Devonport Dental Care, Tasmania
From taking over a practice that had been closed for a year to building an award-winning team, Dr Sundaram Manickam has learned a lot along the way.
For Dr Sundaram Manickam, the journey with Devonport Dental Care has been one of learning on the job, taking a few calculated chances and, perhaps most importantly, learning to trust the people around him.
In 2026, that journey received some unexpected recognition when Devonport Dental Care was named Best Dental at the Launceston and Northern Tasmania Local Business Awards, before going on to take out the overall Business of the Year award.
It was not something Dr Sundaram or his team had expected.
“We thought it was a bit of a pleasant surprise to win the Dental category, but also pleasantly surprising to win the overall business category as well,” he says.
In fact, when the initial nomination email arrived, Dr Sundaram wasn’t even sure it was legitimate. It was only after seeing other businesses sharing their finalist announcements that the team realised they might actually be onto something.
So, rather than expecting to win, the whole team simply decided to enjoy the night together.
“We booked a table for everybody in the practice to go. We didn’t think too much of it, and it was a pleasant surprise.”
Then Devonport Dental Care was announced as Best Dental. And then came the bigger surprise.
“We were just dumbfounded when we were announced.”
Learning as you go
Dr Sundaram took over the practice in 2010 after the previous practitioner had retired and the practice had been closed for around a year.
He was fortunate enough to retain around 50% of the existing patient base, but rebuilding the practice was very much a learning experience.
“If I had the business acumen back then, I think there was a lot more potential,” he admits. “You learn on the job and get better at it.”
For several years, Devonport Dental Care was essentially a one-dentist practice, with Dr Sundaram running the show alongside his support team.
It was not until COVID gave him an unexpected opportunity to step back and reassess the business that things really started to change.
He brought another dentist into the practice and quickly discovered something that changed his thinking about growth.
“You don’t doubt yourself. Find another dentist that you can place your trust in, allow them the space to develope their own niche.”
From there, the practice continued to grow and now has several dentists working part-time, with each bringing their own strengths and areas of expertise.
Letting people do what they do best
Rather than expecting every dentist to provide exactly the same services, Dr Sundaram has deliberately built a team around different strengths.
Dr. Paul Greham focuses on All-on-4 treatment, Dr. Purveshkumar Modi focuses on aligner cases, Dr. Jessica Johnstone & Dr. Prthika Moorthy focus on general family dentistry.
The idea is simple: let people do what they do best.
Patients can then be directed to the practitioner whose skills best match their needs.
For Dr Sundaram, the same philosophy applies to the broader team.
He believes trust and responsibility are fundamental to building a high-performing practice.
“You have to be lucky to get the right staff at the right time, but another thing is to trust them to do the right thing. When you give them the trust and responsibility, that’s when they blossom.”
He has seen first-hand what happens when team members are given genuine ownership rather than being micromanaged.
“The more trust you place on them, and the more responsibility you give them, and don’t micromanage, I think that’s when they start to shine.”
It is perhaps no surprise that when asked what has been most important to the practice’s success, Dr Sundaram immediately points to his team.
“You can’t underestimate the fact that the team is the core of how successful we have been.”
Growing through the patient experience
For many years, Devonport Dental Care grew largely through word of mouth rather than traditional marketing.
Dr Sundaram says the practice hasn’t historically spent a great deal on marketing, although that is beginning to change as the team looks to highlight the services they offer.
One of the opportunities he sees is simply making patients more aware of what is available.
“We get this sort of feedback from patients: ‘We didn’t realise you guys do this, you do that.’ I think the more you put it out there and make people aware of the services that we provide, there’s a lot more scope for the business to improve.”
For Dr Sundaram, the goal isn’t simply about attracting new patients. It is also about providing a great experience so existing patients continue to return and recommend the practice to others.
Embracing technology
Like many practice owners, Dr Sundaram is also looking closely at how technology and AI can change the way a practice operates.
He believes AI has the potential to make dentistry more predictable, reduce administrative workloads and free dentists and teams to spend more time on the things that matter.
The practice has already embraced voice technology to help the team understand and improve how they handle incoming calls, using the data and statistics available to identify opportunities for improvement.
Dr Sundaram has also started using Heidi for clinical notes.
His reaction? He wishes he’d started sooner.
“I curse every single time when I’m using it, saying I should have ordered it a lot earlier than what I did.”
For him, the benefit is not just saving time. It removes the mental load of having to remember everything that needs to be documented.
“I think it’s a good place to be as a practice owner,” he says of the rapid changes taking place with AI.
And he has a strong view on adoption.
“I strongly feel if you don’t use it, you’re going to be left behind by a fair way.”
Looking to the next chapter
The next major project for Devonport Dental Care is already underway, with plans for an extension currently with council.
The goal is to significantly improve the patient experience and transform the physical environment of the practice.
Dr Sundaram wants patients to feel like they are entering somewhere very different from a conventional dental practice.
“We want to make it more like a retreat.”
It’s a natural extension of the philosophy that has shaped the practice’s growth: creating a great experience for patients while also creating a workplace where the team enjoys coming to work.
“If you’ve got a nice workplace to go to work to, why wouldn’t they come?”
The value of being part of a network
Dr Sundaram has been a Dental Innovations member for several years and says being part of the network has definitely played a role in supporting the practice.
As his focus has increasingly shifted towards the business side of dentistry, he is also looking at how the team can make even greater use of the resources and services available through Dental Innovations.
The partnership between Dental Innovations and its partners to deliver resources like the recent infection control webinar series adds real value to membership.
For Dr Sundaram, that’s an important part of running an independent practice: knowing you don’t have to work everything out completely on your own.
And finally… when he’s not at the practice?
Dr Sundaram has recently taken up hiking and is enjoying exploring some of the local trails.
He also likes to keep active with tennis and squash.
Mountain biking, however, is one activity he has decided to leave alone.
As he points out, when you’re a dentist, there’s probably not much upside to an injury that could keep you out of the surgery!
Giving credit where it’s due
When asked what the award means to him, Dr Sundaram is quick to shift the focus away from himself.
“I couldn’t have done any of these without the help of all my dental associates, staff and family members.”
For him, the award is ultimately recognition of the people who create the patient experience every day.
“We as clinicians can do the clinical things right, but how the patients feel when they walk into the practice is mainly because of all the staff there. I think all the credit should go to the staff.”
And perhaps that says a lot about the journey of Devonport Dental Care.
From taking over a practice that had been closed for a year, learning the business side of dentistry as he went, to building a growing team and creating an environment where people are trusted to do their best, Dr Sundaram’s story is a reminder that successful independent practices aren’t built overnight.
They evolve, they learn, they adapt – and, most importantly, they are built by people.