New Year Message - Dec 2009

As I haven’t written a Blog for a while I thought I would take the opportunity to look back at the past year and forward to the next and let you know what we’ve been up to at Longborough Dental Practice and what we have planned.

2009 has been a busy year for us. Our commitment to our patients means we re-invest in the practice and its team to ensure we can offer the best levels of service and this requires planning. At Longborough the management team take ‘time out’ every quarter to plan ahead (up to three years in many instances) and ensure that the decisions we make are put into action.

In 2009 the Longborough dental and administration teams undertook a wide and varying programme of continuing professional development. We attended courses, talks, meetings, conferences and showcases.

The whole team attended courses in Customer Services, Communication skills, Cross Infection Control (ensuring the patient is guaranteed the ‘best practice’ in this area), Radiation Protection (X-ray’s), Basic Life Support and Anaphylaxis training.

Longborough Partner, Dr Shernaz Wadia took her Implant team (nurses, hygiene therapist and practice manager) to the Association of Dental Implantology’s Biennial Conference in Birmingham where we attended a wide range of presentations to increase our knowledge and understanding of the techniques and applications of implant dentistry.

Our dentists have attended a range of courses in restorative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, four-handed dentistry & dental implants in addition to ‘Communication Skills’; ensuring they effectively ‘listen’ to their patients and communicate fully throughout every course of treatment. They are also active members of the local BDA (British Dental Association) society and regularly attend meetings in connection with this.

Dr Vipul Kataria, who carries out our Endodontics (root treatments) at Longborough has been very enthusiastically accepted into the Longborough family both by our patients and our team. Whilst his area of expertise might not sound like the most comfortable and enjoyable aspect of dentistry, patients tell us that Vipul delivers just that. Close to completing his Msc in Endodontics at The Eastman Dental Institute, Vipul is probably pouring over books and notes, revising for his Viva, as I write this!

Looking ahead

Our plans for 2010 include a refurbishment programme for our treatment rooms. With this in mind the whole team went to the British Dental Trade Association Showcase in Birmingham last month. We wanted to compare and contrast all the available equipment for the contemporary dental surgery in 2010 and beyond.

One area that we are paying particular attention to is dental chairs, not only from the aspect of a clinical delivery system but also from the point of view of patient comfort. This is something that is paramount to us at Longborough. We certainly came across a huge range of chairs and our favourites were the ‘memory foam chair’ which ‘moulds' to your body’s natural curves, reducing awkward pressure points, and (the one we all had to try out for ourselves) the ‘massage’ chair. This actually gives you a back massage whilst you have your dental treatment! You will have to wait and see which chairs we choose.

So as this year draws to a close I can assure you that the Longborough team will continue to plan ahead, continue their professional development, re-invest in the practice and ensure that you, our loyal and valued patients, will receive the benefits of all our hard work.

Our very best wishes for the New Year!

With warmest regards,

Alison
Practice Manager

We welcome feedback at Longborough and like to hear from you not only when we get it right but also when we get it wrong. We take any information you give us as an opportunity to learn and improve. If you have something to say why not email us? You can contact me via the administration team on admin@longboroughdental.co.uk

 

Raising money for Children in Need – Sunday 22 Nov.

Last Friday the Children in Need charity event was on TV. At Longborough Dental Practice, we all dressed in Pudsey scarfs (and some of the less inhibited wore furry ears) for the day, to raise awareness/sponsorship for a walk we intended on the following Sunday.

With all the bad weather around the country last week we had picked a bad time for a walk on the hills. But it was for Children in Need so there was no way any of the fundraisers were going to pull out. The weather forecast for Sunday was not good but when we all met up at Wyevale Garden Centre it didn't seem too bad.

There were nine of us in all, Longborough team members and various relatives, friends and dogs. I had put posters and sponsorship forms in the patient lounges and reception at the Practice so we had pledges for donations which we were all determined to collect. We intended to walk 10 miles despite the conditions. We expected the walk up Box Hill to be fairly tough because several of the party (including me) had done this before. What we didn't expect was that the minute we started off the wind would pick up and it would start to pour. By the time we got to the top of the hill (slipping and sliding all the way up) it was blowing a gale and the rain was lashing down!

Intrepid and determined as we were it was very hard work (as you can see from the pictures). It also took a lot longer than we had intended because it was so difficult to walk in all the mud. (I am still trying to wash the mud out of my clothes.) But we all got to the top and all got back down safely, though we did take a slightly shorter route than planned. Anyway, at least the three dogs enjoyed the walk!

A big thank you to all the walkers and to all the sponsors. We have raised a total of nearly £350 which will be sent to Pudsey.

ps. If you pledged money don't forget to send in your donation

Katherine

Senior Dental Nurse, Longborough

Lisa's Dental Implant - 2

As a nurse at Longborough Dental Practice I have had experience of Dental Implants but now I have a new perspective; experience as a patient!

On the day of my treatment everyone wore a gown, as they do in an operating theatre, and even I had to have a sterile drape over me and wear a funny hat and glasses. I had seen implants placed before and knew the procedure well, but it’s a bit different when it's you in the hot seat. I have to admit it did make me feel a little nervous!

I was made very numb so it didn’t hurt as much as I feared it might even though the surgery required took some time. Because my tooth had been so badly damaged it broke into pieces as the root was being removed and came out in fragments. This was the hardest and longest part of the procedure, for the implantologist. I, on the other hand, was quite happy lying under my 'comfort blanket' chatting away to him while he was struggling with my tooth. I chatted the whole way through, (when I had a chance to) as I wanted to know everything about the operation!

It was a pleasant surprise that what followed was the most gentle and quietest drilling I’ve ever seen or heard in the dental chair. I could have fallen asleep, if I had not been so intrigued by what was going on. Quite soon after this, the implant was screwed into place. After the tooth had been removed it had been discovered that I had some bone deficiency, so at this point I had a bone graft (using some of my own bone fragments taken from the drill). Very interesting!

The implant itself is a titanium rod that, once drilled into the bone, effectively acts as a new root and has a prosthetic tooth attached to it (see the diagram above). I'd had impressions taken a few weeks earlier and these had been sent off to a lab. A temporary crown had been made and this was ready to go straight on to the implant. I was almost done!

More about my treatment to follow.

Lisa

Qualified Dental Nurse, Longborough

Implants are not suitable for everyone. You will need to have healthy gums and be in good general health. You also need enough jawbone to take the posts and support the replacement teeth (complications arise where there is bone deficiency). Treatment involves undergoing surgery twice or more over a period of several months. Patients must also be prepared to maintain very good oral hygiene and visit their dentist regularly. Ask for a consultation with Dr Wadia.