Just a little apology to all our patients for the building work that’s been going on at the back of the Practice for the last week or so. We’re in the process of creating a purpose-built decontamination room, which sounds a bit more frightening than it is! Recent Government guidelines have highlighted the need for dental surgeries to have a separate area away from the surgeries where instruments can be properly scrubbed and washed before they are then autoclaved (steam sterilised) to ensure they are 100% safe for another patient. So The Dental Team are leading the way by being one of the first Practices in the area to create one of these rooms and for the past few days the kettle in the staff room has been working flat out for the endless cups of tea needed by our builders, electricians, plasterers and decorators!
It’s all coming together now and will be fully operational before Christmas – now all we need to do is get the tinsel and decorations up in the waiting room!
Something to get your teeth into...
Welcome to chatterbox, the blog page of The Dental Team Manchester...
Another story in the news today about the state of children’s teeth in this region – something that every dentist in Trafford can easily confirm.
I wonder if part of the problem is that some parents don’t take their children to the dentist on a regular basis for check-ups? My heart sinks when I see a young person for their first visit to a dentist and it’s apparent that decay has taken a strong hold on their teeth, meaning that treatment options are – to be honest – quite drastic and uncomfortable for them.
It’s so much better to have regular dental examinations – next week is half term which means the Practice will be busy with younger patients. Hopefully most of them will be leaving with a smile and a sticker for looking after their teeth so well!
Yesterday’s local and national papers all ran with the story about the Wigan dentist who has got into trouble for parading in front of his staff in nothing but an animal-print thong. At The Dental Team we’ve made a real effort to ensure that our uniforms are comfortable to wear – but I think that this might be an example of becoming a little bit too informal!
Can you believe the summer is nearly over? I think this week the weather is predicted to give us one last burst of the sunny stuff and then we’ll all be putting our central heating back on! Yesterday I noticed that one of my local shops has actually started displaying Xmas cards – it’s only just back to school for our younger patients!
Back to work after 10 glorious, sunny days on a Greek Island. Everything seems to have been running fine at the Practice in my absence thanks to the great staff we have at the Dental Team. I apologise in advance though to all my patients in the next few weeks if I bore them a little with tales of how blue the sky was, how delicious the food tasted, how warm the sun was….!
Just two more days of this Manchester weather before I head off to a lovely hot beach in Greece, where there is a sunlounger waiting with my name on it! A busy few days ahead in the Practice to make sure none of my patients are left with less than perfect smiles, and then it’s time for 10 days of relaxation with my lovely wife. The Dental Team will still be busy though – our hygienist Alison will be making sure that everyone everyone knows how to look after their teeth and gums, and our Associate Viraj will still be treating his patients, along with any of mine who might need emergency treatment.
I hope you all have a great summer holiday too – and that the sun shines for you, wherever you may be!
So far, so good this week – not too many patients cancelling with swine flu. Trafford Primary Care Trust are busy checking that everyone has their emergency plans in place – which we do. We now have to ask every patient whether or not they have a temperature – if they do, then we can’t see them for treatment at all. It’s hard enough to find a dentist in Manchester these days, but I can understand the Government’s concerns about minimising the spread of this nasty virus.
Yet another story about the shortage of NHS dentists in the local papers. Without a doubt it is difficult for patients to register with an NHS dentist these days, but I can’t help but wonder about some of the people who were interviewed for this article. One person says that they have been using the Dental Hospital for years since their own NHS dentist closed down – why didn’t they put themselves on a waiting list for another Practice? Another person had called out an ambulance – for toothache? I know that pain can be excrutiating at times, particularly if you have a bad infection, but it’s hardly a life-threatening situation that needs the attention of our emergency services!
I can”t help but think that whenever the Manchester Evening News has a quiet day for stories, it just sends a reporter to the Dental Hospital, because you can guarantee there will be unhappy people in the queue.
We have a contract with Trafford Primary Care Trust to see three emergency appointments each day – these are for patients who are not registered with an NHS dentist and are in need of immediate treatment. Sometimes we don’t fill all of these appointments
The Government has raised the status of the Swine Flu pandemic to Level 6, which is the highest level in this country for 40 years. Thankfully so far the virus seems to be no more damaging than the other variations of flu we are exposed to each year although scientists are clearly monitoring the situation to see if the virus mutates into a much more harmful version in the coming months.
The Practice has an Emergency Planning Policy in place for pandemics such as this, and a few weeks ago we were advised by our local Primary Care Trust that if the status was raised to Level 6 we may have to implement it. This would mean that we would only be able to see and treat our patients for emergency treatments, so routine fillings or cosmetic work would have to wait. This is to reduce the opportunity for the virus to spread between our staff and patients.
At the moment we’re working as normal but of course that can all change quickly. Let’s hope that the virus runs its course and doesn’t become the huge health threat we feared a few months ago.
Patients often believe that I wait until I have as many instruments in their mouth as possible before I ask them where they are going on holiday this year or how their family is – not true! Chatting to my patients as I treat them happens for two reasons – firstly, because when they’re thinking about something apart from their treatment they feel more relaxed. But secondly, I’m a bit of nosey parker – and so is my nurse as we love to know what’s happening!
Having been a dentist for over 25 years I’ve developed a rather unique ability to decipher a patient’s gargled replies; their hand signals usually help clear up any doubts I may have about exactly what they are trying to say!
But what about the patient? Would they prefer it if I just kept my mouth shut and let them watch the TV on the wall or listen to the radio? Some dental surgeries now have ‘virtual reality’ equipment that allows their patients to go somewhere else in their minds during treatment. All very high tec and no doubt some people will enjoy it. Personally, I came into this profession because of the high levels