The plan is for some of the team to complete the whole walk with those who don’t feel able to join in at Howsteads for the latter half down the The George Hotel at Chollerford, where there may be the chance of the odd beer being gratefully drunk.

Myself and Stuart are doing the whole thing (unfortunately Gren is on holiday) accompanied by Melania, Nicola and possibly Amy. Gill and Gail are providing the back up and encouragement from Housesteads onward, unless they can be persuaded to go the whole hog!

For more information on a great charity, visit the Help for Heroes website.

Kind regards

Graeme

But the most eclectic present definitely has to be from Linda Bamford – a bowl of miniature pansies and toothbrushes!! See attached photo. You said it was different Linda, and you’re correct. Thanks again Linda!

Proud Dad Moment – My daughter Rebecca (Bex) has played her first match representing County Durham Ladies Hockey U16s against Cumbria. Unfortunately Durham lost, but never mind Bex, onward and upward! I’m still very proud of you.

Graeme

An Auckland Welcome

When met at Auckland airport by the Director of Rugby for Auckland Uni he was told “Don’t expect to walk into our team son, we have a squad and they’re all very good, but we’ll give you lots of training though”
Naturally after a 36 hour travel this was pretty disheartening for Jamie and he wondered if he’d made a big mistake.

Great early progress

After 2 training sessions, he was picked as starting blindside flanker for the Auckland University Rugby Club’s U19 side for their first game of the season – they won.

He’s also in the starting XV for this weekend too, and has been asked to train with the U21s for the next week in readiness for a possible jump into that team.

On Skype he’s proudly wearing his U19 squad hoodie (only 26 made and issued) and hoping to collect an U21 hoodie too.

Guess although they may be world champions at senior level, their youngsters are more used to charging their way through high tackles because nobody down there seems able to tackle low, hence Jamie’s inclusion, as the low hard tackles are his speciality.

I’m not jealous….honestly

He’s also been down to the harbour area, where the Volvo Round the World Yacht Race fleet are moored up on a stopover – and he KNOWS how much he’s wound me up by telling me that!

Kind regards

Graeme

Sponsorship of the Durham City Hockey Club U16 team

Durham City Smiles cosmetic and family dental practice are proud to sponsor the Durham City Hockey Club U16 team. My daughter Rebecca plays for this team, and this is a follow on from the sponsorship of the Durham City Colts rugby team that we sponsored when my son Jamie played for them.

The shirt is being modelled by Rebecca Dentith, with hopefully a full team photo to follow. The framed and mounted shirt can be found in the practice alongside her brothers Colts shirt.

Some new shirts

These were brought back from Rowatowa, in the Cook Islands, New Zealand by a friend and patient Dr Guy Robertshaw (he bought the blue one for himself, but thought I can’t possibly wear that! – but I know a man who will!)

Guy had to come and see me soon after arrival back in UK, not to deliver the height of shirtorial elegance to my burgeoning wardrobe, but because he’d emailed from New Zealand to say he’d broken a tooth on an overly ambitious toffee!

Kind regards

Graeme

Our new team member

We’d like to welcome Amy Little to the team. Amy is our new trainee dental nurse. She joins us soon and is about to embark on the NVQ in Dental Nursing administered by NECC at Sunderland. She’ll be with us 3.5 days a week with day release on a Monday to attend college, and she’ll be working with all 3 dentists and our hygienist.

Proud dad moment

On a personal note, my lad had his first outing for County Durham U20s versers Nothumberland. Unfortunately Durham lost, but Durham City Rugby Club was well represented with 6 players in the squad.

Kind regards

Graeme

Our Dentists

Stuart Cox will be upping his hours here to meet the increased need so he’ll now be doing Tuesday Wednesday and Friday mornings (and probably Thursday soon too) so watch this space.

We have a new dentist, Dr Grenville Moore joining us on a Monday from February 6th. Gren is currently working part time in Chester-le-Street and at the Dental Hospital in Newcastle.

Our Dental Nurses

We are interviewing for a new trainee nurse to help with this increase in surgery time, and hope to appoint in the very near future.

Our former nurse Becky Harrison is having a great time down at Bristol Dental School, where she has been successful in her first exams coming 3rd in her year.

A Bright Future

Our other protégé, Emily Lovegreen is now in her 4th year at Belfast Dental School, and our receptionists’ Gill’s daughter, Chantalle is in her 3rd year at Newcastle Dental School, so at some point in the future, who knows, we may have a full team of home grown dentists here and I may be able to slow down a bit?

Best regards

Graeme

However, a recent ruling that Hydrogen Peroxide at no more than 6% and Carbamide Peroxide (a gentler alternative) at no more than 16% may be used in the mouth ONLY by dentally qualified personnel, has now clarified the situation.

Tooth Whitening at Durham City Smiles

At Durham City Smiles, we use a system whereby we take impressions of the teeth and our technician, Eddie Lowerson, makes custom made trays to fit precisely each individual mouth. The patient is then shown how to load these trays and given precise instructions as to their use. The active ingredient is 10% Carbamide Peroxide which we source from a well established British dental supply firm called Optident, based in Yorkshire. This gives us security in the knowledge that our product is what it says it is “on the tin”. Some products can be bought on the internet, but we strenuously discourage this for precisely the reason that we use Optident.

The tray system may not have the instant appeal of some of the “Zoom” or “Britesmile” laser whitening systems, but we believe that it is kinder to your teeth, giving less sensitivity and overall, a better longer lasting result.

