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Great advice worthing of passing on to friends and family

Our blog today is very important and beautifully presented by my colleague Christina. It is worth watching as the message is vital to all those who may have or  might in the future contract the Corona virus, have a watch it might just save a life.

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Message from the boss

Click the link below for a heart felt message from Rhod, thank you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIqFR6NSDpY&feature=youtu.be
Covid-19 Update. 26th March 2020 Absolute Dental

This week has been exhausting, and heartbreaking for so many, as our beautiful practice has slowly closed down and my dedicated team depleted.

This afternoon all dental practices in the UK received a message from the Chief Dental Officer instructing all dental practices to  close temporarily in order to further slow the spread of the Coronavirus.

We therefore are only dealing with the most urgent of emergencies by using telephone and video calling to triage needs before being able to offer advice, analgesics and antiobiotics. Referral centres are being set up in some central locations however in this area they are not yet completed so all we can do is continue to manage your care here.

All UK Dental Practices are working under the same guidelines

We are also obviously taking calls, and messages for advice during this period. Should you need us please call: my mobile 07974392422 or contact us via live chat on homepage www.absolute-dental.co.uk

We have been inundated with calls from patients of other practices and have to unfortunately restrict our service to our membership plan and registered patients. We are also very concerned that our plan and registered patients continue to keep themselves safe and by offering this personal and individual service we will hopefully be able to ensure they do not need the services of the overloaded NHS 111.

We are obviously concerned that some patients therefore have nowhere to obtain advice and assistance, but we are confident that our service is more than up to coping with the demand and all the clinicians at Absolute are on standby to assist you.

We only expect this situation to last for a short time whilst the peak of the infection risk is occurring.

As a practice, we are still really concerned for our loyal patients, and hope that any of the problems you might have to now put on hold will be able to be dealt with very swiftly after this period of closure. To do this, we will be ensuring that we honour your continued membership of the practice and your loyalty to us in this short hiatus by prioritising any treatment that may have been delayed in this difficult period.

If you have unfortunately been made redundant at this time, please contact Practice Plan on 01691 684120 in order to discuss whether they can provide any assistance to keep your plan running to ensure you continue to be able to access our service at this challenging time.It is a benefit of membership and we encourage you to speak to them.

We are expecting to be able to resume a normal service very swiftly after this lockdown, as a team we are constantly planning and refining how this will be implemented including additional clinical days from all staff I’m sure you appreciate this is not easy for them given that our situation is constantly changing almost on an hourly basis.

My team have been utterly unbelievable throughout the last few weeks in fact  for the last 19 years, since we arrived in Kingsbridge. Their support is beyond  anything I could have asked for and all they want to do is look after you.

I send heartfelt thanks to you all for the faith you put in me and my practice and hope you will continue to do so. Stay in touch, your kind calls and emails this week have been
immensely appreciated.

Keep watching our social media updates as there will be some help, tips, advice and updates from all the team.
Facebook Absolute Dental @Absolutedentalcentre1 from all the team
Instagram Absolutedentalcentre
Twitter Absolute Dental @absolutedentuk

Sending you all my best and sincere wishes

Rhodri
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Latest Newsletter and Bulletin for Patients

To our Patients and Friends of Absolute Dental

Our team have been working tirelessly to keep Absolute a clean and safe environment for you.

As a Dental Practice, we work in an environment where the prevention of the spread of a whole range of infections is woven into everything we do.  In addition to our usual scrupulous cross infection control measures, we have been paying particularly close attention to all government guidance and updates related more specifically to Coronavirus.

Given the unprecedented situation in the UK regarding the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, we feel we must use our own clinical judgement and act in the best interests of our patients and staff.

We feel it is essential that we do our part to reduce the spread of this virus, and so, it is with very heavy hearts, that we have taken the decision to temporarily close the practice for all routine care.  All being well, we will re-open on Monday 13th April.  We will of course keep you updated with the latest information on our website www.absolute-dental.co.uk  

We  are currently in the process of contacting patients to move their appointments and rescheduling them to ensure when the time comes we have capacity to see you all. We are also making time to have a personal conversation with all our older patients in self isolation to ensure they are safe, well and assist with anything at home they might need.

Looking after the health of our patients is our absolute priority and so we will be operating an Emergency Clinic service each day for our patients who have an urgent dental emergency, pain and/or swelling during this period of closure. This clinic will operate on an individual one to one basis, so we minimise the contact you have with other people; If you urgently need assistance, please call us on 01548 852165. This clinic is for our own patients only with priority to our membership patients and will not be available to those here on holiday or that are not currently registered with us.
We would like to remind our membership patients that they are still eligible to request assistance from the Worldwide Dental Emergency Assistance Scheme during this temporary period.

As a team, we are doing everything we possibly can to remain fit, well and able to work so that we can continue our usual high standard of dental care for you when we return.

We are in the meantime offering free face to face help and advice via Skype and Facetime as well as a chat option on our website www.absolute-dental.co.uk, where one of the team will be available to assist.

Thank you for your support, and stay safe,

The Absolute Team

https://mailchi.mp/877cae84c6d9/march-2019-newsletter-important-practice-information?e=2a7ab7f611&fbclid=IwAR0y_ve_3UchMwgkvdPKvM4EbgLZFM_fRIXFfLpUdcXqveij23AKtM_o_RQ

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Corona Virus Absolute Dental Update

We are still open and operating as normal until changes are made at a governmental level.

