By Baba Akomolafe
Welcome to Day 3 of our eight-day series on dentistry’s lessons for community pharmacy.
Today we focus on the “mixed model” — the strategic, low-risk way dentists began introducing private services alongside NHS work.
This is the first practical step in any profession’s transition.
The Mixed Model: Dentistry’s First Brave Step:
One of the biggest myths in healthcare is that dentists “went private overnight.”
In reality, the profession transitioned through a period that should feel very familiar to pharmacy today: the mixed model.
Dentists kept NHS activity to maintain essential income, but they strategically added private services that built their future.
Whitening, hygiene plans, cosmetic bonding; small offerings that took pressure off the NHS side and created new financial breathing room.
These weren’t radical reinventions. They were practical, incremental steps that changed the trajectory of entire practices.
For pharmacy, the equivalents are clear:
- Travel health
- Weight management
- Dermatology
- Women’s health
- Ear care
- Private prescribing
- Hosting private GPs
Every private service added, even if small at first, creates space, relevance, and resilience.
Dentistry shows that the path to transformation begins with the first step, never the final one.
Small ideas create big futures.
Call to ACTION: Pick your first private service today and commit to launching it within 30 days. Big futures begin with small, strategic steps.
