An Interview with Fiona Perry, Flying Smiles
About Fiona
Fiona runs Flying Smiles, a mobile dental hygienist service, coming to you to deliver prevention and cleaning.
Where in rural Scotland are you based and what do you love about living and working there?
I’m based in Perthshire. I love the community and the wide open spaces on the doorstep.
When did you set up your rural business, and what inspired you to start it?
I set up my business March 2020. My idea had come from the elderly patients I was seeing in surgery, living in rural Perthshire, watching ‘The Appointment’ (on YouTube from Health Education England 2015). I realised that at some point my clients would not be able to get to my surgery, and then what?
The Scottish Government had done a health report, the “Oral Health Improvement Plan”, which highlighted the fact that the elderly generation are going to have partial, if not full, dentition with some complex dentistry to clean round. They said we need to be ambitious and at the same time realistic. So I was!
What is the biggest challenge you face or have faced running your business in rural Scotland?
Being an entrepreneur, the first in Scottish Dentistry, made it a challenge to get the ‘higher powers’ to realise the greatness of what I am offering! I had to pushing many slamming 'red tape' doors open.
What’s been your biggest achievement so far?
There’s a few. Being still open! Being invited to speak at Dental webinars. Being invited to discuss the annual fees with Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
What net zero goals are you working towards and how are you achieving that?
I have an eco-friendly dental shop, and I use a cargo bike in local area rather than a van or car. I’m currently investigating off-setting — planting a tree for every new client.
What do you think is especially important about what you do?
Remember how we got together as communities and looked out for each other? Dental Hygienists started their careers as community triage agents. Why did that stop? Why does it have to be carried on the NHS burden? Working within your local community is a privilege, ensuring no one is left out, and allows services and funding for that community to belong to that community choice. It helps successfully keep the community healthy, reducing the pressure on the NHS and ultimately helping the climate crisis.
Find out more about Flying Smiles on the REDS Directory here.