To start, could you briefly introduce yourself and outline your journey from clinical dentistry and practice ownership into leadership and well-being coaching? 

I’m Christina Radics, originally from Sweden, living in Spain, a dentist, former clinic owner, speaker and leadership coach working exclusively with dental professionals. After many years in practice, I began to notice that clinical excellence alone wasn’t enough to create a thriving team or a sustainable career. We are highly trained to treat patients, but very rarely trained to lead people or manage our own energy. 

My journey shifted from dentistry in the mouth to dentistry around the people. Today I help leaders build healthier workplaces through awareness, communication, boundaries and what I call work-life harmony. Because when the team functions well, patient care improves automatically. 

You’ve spoken openly about experiencing burnout firsthand. How did that period shape your perspective on leadership, performance, and well-being in dentistry?

Burnout forced me to look in the mirror. I realised many of the traits that made me a “good dentist” were also risk factors: being responsible, perfectionistic, wanting to be liked, measuring my value through other people’s expectations. 

I became almost obsessive about understanding why some professionals burn out and others don’t. I read extensively, including the work of Tim Cantopher, who describes common personality patterns behind depressive illness and exhaustion. 

What changed everything for me was this: we cannot easily change others, but we can change ourselves. When leaders work on their own awareness, regulation and boundaries, the entire culture of the clinic shifts. Performance improves. Communication improves. People stay. 

Burnout and stress are increasingly discussed across the profession. From your experience, what are the most common pressures facing dental professionals today? 

Speed and expectation. Technology evolves fast. Patients are more informed. Social media shows perfect smiles, perfect businesses, perfect lives. Many clinicians feel they must be outstanding in every role at once: expert, entrepreneur, communicator, marketer, manager. 

The key question becomes: 

What truly requires my competence, and what should be delegated? 

Without clarity, quality suffers and so does health. With structure, we can protect both. 

Your session title highlights small moments. What do you mean by this, and why do these moments matter so much in a busy dental practice? 

Because culture is never built in grand gestures. It’s built between patients, in corridors, in seconds. Research consistently shows that relationships are the strongest predictor of long-term wellbeing. Yet in dentistry we often operate on autopilot. 

A short “thank you.” 

Eye contact. 

Specific appreciation. 

These micro-behaviours cost nothing, take almost no time, and radically increase loyalty and motivation. People rarely leave only because of money. They leave because they don’t feel seen. 

Dental nurses are often described as the backbone of the practice, yet many feel overlooked. From your experience, why is this still the case? 

Partly because humans normalise what works. We start taking reliability for granted. But stress biology also plays a role. Under pressure, the brain prioritises task completion and risk avoidance. Attention narrows. We focus on procedures, sterility, timing, outcomes. 

Presence disappears. 

That is why appreciation must be intentional. When you notice something good, say it immediately. Small recognition, repeated often, has enormous psychological impact. 

How does your clinic and business ownership experience influence the way you work with dental leaders and teams today? 

I’ve lived the complexity. The responsibility, payroll, regulations, equipment, patients, marketing, recruitment. I understand the loneliness and the constant decision load. 

Earlier in my career I believed I had to manage everything myself. Today I know strong leaders build strong ecosystems. Finance experts handle finance. Coaches support leadership. 

Systems support workflow. 

A clinic becomes the average of the people and partners surrounding it. 

What can attendees expect to take away from your session at Dentistry Show Birmingham? 

Practical awareness they can apply immediately. 

I want participants to leave understanding how stress influences behaviour, communication and decision-making – and what to do differently the very next working day. 

If knowledge doesn’t translate into Monday morning, it has limited value. 

Finally, what excites you most about speaking at Dentistry Show Birmingham and engaging with the dental community there? 

New places, new people, new conversations. 

But most of all, I’m honoured to speak to the professionals who keep clinics running every day. I’ve been the dentist who sometimes rushed past, and I’ve been the dentist who learned to stop and recognise. 

If my session helps even a few teams feel more understood and more energised, it’s worth it.