Did you know that this November has been designated as Mouth Cancer Action Month? The purpose of this project is to raise the awareness of oral (mouth) cancer and its signs and symptoms. As with all cancers, the earlier it is diagnosed, the more successful the treatment.
Anyone can get oral cancer; however, those who smoke/chew tobacco and drink alcohol are most at risk. This is one of the reasons we ask about smoking and alcohol intake at your routine check-ups when we review your general medical details. Another high risk group of people are those with certain viruses’ such as the Human Papilloma virus (HPV).
At every check-up, whether or not you have any teeth, our dentists will always carry out an examination of the soft tissues (lips, cheek, tongue etc) to look for any early signs of mouth cancer. This is one reason for having a regular check up even if you wear a full set of dentures, or only have a few teeth left.
If you have an ulcer or a sore patch in your mouth, which is taking longer than 3 weeks to heal, (or know anyone who else who does), please come in to see us at Woodcock Lane Dental Care in Stonehouse to allow one of our experienced dentists to examine the area. If you have any concerns please do contact us, in confidence.
Love it, or hate it, Halloween is fast approaching – children’s teeth are in for a sticky, sugary time. To avoid these Halloween “treats” contributing to tooth decay (holes in teeth that need fillings), we strongly recommend that all sweets and sugary foods and drinks are consumed at the end of meals, thus reducing the number of times teeth are attacked by sugar. Reducing / avoiding snacking between meals will reduce the decay rate of your teeth.
This advice is also worth bearing in mind in the build-up to Christmas. We may be grumbling about the shops having all their Christmas fairings on display but it’s not early to be thinking about your Christmas smile. Are you dreaming of a white Christmas? Are you dreaming of a white smile? If so, call in to see us about the professional, reliable tooth whitening options available.
We often get telephone calls in the week before Christmas enquiring about getting a new set of dentures (false teeth) in time to eat Christmas dinner. Sadly we have to inform these callers that we need a bit more notice to make a new set of dentures. Several appointments are required to make a set of high quality, hand-crafted dentures. Our caring dentists and our skilled technician liase closely to ensure new dentures are a comfortable fit and present a natural appearance. So, if you would like a new set of dentures in time for Christmas, please give us a call now.
Finally, don’t forget, electric toothbrushes always make a good present for those “difficult to buy for” people and currently we have some very good quality children’s toothbrushes available for the bargin price of £1 if you need a stocking filler!
With all the shops advertising their “Back to school…” ranges we have noticed an increase in queries and requests for gumshields or mouthguards, especially from those starting secondary school.
We always recommend that anyone playing any contact sport should wear a mouthguard. These may be bought from a sports shop but in most cases we would recommend a custom-made mouthguard. We can provide these well-fitting protective gumshields by taking a simple impression (mould/model) of your teeth. Our highly experienced dental technician can then make the mouth guard in a range of colours and thicknesses to provide your teeth and smile with the best protection. For those wearing fixed “train-track” braces we are also able to provide special gumshields which protect the brace and the teeth. For more details, or to book an appointment, please telephone us on 01453 828327 or call in to see us.
In the very unfortunate event of an accident (sporting or otherwise) knocking a tooth or teeth out please contact the Practice immediately for advice and treatment.
To commemorate National Smile Month 2012 we decorated the exterior and interior of the Practice with coloured balloons bearing the National Smile Month logo. With our Jubilee bunting decorating the reception entrance we’ve had quite a party atmosphere. Children visiting our family based dental practice have left with smiles as big as the balloons we gave them.
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Many teenagers have left the Practice with extra wide smiles recently due to our efforts to complete their fixed “train track” braces treatment in time for their school prom, and of course Jackie, our hygienist, is busy with pre-wedding scale and polish treatments.
With staff and patients alike welcoming Alex, our new student dental nurse, to the Practice we’ve been having a very “smiley” time at Woodcock Lane Dental Care!
National Smile Month will be from the 20th of May until the 20th of June. It is organised by the British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF), which is a non profit making organisation whose aim is to promote good oral health.
Woodcock Lane Dental Care is a member, and we are celebrating National Smile Month by displaying our new banner, featuring the BDHF “smiley”, and inviting patients to “Service your Smile”.
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All of the team at Woodcock Lane Dental Care would like to send Josie, James Macdonald’s dental nurse, and her fiance Nathan, their best wishes for their forthcoming wedding at the end of this month. We hope they both enjoy their special day and we look forward to joining them at the reception.
Josie joined us in 2007 and very quickly became a dependable member of staff, getting Nathan involved with some of the refurbishment projects that have been carried out at Woodcock Lane Dental Care. We wish them all the very best for the future and hope they have a wonderful honeymoon later in the year.
Elaine, David Lyons’ dental nurse, has great news she wishes to share with all our patients – she is pregnant. Her first child is due to make an appearance in August. We wish her all the very best and look forward to her new arrival. She has been getting into practice for being a mum by looking after her baby nephew!
Elaine, who lives in Stonehouse, joined Woodcock Lane Dental Care in 1999 as a trainee dental nurse. She passed the National Certificate for Dental Nurses and became registered with the General Dental Council as a Dental Care Professional. She has spent most of her time at Woodcock Lane Dental Care as David’s dental nurse, although she has assisted on the reception desk and did spend some time nursing for Rob Salvin. Much of her day is spent at the chairside, greeting her patients with her happy, lovely smile and ensuring their comfort throughout treatment. “Behind the scenes” Elaine also keeps the surgery clean and ensures everything is sterilized to meet our very high standards of cross infection control.
Elaine’s good news does mean that she will be temporarily leaving us in July. In preparation for this we will soon be training our new dental nurse, Alex. We look forward to welcoming Alex to our highly trained team but we will be sad to see Elaine set off on her maternity leave. We will be very pleased to welcome Elaine back (baby safely delivered) in the future.
It was a working weekend for David as he was the on-call emergency service dentist for the Stroud Association of Dentists, an emergency service provided to patients in the south Gloucestershire, Gloucester and Cheltenham area on Friday afternoons and evenings and at the weekends and bank holidays. In between seeing his implant patients on Friday afternoon, David made time to see two emergency patients. It is our aim at Woodcock Lane Dental Care to see dental emergency patients as soon as possible, usually within a few hours and on the day of the emergency call. At the appointment we aim to relieve pain and make patients comfortable. After surgery hours, when the Practice closed on Friday evening, David became available via the Stroud Association of Dentists’ emergency pager system. The weekend was a quiet one, with one call out and a couple of patients needing advice only. An evening or weekend dental emergency is usually a patient with severe toothache, but may be swelling of the face or bleeding following an accident or previous dental treatment. In rare cases it may be that a tooth has been traumatised or even that a whole tooth has been knocked out!
Well done Liz, Woodcock Lane Dental Care’s practice manager.
Today Liz completed the London Marathon in 4 hours, 17 minutes and 32 seconds; that’s an average speed of just under 10 Km per hour… wow!
Thanks to everyone who sponsored her for her charity, the Alzheimer’s Society. Liz is taking Monday off work to recover from this her first marathon, but will be back at work on Tuesday.
Well done again Liz, we all knew you could do it.
Well done to dentist James, his wife Joules and little Evie, because they all have a new arrival. Baby Arlo was born over the Easter weekend and mum and baby are fine.
Everyone at Woodcock Lane Dental Care and all James’ patients are congratulating the family and wish them well.
David Lyons is holding the fort while James is on 2 weeks paternity leave, dealing with any emergencies and James’ dental implant patients, but thankfully it’s not been too busy yet!
Enjoy the break and your time with the family James, but we’re looking forward to having you back!
Best wishes from everyone at WLDC.
