Our specialist periodontist has been working Thursday evening twice a month but will be moving to Wednesday afternoons from 1st February which clears the Thursday evening session for Ian.

So if you want an evening appointment we are now almost certain to be able to accommodate you.

Call 02087486543 to book your appointment.

What does this mean for you, our patient?

Well, this means that we have been found to be compliant in making your dental care safe and effective. Standards of cleanliness and infection control are of great importance to us and you can rest assured that the indepent validation provided by by CQC assures you of this.

The full report will be available in two weeks time and I welcome any patient to visit cqc.org.uk in the near future to read our report.

Ian

Pop over to Facebook by clicking on the icon on our homepage and you will see some photos of Marta’s new smile developing. Exciting!

Ian

Ian

Earlier this year I spotted a cancerous growth on the side of a patient’s tongue. Confidentiality means that I can say little about it in a public domain but this patient did not fit the normal pro
file of a smoker/drinker in his late middle years. Fortunately my patient’s surgeon has called me to say ‘We could not have caught this earlier and I feel that we can talk in terms of cure rather than treatment. You have a very lucky patient’.

Well I guess my patient feels far from lucky but at least I did the right thing at the right time and referred to the right surgeon.

Rest assured that all patients attending SHDP are checked for oral cancer and are told the result.

Emergency arrangements are in place and should you have any problems during this period please call 020 87484023 for advice and treatment.

Ian

So, from 1 August we will have a range of appointments available to you.

The Basic Clean
Suitable for people who maintain an excellent home care routine and who attend routinely. We will remove those deposits you have missed and polish your front teeth and give you tips to help you maintain the cleanliness of your teeth even better. This may also be suitable for our patients that do not have a full complement of teeth. £40 for a 20 minute appointment

The Standard Clean
Suitable for people who attend regularly and who maintain good home care. Perhaps teeth that are stained a little from drinking lots of tea, coffee and/or red wine. We will use a combination of hand scaling and ultrasonic scaling to remove deposits and stain that you have missed and polish your front teeth. This clean is also useful for our patients that have had periodontal disease, manintain good home care and attend every 3 months. £55 for a 30 minute appointment

The Advanced Clean
Suitable for those patients that have not attended for a while and who have a lot of deposits on their teeth. Also suitable for heavily stained teeth – especially smokers, patients who have had periodontal disease and struggle to maintain good home care or who need local anaesthetic for total comfort. Some patients who have not had a clean for a while will require an Advanced Clean. We will use hand and ultrasonic cleaning and remove all deposits and stain and polish your front teeth. £85 for a 45 minute appointment

If you need advice on which treatment is most suitable for you then ask any member of the team for advice.

You may nominate yourself or a friend (please tell them prior!) and can do so by sending a PM via Facebook, Twitter (w6dentist) , emailing ian@salisburyhousedental.co.uk or calling 020 87486543. A camera image of your front teeth would also be useful.

Please note that this is not first-come, first-served but will be offered to the applicant that, in Ian’s opinion, will benefit the most.

All applicants should have teeth that will benefit from whitening, should have no visible fillings in the front teeth, no veneers, crowns or bridges, have good gum health and be prepared to consume a white diet for 24 hours afterwards. Whitening procedures cannot be carried out on pregnant women nor women who are breastfeeding.

The British Dental Association are not happy and they are right not to be. The report seems happy to gloss over the fact that the overwhelming majority of patients are happy with their dentist. Perhaps the OFT need to justify the cost of this report by being sensational. Nevertheless the report highlighted some problems that we at SHDP,  in Hammersmith can feel, frankly, quite smug about.

OFT were very critical of a lack of transparency about private fees and calls for private fee guides to be displayed prominently in reception areas.

We have always displayed our fees on the practice noticeboard and our fees are freely available on this website.

They were also unhappy that 20% of patients that had a dental plan felt under pressure to join that plan. I’m pretty sure that we don’t have any patients that have felt pressured. It’s just not in my nature.

I’ve always been level with our patients – you get cheaper treatment, spread the costs of your preventative care and the practice gets a small monthly income. Win Win. And recently we amended the membership plan so that members can leave the plan, should they wish to do so, with only one month’s notice.

OFT are similarly unhappy that patients in the UK , by law, cannot have direct access to a hygienist. You know the situation. You call a practice and ask to see the hygienist but are told, correctly, by the receptionist that you can’t unless you see the dentist first. This is so that the correct diagnosis is made by a dentist and nothing is missed.

Well, at Salisbury House I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves – not that I wear any- and undertake a scale and polish for a patient that requests it.

Of course you would be encouraged to have an initial consultation anyway just so you are properly cared for.

Three reasons to be smug about the OFT report. But smugness is such an unattractive quality….

Ian

They are trying to sell you something, of course. But how many of you would part with cash to apply unknown chemicals to your teeth?

Well, in order to make a decision you need to consider three things :

What does the product that you intend to use contain? Do they even tell you?

Many DIY products contain chlorine dioxide which no dental professional would dream of using. It has been known to cause teeth to go green (!!) and is ineffective. If the product contains peroxides , either carbamide or hydrogen, then they could have some effect. But what percentage should you use? And which is better, hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide? And seeing as peroxides degrade during storage how do you know whether you are getting fresh stock or stuff that has been hanging around more than it should?

Regarding legality, the General Dental Council, who regulate all UK dental professionals insist that whitening is dentistry and must only be practiced by dental professionals.

But the GDC are there to protect dentists, right? Wrong! The GDC is there to protect patients.

They are unable to act against any supplier that is not registered with them , leaving you high and dry should anything not go as planned.

You only get one set of adult teeth, look after them. If you want them whiter do it safely and effectively.

Call 0208 748 6543 to discuss with any of our team. Or pop into our practice in Hammersmith and have a chat in person. We’d love to welcome you.