Aisha Shafi has built up several thousand loyal clients with her Botox, filler and other reviving facial treatments.
Now she hopes to help even more patients to feel more confident by delivering subtle-yet-transformative results through dental improvements and a host of other cosmetic facial treatments.
The launch of Ayyu in St Vincent Street, will see her working alongside fellow dentist Manzar Iqbal. They will offer a range of cosmetic dentistry and orthodontic treatments, including Invisalign teeth straightening, veneers and whitening.
Aisha said: “Glasgow is renowned as one of the most image-conscious cities in the UK at a time when cosmetic treatments are growing in popularity. Ayyu is in a brilliant location and this feels like the ideal time for us to be launching.”
Ayyu, which takes its names from the word for “beautiful” in the Indian Ocean paradise island of Java, has been created with a £30,000 investment by dedicated Scottish dental group, Clyde Munro. It will open in mid-February
Aisha added: “It’s a really beautiful practice and has been custom-built for aesthetics – I was involved in the design. That means it is really spacious, with lots of room for me and for the patients. The location is so central, that’s is a really positive factor as well.”
Aisha, from Glasgow’s South Side, studied Dentistry for five years at Glasgow University. Since then she has worked all over Scotland as a dentist, while undergoing extensive additional training in facial aesthetics.
Providing patients with aesthetic treatments such as Botox and fillers, now accounts for a significant part of her work and Aisha added: “Discerning patients know the benefits of having these treatments performed by a dentist.
“For one thing are we medical professionals trained to the highest and most exacting levels and we are highly-regulated, which ensures patient safety.
“But even more important for many patients is that dentists intimately understand the structure and workings of the face. That means that we can deliver more nuanced and natural-looking results.”
Her current main area of focus is in the results offered by fillers, which can transform the mid face. As well as removing deep smile lines, they can also reshape the line of the jaw, chin and cheekbones, giving facelift-type results without any need for surgery. Some fillers can often last 18 months or more.
She added: “I love the fact this area is evolving so quickly. I am constantly learning and attending courses. But it’s not just the techniques which are improving, the latest fillers and other products are fantastic. Real gamechangers.”
When treating patients Aisha is proud of her insistence on delivering natural-looking results and regularly declines patients who request anything too extreme. She believes that, in the Instagram era, people want to look the best version of themselves, while remaining entirely recognisable.
While her sector is being fuelled by social media, with both men and women aged from 18-70, ironically, she has been too busy to establish her own digital presence.
She added: “I consider myself really lucky because most of my patients come to me from recommendations and word of mouth.”
Fast-growing Clyde Munro Dental Group treats one in 20 dental patients in Scotland. Since launching in 2015 with seven dental practices, the Glasgow-headquartered group now operates 38 practices, 17 of which were acquired during 2019.
The success of its exclusively Scottish-focused growth plan now has 165 dentists engaged with the group and 320 other staff. It treats more than 300,000 patients across Scotland.
Its ambition is to become Scotland’s “local dentist”, operating an expanding network of family dentists across Scotland, with each devoted to providing the best dental care, while reflecting the needs and character of its community, including remote and rural areas.
Most of its work is with local, NHS practices which retain the names and identities they have built over many years, while enjoying the benefits of being part of a bigger group. Clyde Munro is building a reputation for investing in patients, communities, training and in the advances of digital dentistry.
The decision to launch Ayyu – which offers purely private treatments and will not undertake NHS work – makes effective use of additional room in Clyde Munro’s existing City Dental practice on St Vincent Street. Currently the group has no plans to expand Ayyu.
