About Thorne Dental
Dentistry in London is changing. Corporate groups now own more than half of private practices in Zone 1, and clinicians inside them are increasingly measured on revenue per chair hour, recall conversion, and treatment plan value. Those metrics do not align with what gets patients the best outcome.
Thorne Dental is independently owned. Our clinicians are salaried, not commissioned, and we hold no financial incentive to treat rather than advise. We have turned down two acquisition offers in five years, most recently in 2022, because staying independent is the thing that lets us do this work the way we believe it should be done.
We are small by design. Five surgeries, four clinicians, one hygienist. Every patient has a named dentist for continuity. We cap new patient numbers each quarter and sometimes pause new bookings entirely so the clinicians are not over-booked. It is the single decision that has shaped everything else about the practice.
Our clinicians
Dr Helen Thorne
Principal Dentist
BDS (Liverpool), MJDF RCS (Eng), GDC 89001
Trained at Liverpool, general practice in Bristol for six years before moving to London. Founded Thorne Dental in 2014 after two years as an associate on Harley Street convinced her that independent ownership was the only way to practise without commercial pressure on clinical decisions.
Dr James Okoye
Implant and Restorative
BDS (Kings), PG Dip Implantology (Sheffield), GDC 91500
Full mouth reconstruction and implant placement. Straumann and Nobel Biocare certified. Three years at a specialist implant practice in Switzerland before joining Thorne in 2019.
Dr Laura Pang
Orthodontics and Cosmetic
BDS (UCL), PG Cert Orthodontics, Invisalign Diamond provider, GDC 93842
Adult orthodontics and cosmetic bonding. Invisalign Diamond tier (top 2% globally by case volume). Known for talking patients out of veneers when bonding will hold.
Nina Hartley
Senior Hygienist
Dip Dental Hygiene (RCS), GDC 88102
Twelve years at a periodontology-led practice before Thorne. Runs our periodontal maintenance programme. Known to patients as the person who will tell you the truth about your brushing technique.
Ten years
2014
Founded by Helen Thorne on Thayer Street, two surgeries, two clinicians.
2016
CQC inspection, rated Good across all five domains. Reinspection 2019, same rating.
2019
Expanded to five surgeries, added implant and orthodontic specialisms.
2022
Declined a partnership offer from a corporate dental group to stay independent.
2024
Ten-year mark, 2,800 patients, 94% returning.
Regulation
Every clinician is registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) and every member of the team completes the continuing professional development the Council requires each year. The practice is inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and has held a Good rating across all five domains since 2016.
Individual GDC registration numbers are published above, and any complaint can be directed to the GDC (or to the Dental Complaints Service for private care) independently of us. We would prefer you raised it with us first. In ten years we have had one formal complaint, resolved in full, and we will tell you about it if you ask.