In an industry dominated by male figures, Palmview aesthetic dentist Dr Shiraz Banu Khan stands tall as a pioneer for women in the medical sciences. In celebration of Women’s Month, Dr Khan shared the importance of representing women in the profession and highlighted the vital role dentistry plays in the fight against community illness.
Based in Palmview, Dr Khan said her interest in dentistry began at a young age. She added that many female patients are more comfortable with female practitioners, as some are Muslims who wear hijaab, while others feel that female practitioners have a more nurturing approach and are gentler. She also said that having smaller fingers makes it easier and more comfortable to work in a patient’s mouth.
Dr Khan said: “As a child, I had always wanted to do dentistry and work with all the equipment. As I grew older, I realised how expensive it was. I qualified as a dental therapist in 1988 and worked for two years at KwaMashu Polyclinic and Madadeni Hospital in Newcastle. I further studied Dentistry and qualified in 1997 as I wanted to relieve people from toothache.”
Throughout her career, Dr Khan has also worked abroad in London, United Kingdom. To expand her medical skills, she shared that she recently started practising dental aesthetics, which involves Botox, anti-wrinkle treatments, lip fillers, treatments for hair loss and bruxism (teeth grinding). She said: “Bruxism results in severe tooth enamel loss and dentine sensitivity, including loss or damage to fillings and restorations on teeth. Learning about this ties in with my goal to relieve people from toothaches and other teeth issues.”
Speaking about improvements within the dental industry, Dr Khan said medical aid schemes have recently restricted general anaesthesia for patients, making it more difficult to carry out procedures in the dental chair, especially routine complex wisdom tooth extractions.
“A misconception about dentistry is that people fear dental treatment due to the unknown and believe that all dental treatment is painful. “We therefore offer pain free injections – which is more tolerable than ordinary injections for children and adults alike. We offer gentle, dental care,” she said.
Dr Khan said she hopes to expand her dental aesthetics practice further.
Outside the dental surgery, Dr Khan shared that she is the mother of two children — one son and one daughter. She said: “I love swimming, snorkeling and squash. I also participate in parkruns on Saturdays, and enjoy gardening and baking. To eat, my favourite food is biryani.”
