A North Cork dentist has won Colgate's Most Caring Dentist of the Year Award for Munster.
Dr. Danielle Quinlivan from Kanturk was nominated by the parents of a young girl who was traumatically injured while taking part in an equestrian event.
They said: "We believed our daughter had been killed when we saw the branch of a tree fall on her while she was taking part in an equestrian event. She was left with serious injuries including a smashed left, fractured jaw and broken teeth. After our initial stay in CUH was had multiple visits to Dr Quinlivan and despite intrusive and painful treatment our daughter at all times felt safe and cared for and as a result built a genuine friendship with Dr Quinlivan.”
The four-person judging panel felt that Dr Quinlivan's approach contributed significantly to the emotional healing of the patient.
Now in its 16th year, the Colgate Caring Dentist of the Year Awards 2023 celebrate dentists in their local communities who have provided dental treatment and care that has gone over and above for their patients.
There are nine award categories, including the overall Colgate Caring Dentist of the Year, Dental Team of the Year, and winners from each of the four provinces, as well as a Dublin winner.
Hosted by the Irish Dental Association and title sponsor Colgate, this year saw almost 1500 nominations received from dental patients and their families all over the country.
The winners were announced at a gala awards ceremony that took place at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dublin on Saturday night.
Speaking at the awards, the President of the Irish Dental Association, Dr Eamon Croke, congratulated all the winners and nominated dentists: “Every year we hear about the positive impact that dentists and dental teams are having on the lives of their patients and the Caring Dentist of the Year awards gives us the perfect platform from which to tell these stories. The fact that the nominations come from patients themselves, makes these awards all the more special. I congratulate Dr Quinlivan and all our winners and nominees on their wonderful achievements and the outstanding work and contribution they are making every day to the lives of all their patients in the community.”
James Howlett, Head of Professional Sales, Colgate, has paid tribute to the patients who share their very personal stories: “Once again, we thank the patients themselves for freely and willingly participating in the nomination process and telling their individual stories. The awards are actually all about the patient and their outstanding experiences with their dentist. We are delighted to support the awards programme again this year.”
Her injuries included a fractured jaw and broken teeth.
Dr Quinlivan, who herself is an accomplished equestrian, was recognised by the Irish Dental Association for her "unwavering commitment to providing empathetic and specialist dental care" to the young girl.
