The newspapers have recently been running stories about the perverse incentives/disincentives of the new NHS dental contract, e.g. today’s Daily Telegraph*.
Don Sloss, our Clinical Director, says of the new contract ” Even after nearly 3 ½ years most people cannot understand how the contract works and that includes dentists. Although I am not suggesting that dentists at other practices would allow their clinical decisions to be influenced by whether they make a profit or a loss from treating their patients it must be understood that they need to cover their substantial overheads or go bankrupt. Can you imagine working in a system that pays you the same whether you produce one unit of activity (filling) or ten with the result that some patients may not be getting the full treatment they require? Or a system that pays you the same for spending hours carrying out extensive treatment to save a decayed tooth or ten minutes to extract it even though that extraction may cause the patient more treatment in the future?
At Clock Tower Dental Care we believe in delivering a high quality of care for all our patients and making decisions based on the clinical condition of the patient and their teeth, not how we are going to get paid. Articles like these confirm that the move away from the NHS was in the best interests of our patients and I can only see the situation for NHS dental patients getting worse in the future.”
We are sad to announce that nurse Vikki Grindle is leaving the practice to go to Australia. Vikki, who has been with the practice for 5 years, ia a valued member of the team and will be missed by all of us. However we are looking forward to regular updates on all things dental in Australia and maybe even organising nursing exchanges when Vikki is settled. Since joining the practice Vikki gained both her NVQ in dental nursing and her nurses radiography qualification. Of her time at the practice Vikki said “I’ve really enjoyed it and I feel I’ve made friends for life here. I’ll miss all the team and the patients. I’m sure it’ll be exciting in Australia but it will be hard to find another practice like this.”
The team presented Vikki with a camera already loaded with photos of team members and the practice so that she would remember them as well as being able to take photos of Australia to send back to the team here.
Don has just returned from the latest British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry scientific meeting which was held in Cardiff this year. Having lectured at the last meeting Don was able to sit back and enjoy this meeting. Commenting after the meeting Don said “These meetings offer an excellent opportunity to hear dentists and technicians from across the world talk on the latest techniques and materials which we may be able to incorporate into our work in Ripon. It is also a great chance to talk with other dentists who are dedicated to providing their patients with smiles that are technically as good as they can be as well as being beautiful and natural to look at. “
At last our practice welcome video is here. We hope you enjoy it and if you are not already a patient of the practice we hope it will give you a good idea about what we can do for you and what to expect when you visit us. If you are already a patient and know someone who is looking for a dentist why not recommend the video to them ?
Many thanks go to the patients who were kind enough to participate in the filming of the video, we appreciate it and are honoured that you place your trust in us for your treatment.
A study from Japan* has shown that regularly drinking green tea can be good for your gums helping to prevent gum diseases. It is thought that the anti oxidants in green tea may help by offsetting the inflammation caused by bacteria in the mouth. The study of 940 men showed a reduction in gum problems including bleeding and receding gums for each additional cup of green tea drunk each day. We assume this would also be the case in women! So if you want an easy way to supplement your daily dental health routine why not change your regular tea or coffee to green tea and see if you notice an improvement ( this is in addition to your daily brushing and flossing). Please let us know how you get on.
The Daily Telegraph (11.8.09) published the findings of an Ohio research team which seems to show that redheads are more than twice as likely to avoid the dentists than those blondes or brunettes. This follows previous studies that indicate that people with the MC1R genetic variant associated with red hair require more anaesthetic during treatment to become numb. What does this mean for your dental treatment at Clock Tower Dental Care? Dr Don Sloss say’s “Our clinical team has long been aware that there is a difference in the amount, and sometimes type, of anaesthetic required to achieve the same effects in individuals requiring the same treatment. As a result of this we always listen to the patients responses and treat them according to those responses rather than the “average” guidelines. This means each patient gets the treatment that is best suited to them regardless of their hair colour”.
As you know, here at Clock Tower Dental Care we like to keep you up to date with the latest developments in dentistry and dental products, so when we heard this latest use for dental floss we just had to pass it on. As announced by Scott Mills on his Radio 1 show floss can be used as a clothesline for your underwear and socks. If you’re on holiday, or anywhere where you need to hang your freshly washed undies to dry and don’t have access to a clothes line then simply tie a length of floss between two chairs and suspend your washing until dry. We haven’t tried this ourselves but we can appreciate the thinking although we’re not sure it would work with anything heavy on the line unless you have two friends who would be willing to sit on the chairs.
If you have any other unusual uses for dental floss why not let us know about them. Needless to say our clinical team members still insist the best use of floss is the one it was designed for, cleaning those areas of your teeth that your toothbrush can’t reach.
We are happy to announce the arrival of these dedicated Vitis ortho care kits for those patients with braces. They contain a V-shaped orthodontic toothbrush, 15ml tube toothpaste, mouthwash and ortho relief wax. The kit comes in a lime green container making it ideally suited for carrying to work or school to ensure the best care for your teeth while wearing your appliance. The kit costs £5.95 and are available at Reception.
See our special offer section to see additional offers available with this product
News and comments, the latest dental news and our comments and reactions to it
Testimonials from our patients
Practice Newsletter, what’s happening at the practice
Reviews of latest dental products
Photos showing before and after treatment smiles
Offers on products and treatments
We hope the blog will be an additional way for us to keep in contact between your appointments. We aim to keep you informed on the latest developments in dentistry as they happen to allow you to make the best decisions for your dental health.
We would love to hear from you also so please feel free to leave comments about any item on the blog or to ask any questions you may have, we will always do our best to answer them. Please remember to check back regularly to find out what is happening in the world of dentistry and dentistry in Ripon.
