Gillian Preston

managing partner
GDC 79323

I studied dentistry at the University of Glasgow and graduated as a dentist 18 years ago.  

Following graduating I worked in the Salaried Dental Service for a short time , before spending a year working as a dentist in Australia. Keith and I met at uni and married when we came back from Australia in 2005. While he was working here at Academy Street I worked on the Southside of Glasgow and it was during that time that we had our 2 children Rachel and Chloe who are now 12 and 10 . We took over Thom’s practice in January 2009 when Chloe was just a few months old and renamed it Coatbridge Family Dental Care. After my maternity leave I worked at Coatbridge Family Dental Care as a dentist for a number of years, but as our team grew, compliance grew arms and legs and the need to have someone focused more on the paperwork side of things became apparent I gave up clinical dentistry and chained myself to a desk! I worked for a time as a Dental Practice Inspector for Lanarkshire Health Board
alongside my work in the practice and really enjoyed getting out and about, helping other practices and picking up hints and tips along the way.

I’m currently in the process of training Jill our new Practice Manager to take over a large part of my role so I can focus on Business Development.

Running a dental practice has been a huge challenge, especially as dental training gives you no preparation at all for running business! Although I miss chatting with patients, it’s been exciting learning about business and learning about myself in the process!

Keith and my aim all along has been to create a friendly, happy environment where people have a great patient experience. Early on we realised that once patients find a dentist they like and trust they don’t really like being referred elsewhere for treatment so this is the thinking behind Keith’s implant training, providing Invisalign and our new sedation clinic. We’re always keen to bring new services to the practice and there’s always something in the pipeline. Like now we have some really exciting digital technology on the way!

Outside of work I love to spend time with my kids and Keith and spend time outdoors as much as possible. One day if the practice ever runs by itself I’ll set up a bookshop with a cafe and a bar!