About Occlude

A small tool for associate dentists who are paid in more than one way.

If you are an associate, you have probably looked at a payslip and wondered whether it is right. UDAs at one rate, private work on a sliding commission, a share of the lab bill, maybe a second practice on a Wednesday. The numbers rarely match what you expected, and the only record is a notebook or a spreadsheet you update when you remember.

Occlude is that spreadsheet, done properly. You log work as it happens. It works out what each bit earned and keeps a running total that follows your pay periods, so on payday you can check the money against your own record instead of just trusting it.

How it started

At home. One of us is a self-employed NHS dentist, and the other was asked to make a spreadsheet that would say what she was really earning. The spreadsheet got out of hand. After showing it to other dentists, and hearing what they wished it did, it became this.

The practice view exists because a practice manager asked for one. Most of the rest came from the same place: someone saying “could it also…”.

Why it is called Occlude

Occlusion is the word dentists use for the way the upper and lower teeth meet when you bite. When it is right, you never think about it. When it is slightly off, you notice it every time.

Pay is much the same. When the work you did, the money the practice paid and the tax you need to set aside all meet in the right place, there is nothing to think about. When one of them is a little off, you feel it, usually on payday, usually without being able to see why.

Occlude is there to check the bite. It lines your own record up against your payslip, the way articulating paper shows where the contacts are, so a high spot shows up and you know where to look. It is also a small nod to the dentist it was first made for.

Know your bite. Know your worth.

What we care about

• Your data is yours. Download it or delete it whenever you like.
• Plain numbers. Each figure shows how it was worked out, and an estimate says it is an estimate.
• Dentists decide. If something does not fit how you work, tell us and we will look at it.

What it is not

Occlude is not an accountancy package and it does not give tax advice. It gets your figures in order, so the conversation with your accountant is shorter.

Patient details

We only ask for patient initials or an ID, never full names. How we look after everything else is in the privacy policy.

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