London dental clinic

Is dentistry in Britain in danger of losing its bearings? Can the profession balance technological advances with patient trust? And how do you build confidence in an industry often accused of opacity and overselling? At Smile Hub in Spitalfields, Dr Cath Freestone has an answer: keep it calm, keep it clear, keep it evidence-based. Her mantra is simple yet quietly radical: “If it’s not evidence-based, we don’t do it.”

The wider crisis in confidence

Concerns about trust in dentistry are not unique to the City of London. In July, the General Dental Council (GDC) published research into professional burnout, reporting widespread fatigue among clinicians and unease about “increasingly commercialised” treatment. Other reports have highlighted that patients themselves feel trapped between NHS shortages and private options they struggle to navigate, with calls for “clearer, more consistent communication about treatments and costs” (BBC News).

In this context, Cath’s philosophy of transparency feels less like a boutique preference and more like an antidote to a systemic malaise.

Trust built step by step

“Trust isn’t won in a single consultation,” says Dr Freestone. “It’s built in small steps — every touchpoint matters.”

Smile Hub structures its patient journey around those incremental trust points. From the first phone call to the last aligner in an Invisalign case, everything is sequenced to reduce uncertainty. The goal is not to impress patients with jargon or to dazzle them with high-tech theatre, but to create clarity.

“Our patients don’t want to be sold to,” Cath explains. “They want honesty, clarity, and to feel looked after.”

It is a sentiment that sounds deceptively modest, but in an industry where marketing noise often overwhelms substance, it is a deliberate stance.

Technology with discernment

Technology is where Dr Freestone draws a firm line between hype and help.

“We embrace scanners, simulations, remote monitoring — anything that makes life easier for the patient,” she says. “But if it doesn’t serve the patient, if it’s just gimmick, we don’t touch it.”

Her adoption of the iTero digital scanner is a case in point. Patients can visualise their smiles within minutes, a moment that often transforms doubt into commitment. Similarly, Virtual Monitoring allows Invisalign treatment to progress with minimal clinic visits — a vital concession to City professionals whose diaries are unrelenting.

Yet other technologies are held at bay. “If the evidence isn’t there, it’s not happening here,” she says simply.

The Total Invisalign Package

One of Smile Hub’s most distinctive features is the Total Invisalign Package (TIP) — a structured, all-inclusive offer that avoids the hidden fees and fragmented pricing models that frustrate patients.

“TIP means everything is included,” says Cath. “Patients know exactly what they’re getting, and they love that.”

It is less about the aligners themselves and more about communication. Clear pricing is as much a trust-building tool as digital imaging.

Reviews as reputation

If clarity is the philosophy, reputation is the outcome. Smile Hub boasts consistent five-star reviews, which Cath regards as validation of her approach. “We don’t need to shout,” she says with quiet satisfaction. “Our reviews do that for us.”

In an age when professional trust is as fragile as it is valuable, the silent testimony of satisfied patients can outweigh any campaign.

A model for the profession?

Smile Hub’s evidence-based, patient-centred model may be boutique in scale, but its ethos carries wider implications. The British Dental Association has repeatedly warned that the profession risks drifting towards consumerist “menu dentistry”, where choice and cosmetics overshadow health outcomes. Against that tide, Cath’s call for restraint and clarity sounds more like a manifesto.

“Dentistry shouldn’t be dramatic,” she insists. “It should feel straightforward, calm, certain.”

A calm counterweight

In Spitalfields, a stone’s throw from Liverpool Street, Dr Cath Freestone is demonstrating that dentistry does not need to be loud to be effective. By choosing clarity over hype, evidence over gimmicks, and patience over persuasion, she is offering a model that is at once humane and rigorously professional.

For City professionals, the value is obvious: discreet, efficient, trustworthy care. For the profession at large, Smile Hub represents a reminder that the future of dentistry may depend not on dazzling technology, but on something more elusive: calm confidence and earned trust.

Time, health, and value are central to Smile Hub’s approach. To learn more about Dr Cath Freestone’s health-first approach to smile design and cosmetic integrity, visit www.smile-hub.co.uk