. It tells the story of a practice that surpassed preconceived notions of “success” by taking an intentional approach.
For Dr Isabel Holmes of Illumident – alongside co-founder and General Manager Rowan Williamson – that turning point arrived quietly, about six months into practice ownership, just prior to when the Covid pandemic hit.
“We were a good practice, but I felt there was untapped potential – both in the team and in what we could offer our patients,” she recalls.
The questions that followed were the kind that reorient an entire operation: What experience do we truly want our patients to have? How do we attract the best people to a regional clinic? How can we build a dental brand that people associate with quality, honesty, and integrity?
The answers accumulated through deliberate, incremental decisions – aligning values, improving communication, building systems and embedding clarity across the practice. “It wasn’t about one major change, but a series of purposeful decisions,” Dr Holmes explains. “Over time, those small, consistent shifts created meaningful momentum.”
Her leadership philosophy reflects the same orientation. “I see leadership not as a position, but as a service,” she says. “Day to-day, that means being present, setting clear expectations, and making sure the team feels supported in achieving them.” Within the team structure, senior members carry delegated authority and genuine accountability – a design choice that Dr Holmes views as one of the most rewarding aspects of practice ownership.
Rowan Williamson points to the operational discipline that underpinned the growth: structured daily huddles, a move to a four-day full-time model, regular performance reviews, and an ongoing investment in technology and technology. “The improvement wasn’t occasional, but ongoing,” he notes. “It just became a normal part of our daily routine.” Looking ahead, the ambition is clear: to build a practice that is not merely high performing, but a brand that genuinely stands out for the way it cares for patients and supports its people.
Dr Rashi Gupta
Norlane Dental Aesthetics & Implants
Practice Principal of the Year 2025 (Joint)
Team of the Year 2025 (Joint)
Norlane is not a suburb typically associated with award-winning aesthetic dentistry. That is precisely what makes Dr Rashi Gupta’s recognition as Practice Principal of the Year – alongside her work at Norlane Dental Aesthetics & Implants – so signi ficant.
The culture she has built starts with a clear operating principle. “At Norlane Dental Aesthetics & Implants, our culture is built around a simple but powerful belief: we show up, take ownership, and deliver care that truly matters,” she explains.
“Patients always come first, with compassion, precision, and heart.” That philosophy extends to how the team is expected to behave internally – what Dr Gupta calls leading above the line. She firmly believes in leadership role-modelling grounded in ownership, accountability, and solutions rather than blame or deflection.
In a field that requires patients to place considerable trust in a clinician’s hands, Dr Gupta’s approach to building that trust is methodical. “My approach always begins with listening – understanding each patient’s concerns, goals, and expectations – and then combining that with careful diagnosis, thorough treatment planning, technical precision, and honest communication.”
She has invested heavily in her own development, undertaking advanced education in full-arch treatment,
implantology, complications management, and leadership. She has also structured the practice around what she calls a golden triangle – her Practice Manager, Front Office Coordinator, and Clinical Coordinator – each supporting a different wing of the patient journey.
The award, she says, carries a message beyond the individual. “I also hope this recognition sends a strong message to other dental professionals, especially those in community-based settings, that it is absolutely possible to build something exceptional wherever you are. With clear values, consistency, courage, and heart, you can create a practice that delivers outstanding care and makes a real difference in people’s lives.”
Warrnambool Dental
Regional Practice of the Year 2025 (Joint)
Team of the Year 2025 (Joint)
Charity/Community Practice of the Year 2025
Some practices treat community engagement as a footnote – a charitable initiative held at arm’s length from the main business of dentistry. At Warrnambool Dental, it is the main business. The practice’s three-award haul, spanning team performance, regional excellence, and charity, reflects a deeply integrated model in which clinical values and community responsibility are not separate disciplines.
They are the same discipline, expressed differently.
The team culture at Warrnambool Dental is, in the words of principal Dr Nishant Hurria, built deliberately, not accidentally. Recruitment prioritises empathy, accountability, and cultural humility ahead of technical skill alone.
Onboarding pathways include ADA-aligned clinical training, cultural competence modules, trauma-informed care principles, and daily huddles with end-of-day debriefs for real-time learning. Over 300 hours of structured training were completed this year, with junior staff mentored into leadership roles through tailored development plans and regular check-ins.
What sets Warrnambool Dental apart, however, is the way purpose is operationalised – not as aspiration, but
as policy. The practice’s flagship Smile Forward program delivers free dental screenings, oral health education, and hygiene workshops to schoolchildren in low-income and remote areas, aged care residents at Lyndoch Living, and residents of local shelters, women’s refuges, and transitional housing. Every staff member receives a paid charity day each year to volunteer with an organisation of their choice. Monthly financial contributions support a local community kitchen providing free meals to those in need.
“Our team is driven by empathy and equity,” says Dr Hurria. “We see the systemic barriers regional communities face – distance, cost, stigma – and we act because we believe care should be accessible, dignified, and culturally sensitive.” The team’s understanding of why they do the work – not merely what they do – is the foundation on which the practice’s awards recognition rests. It is also, perhaps, the clearest articulation of what the Australian Dental Awards exist to honour: not just clinical skill, but the kind of dentistry that changes the terms of what a practice can mean to its community.
