A dental clinic built around two surgeons

The idea

Most dental practices are built around general dentistry, and the difficult cases, the impacted tooth against the nerve, the implant with no bone, the swelling that turns out to be a cyst, get referred to a hospital department. That is a reasonable model, but it means the patient meets the surgeon last, often after weeks of delay and sometimes after treatment that has made things harder.

ZS Dental inverts it. Dr Syed Muhammad Zaki Mehdi and Dr Sadia Paiker are both Fellows of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. Both trained in the same residency programme at Foundation University College of Dentistry and Hospital, both hold or have held senior academic posts at Islamabad teaching institutions, and both completed extended certification courses in dental implantology. They see every patient personally, including for routine dentistry, so the surgical judgement is applied from the first visit, not the last.

What that means in practice

• Implants are placed by surgeons, including grafting and sinus lifts when bone is short, rather than being declined or referred.
• Wisdom teeth and extractions that other clinics send away are routine here, with piezoelectric surgery available for deep impactions.
• Medically complex patients, on anticoagulants, with diabetes, bleeding disorders or bisphosphonate therapy, are managed according to hospital protocols.
• Lesions are recognised. A shadow on a radiograph or a patch in the mouth is assessed by someone who treats cysts, tumours and oral cancer every week.
• Hospital procedures stay with your surgeon. Jaw fractures, orthognathic surgery and major pathology are performed by our consultants in partner hospital theatres under general anaesthesia, with consultation and follow-up here.

Facilities

The clinic occupies the first floor of Plaza No. 5 on Jinnah Boulevard West, on the GT Road side of Sector A, DHA Phase II. It is equipped with digital radiography including panoramic (OPG) imaging, surgical and rotary handpieces, piezoelectric surgical units, and an autoclave-based sterilisation system with sealed instrument pouches for every patient. CBCT three-dimensional imaging is arranged nearby when a case needs it. Surfaces are disinfected between patients and single-use items are never reused. You are welcome to ask to see the sterilisation area.

Teaching and research

Both consultants teach. Dr Mehdi is Assistant Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at Rawal Institute of Health Sciences; Dr Paiker has served as Senior Registrar at Rawal Institute and Islamabad Medical & Dental College and holds a Diploma in Health Professions Education. Between them they have published more than ten peer-reviewed papers on wisdom tooth surgery, implants after sinus augmentation, trigeminal neuralgia, oral cancer detection and dental education, and both have organised surgical skills workshops for trainees. A clinician who teaches has to be able to justify every decision to a room full of residents. We think patients benefit from the same habit.

Community

Both surgeons are associated with the Islamabad Cleft Lip and Palate Association and have volunteered at free cleft surgery camps. Oral cancer awareness and screening, particularly for users of paan, gutka and naswar, is a standing commitment of the clinic.