Our usual fee for tray whitening is £300 for upper and lower jaws, but this month (October 2011) we have a special offer of £250, so if you are interested, please ring Gill or Gail on 0191 3844447 for an appointment with either Graeme Dentith or Stuart Cox, because at Durham City Smiles, only a qualified dentist will undertake your whitening procedures.

The Smile Makeover process

Here at Durham City Smiles, a Smile Makeover can range from dental implants supporting bridgework, crowns, or even dentures to rebuild a patients smile, and often as a result, their confidence. However in some cases, all that may be needed is a little reshaping of the teeth along with some whitening.

Patients also need to have confidence that their dentist can actually carry out the procedure

Patients should always have a full discussion with their dentist prior to embarking on a course of treatment and everything should be fully explained and costed, preferably in writing. Patients also need to have confidence that their dentist can actually carry out the procedure under discussion, they should never be afraid to ask questions, such as “how many of these have you done? What is your success rate? What further training do you have?” etc. And if the answers are not satisfactory, or not forthcoming at all – Don’t have it done!!

My credentials in the field of Cosmetic and Restorative dentistry

I’ve always been committed to further postgraduate education in the specialised field of Cosmetic and Restorative dentistry. I’ve attended 12 month courses at Newcastle University Dental School under Prof. Angus Walls and Mr David Jacobs, and in London’s prestigious Harley Street, under internationally renowned Implant Surgeon Dr Ashok Sethi, and in Peterborough under Dr Dominic Hassell, who holds consultant posts in 4 disciplines of Dentistry.

To further my knowledge, I have travelled to places such as New York, Chicago, Helsinki, Edinburgh and Birmingham (the latter 2 although in the UK, still seemed foreign to a lad from Durham!)

Dental Organisations Membership

I’m a member of the following dental organisations:

• British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
• American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
• British Dental Association
• Association of Dental Implantology
• Denplan
• Dental Protection

I’m hoping to further my association with the California Centre for Advanced Dental Studies as a mentor to other practitioners in the near future.

All of which help to ensure a continuous improvement in our service to our patients.

The next step

If you would like to discuss your smile, or any other aspect of your dental care, please ring our friendly receptionists, Gill and Gail, and make an appointment for a chat.

After all, “A smile says a lot – but what does yours say about you?”

There is another, slightly less vigorous chemical called Carbamide Peroxide which is available for use in concentrations up to 18%, again, anything more than this is not deemed safe or acceptable. Also, it is illegal for this procedure to be carried out by a non dentally qualified person, and quite severe fines have been handed down by the courts recently to persons practicing dentistry without a licence to do so.

Consider your decision

So where does this leave the patient? Basically, patients need to ask the right questions:

1. What are you going to use in my mouth?
2. Are you qualified to carry out this treatment?
3. Have you done it before and what results have you had?
4. Are there any possible drawbacks?

If the answers are not satisfactory, or you have any doubts – don’t have it done!

The Tooth Whitening service at Durham City Smiles

At Durham City Smiles we use a tray system produced by Optident, with custom made trays fabricated in our onsite laboratory by our technician, Eddie Lowerson. The active ingredient in the gel is 10% Carbamide Peroxide, and this is used for 1 hour a day for up to 2 weeks.

Sometimes the teeth can become sensitive, (mine did, when I tried it on myself) but this can usually be cured by using a desensitising paste such as Toothmousse or Sensodyne in the tray, alternating with the whitening gel.

We don’t use a “laser” or “zoom whitening” system as we believe that this activates the chemical too much and can lead to more problems with sensitivity. Yes it may work faster, but the results could be at a cost.

Currently we have an offer for tooth whitening of just £250 for both upper and lower arches. If this is of interest, or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 0191 3844447.

Facial Rejuvenation services at Durham City Smiles

Also, in the realm of cosmetics, here at Durham City Smiles we are pleased to announce that our resident medical practitioner, Dr Paula Graham is now providing Facial Rejuvenation services for the elimination of those little laughter lines that can cause premature aging, (as recently featured in the Northern Echo Health and Beauty supplement). Paula uses Azzalure, a product very similar in nature to botox, but longer lasting; and, later this year Paula hopes to be able to offer collagen dermal fillers.

So, again, if this is of interest please call 0191 3844447 to make an appointment to talk to Paula.

Kind regards

Graeme

Party time – Fizz and Nibbles

This practice would be nothing if it wasn’t for our patients.

We decided to have a little “birthday party” to celebrate, and so we had a few people round for “Fizz and Nibbles”. Graeme and the girls decided to organize the nibbles in house, which led to a production line of smoked salmon and caviar bagel bites and avocado prawn mouthfuls, washed down with the obligatory Champagne.

This has been a great year for myself and the team. I’m very proud of what we have achieved so far and look forward to many more happy years.

Nicola baked a birthday cake, which was demolished with great gusto – it seems everyone liked chocolate fudge cake! Please note, the chocolate fudge cake was not intended to increase business.

I made a short speech thanking everyone present and all those who weren’t, after all, we, and this practice would be nothing if it wasn’t for our patients. Everyone seemed to have a good time and many people left in various states of inebriation (including myself) and all seemed good, until I managed to dislocate his knee again – silly boy!!

Other news

Still, after a week in a knee brace all is pretty much back to normal. Since the party, myself and Mike Stedman from Dunelm Orthodontics next door have been to Helsinki in Finland to look at some pretty snazzy xray equipment – but maybe for the future, it’s VERY expensive!

I’ve also been up to Edinburgh for a course on “Soft Tissue Management “ in surgical cases. You should see the boy suture a pigs head, if only it were as easy on real patients!!

Kind regards

Graeme