Dr STEPHEN DUDGEON – dentist SUNSHINE COAST
Dr Stephen Dudgeon is the principal dentist of Avenue Dental Caloundra,
Steve loves all aspects of general dentistry however his particular interests are crown and bridge work, dental implants and cosmetic dentistry. The larger the challenge the more excited Steve is about dentistry.
SPECIAL INTERESTS
DENTAL IMPLANTS
FULL MOUTH REHABILITATION
CROWN
BRIDGE
Dr Stephen Dudgeon and Dentistry
I joined Avenue Dental Caloundra in 2005 and never dreamed how well things would turn out. I am fortunate enough to own Avenue Dental with my best friend, Dr Eli Burger and a fantastic team of partners including Dr Johan Weemaes (Avenue Dental Maroochydore), Dr Chris Fitzpatrick (Avenue Dental Bli Bli and Avenue Dental Tewantin), Dr Greg Fine (Avenue Dental Baringa and Avenue Dental North Lakes) and Dr Luke Willis (Avenue Dental Sippy Downs). We are blessed to work with an absolutely wonderful team of talented dentists, hygienists, oral health therapists, receptionists and dental assistants.
After six years of university life, I graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Dental Science with First Class Honours. After graduating dentistry, I was lured to the lifestyle of Caloundra and the Sunshine Coast and joined the Avenue Dental Caloundra family in 2005. I thank Dr Richard Bell for giving me the opportunity to work at Avenue Dental Caloundra.
My particular interests in dentistry are crown and bridgework, dental implants and cosmetic dentistry, however I like all aspects of dentistry. Generally, the larger the challenge, the more excited I get about dentistry! The two areas of dentistry I am not as passionate about are wisdom teeth removal and orthodontics. Fortunately, we have some extremely talented dentists who are great at doing these procedures with Dr Will Huynh and Dr Jameel Kaderbhai being amazing at wisdom teeth removal and Dr Kelly Webster, Dr Brayden Fracchia and Dr Hannah McColl performing Invisalign clear orthodontic aligner therapy at Avenue Dental Caloundra.
After completing over 1 year of training at a dental implant training facility in Brisbane, I am excited to be able to offer dental implants right here on the Sunshine Coast. I love to see the difference that dental implants can make to people’s quality of life. Previously, when people had missing teeth the only option was a denture. Now we can replace missing teeth with a dental implant that looks, feels and chews like a natural tooth. Over the years, I have placed well over 100 dental implants on the Sunshine Coast.
Cosmetic Dentistry is the other area that I love because it makes such a difference to people’s lives. I feel a great sense of achievement when I am able to do fantastic dentistry that positively affects my patients.
I also love being able to educate other dentists and pass on my passion to the next generation of dentists. For this reason, Dr Eli Burger and myself founded the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award to recognize and celebrate the best new graduate dentist in Australia each year. We also then take the top 50 new dental graduates in Australia and put them through the Austalian Dental Mini Residency in General Dentistry. This is an intensive program designed to best prepare newly graduated dentists for the challenges of dentistry and to develop them further into the best dentists that they can be.
I am strongly committed to continuing education. I attend numerous courses each year, and also helped establish a study club in 2006; of which I am vice-president. To maintain registration as a dentist, the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) requires dentists to participate in 20 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) every year.
To complete this many hours of continuing education I dedicate a significant portion of my life to ongoing learning, as well as personal and professional development. This involves weekly team training meetings with our whole practice, one on one clinical coaching meetings with each of our dentists, monthly clinical and treatment planning meetings with our dentists, hygienists and oral health therapists, regular reading (I aim to read at least 2 books a month), regular journal reading, quarterly coaching and mentoring of other dentists through the Australian Dental Mini Residency in General Dentistry, as well as attending other lectures and hands on courses that spark my interest.
Steve and Avenue Dental
My good friend and mentor, Dr Richard Bell, founded Avenue Dental in 1991. He hired me straight after I graduated from dental school and I am forever grateful for the faith he showed in me, and the time and effort he invested in me to help me become the dentist I am today. I love coming to work as each day I try to work towards our purpose, “Positively Transforming Dentistry”. I have found it very rewarding to clarify the values of Avenue Dental: GETPOW – Growth, Excellence, Teamwork, Passion, Positive and Fun, WOW. We use these as the standard by which we work together as a team and care for our patients.
Through these values we have been able to define our promises to our patients. These are:
- 5 year warranty on major dental (due to our excellence value from all clinicians we are able to stand behind the quality of our work by offering this warranty)
- Your best ever dental experience (this is living our WOW value. We realize the dentist is not anyone’s favourite place to visit so our challenge is to change this perception of the dentist)
- Same day emergency guarantee if you call before 10am (If I had a dental emergency I would like to be helped that day. We offer this guarantee so that we can help people at their time of greatest need).
- Australia’s Most Awarded Dental Practices – (*not indicative of clinical outcomes* We are extremely proud to have won a range of awards including being the best place to work in Australia by Great Place to Work for under 100 employees 3 years in a row).
Steve and Culture
In Steve’s words: “Culture doesn’t beat strategy, Culture IS the strategy, and creating a great place to work allows us to attract, train and retain the best”
Steve has always had a passion for Culture and teamwork. The growth rate of Avenue Dental in an extremely capital intensive industry is no small feat, and the team has more than tripled in size in the last 5 years. As teams expand, so does complexity of operations and yet Avenue Dental’s culture has only strengthened each year. Steve’s intense interest in every single team member’s wellbeing and growth, as well as his relentless focus on Values has provided a springboard not only for Avenue Dental, but also the personal success of individual team members. Systemizing processes to build culture is also at the heart of Steve’s success.
Steve also drives the highly successful Avenue Dental Marketing Campaign, the Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award, the Australian Dental Mini-Residency and is an active member of Entrepreneurs Organisation since 2013. He is obsessed with the thought leaders in culture and business and reads at least 2 books a month.
Steve Outside of Dentistry
Steve is married to the wonderful Leah and they live in Peregian on the Sunshine Coast. Leah is a psychologist and helps make Steve a better person as they both have an interest in growing themselves and those around them. They have 3 beautiful children who fill their lives with so much love, warmth and fun. Steve loves surfing, eating good food, and spending time with friends and family.
Steve Outside of Dentistry
Steve is married to the wonderful Leah and they live in Peregian on the Sunshine Coast. Leah is a psychologist and helps make Steve a better person as they both have an interest in growing themselves and those around them. They have 3 beautiful children who fill their lives with so much love, warmth and fun. Steve loves surfing, eating good food, and spending time with friends and family.
Dr STEPHEN DUDGEON – dentist
Dr Stephen Dudgeon is a dentist at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THE CULTURE OF AVENUE DENTAL?
At Avenue dental we believe by putting our team first that will in turn give the best outcome for our patients.It is an environment where you can feel supported and grow into the best version of yourself. Whatever your interest is, crown and bridge, implants, root canal treatment or wisdom tooth surgery, Avenue Dental is a place where you can build on that special interest. Our talented clinicians offer mentorship to all levels of experience and help you to thrive.Avenue dental is a place where I can come and work with my friends, it is the work place I always hoped I would find.
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*FOR TEAM CULTURE, BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
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