Why a dental practice offers skincare consultations

A dental practice offering skincare consultations sounds like a stretch, and it is a fair thing to be sceptical about. So here is the reasoning, without the slogan.

The honest reason

Dental training is training in the head, face and neck. Anatomy, muscle, nerve, skin and the way all of it moves together. That does not make a dentist a dermatologist and we would not claim it does. It does mean the face is familiar territory rather than a new venture.

The less glamorous half of the answer is infrastructure. A regulated clinical premises, decontamination procedures, medical histories, written consent, clinical records, indemnity insurance and a regulator that will take your complaint seriously are all things a dental practice has to have anyway. A skincare or aesthetics consultation needs the same things. A beauty counter, an online quiz and a social media account do not have any of them.

Sale Dental Spa was founded in 2005 and marked its twentieth anniversary in 2025. The view from the start was that the mouth is not a separate object from the face around it. Adding skin to what we are willing to talk about is an extension of that rather than a new business line.

What the consultation is

It is free, it takes place at the practice, and it is carried out by a member of our clinical team. In practice it involves three things.

• Listening. What bothers you, how long it has been going on, what you have already tried, what irritated your skin and what did nothing at all.
• Looking. A proper look at your skin in good light, rather than a guess from a photograph or a questionnaire.
• Saying what we think. Including, quite often, that your current routine is reasonable and the answer is patience rather than a new product.

You will not be asked to decide anything on the day.

What it is not

This part matters more than the part above.

• It is not a dermatology appointment. We do not diagnose skin disease. If we see something that needs a doctor, we will tell you to see your GP, and we will tell you plainly rather than gently.
• It is not a route into treatment you did not come in for. Some facial aesthetics treatments are prescription-only medicines, which UK law does not permit anyone to advertise to the public. We are not going to use a free skincare appointment as a way around that. If you want to discuss those treatments, that is a separate consultation with a clinician who can assess you properly.
• It is not a product sales appointment. If nothing needs buying, we will say so.

When to see a doctor rather than us

Please make an appointment with your GP, and do not wait for a skincare consultation, if you have a mole that is changing in size, shape or colour, a sore or lesion that has not healed within a few weeks, a rash that is spreading or making you unwell, or any skin change that is worrying you. Skincare advice is not the right response to any of those.

Why we set it up

Skincare advice is now everywhere, and a great deal of it comes from people with no clinical training and a product to sell. That is not a criticism of anyone in particular. It is a description of how the market works. The result is that people spend a lot of money on a lot of products without anyone ever having looked properly at their skin or asked what else is going on in their health.

An unhurried conversation with someone who has no reason to sell you anything is not a dramatic offering. It is just the thing that was missing.

Booking

To arrange a free skincare consultation, get in touch or call 0161 969 7464. We are at 77 Washway Road, Sale, Manchester M33 7TQ. You can also book online at sale-dental-care.portal.dental.

If you would rather start with your teeth, our new patient information and fees pages cover what to expect.