Absolute Dental have very strict infection control procedures including disinfection of all surfaces between patients, using mostly single use equipment which is disposed of in a clinical waste bin and then incinerated, and any re-usable instruments are sterilised on site in special vacuum autoclaves at 134 degrees.

We are however taking some further precautions and making arrangements given the seriousness of the spread of coronavirus.

Namely:

  1. Following the health secretary comments about self isolation for over 70’s this morning, all patients in this age bracket will be offered to reschedule their appointments in the coming weeks. We can however work with you to arrange a suitable appointment when no other patients are around if required, helping to minimise the risk of transmission.
  2. We are removing every second chair in our patient lounge so that there is an increased social distance between patients. We will also be seeing less patients at the moment but in event that all the seats are taken we will kindly invite some people to wait outside until their appointment time. It would also be helpful if you can come alone to your appointment where possible.
  3. As we will be seeing less patients in the next few weeks, for any of those who are self isolating, please give us a call and if we can help in any  way we’d be happy to.
  4. All books, magazines and newsletters have been removed from our patient lounge.
  5. We will be when possible emailing medical update forms and other items of paperwork.
  6. In the event that we do need to close in the coming weeks we will aim to run a limited emergency clinic however we do urge you to complete scheduled treatments in the meantime.Emergency clinics will be dictated by evolving circumstances.
  7. We are aiming to make it as easy for patients to contact us as possible; please use 01548852165 or 01548854894, message via Facebook or Instagram or email info@absolute-dental.co.uk  to get in touch with us if you need to make or reschedule an appointment.
  8. For patients who are self isolating and require any dental advice we can  arrange for a video call with one of our dentists or nursing team where possible.

We are here to help and offer you the best care we can

Regards

Rhodri John

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What is happening in our brains when we smile?

Let’s say you experience a positive situation and you see a friend you haven’t met in a long time. This means that neuronal signals travel from the cortex of your brain to the brainstem (the oldest part of our brains). From there, the cranial muscle carries the signal further towards the smiling muscles in your face.

Sounds simple enough

And yet, that’s only where it starts. Once the smiling muscles in our face contract, there is a positive feedback loop that now goes back to the brain and reinforces our feeling of joy. To put more succinctly:

  • Smiling stimulates our brain’s reward mechanisms in a way that even chocolate, a well-regarded pleasure-inducer, cannot match.”

Smiling then, seems to give us the same happiness that exercising induces in terms of how our brain responds. In short: our brain feels good and tells us to smile, we smile and tell our brain it feels good and so forth.

That’s why in a recent research scientists concluded “that smiling can be as stimulating as receiving up to 16,000 Pounds Sterling in cash.” Here is a brief description of the different muscles the cranial muscle activates in our face:

Real versus fake smiles, can we tell the difference?

Whenever we smile, there are 2 potential muscles we activate. The first one is the zygomaticus major and it controls the corners of your mouth. Whenever this muscle only is activated, it’s not actually a genuine smile. Scientists call this also the “social” smile. The second muscle, known to show sincerity is the obicularis occuli and it encircles our eye socket.

The true smile also called the duchenne smile, named after the famous scientist who first separated the “mouth corners”-only smile, from the “eye socket” one. Here is a comparison:

Our brain can in fact distinguish very easily between what’s real and what’s fake. In fact researcher Dr. Niedenthal argues there are 3 ways we can do so:

  • Our brain compares the geometry of a person’s face to a standard smile
  • We think about the situation and judge whether a smile is expected.
  • Most importantly: We automatically mimic the smile, to feel ourselves whether it is fake or real. If it is real, our brain will activate the same areas from the smiler and we can identify it as a real one.

Niedenthal then experimented with how important it is to be able to mimic smiles and whether we could still tell the genuine smiles from the fake ones:

Dr. Niedenthal and her colleagues asked the students to place a pencil between their lips. This simple action engaged muscles that could otherwise produce a smile. Unable to mimic the faces they saw, the students had a much harder time telling which smiles were real and which were fake.

So the fact that we can’t try it for ourselves, leaves us almost unable to identify any smile as fake or real.

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Autumn 2017 Newsletter

Did you receive our Autumn Newsletter? If you didn’t and would like to read the full letter, please click :

 

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Celebrate National Kissing Day

The eleventh National Kissing Day is taking place on the 23rd June 2017.

Kissing is scientifically proven to make us feel good: it releases lots of happy hormones making us feel secure, serene and lowers your levels of stress and blood pressure. It is said that kissing someone special every day is of real benefit.

And it is also good for your oral health: increased saliva flow helps fight plaque by washing away all the nasty bacteria in your mouth and helps protect your enamel by neutralising acids.

To get your ready for the big day, here are my favourite two tips to ensure your are Absolutely kissable.

  1. Get rid of bad breath!

Bad breath is mainly caused by insufficient oral care and can be really embarrassing. The bacteria in your mouth and food debris can cause a really fowl odour that you may not even be aware of.

The best way to keep your breath lovely and fresh is to clean daily between your teeth, this is where most of the bacteria will hide away; brush effectively  twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and  keep your tongue clean.

Using fluoride mouthwash at different times from brushing also helps to keep minty fresh breath.

Our lovely team of dental hygienists are always available to help you achieve a really healthy happy mouth, so remember to book regular visits.

There are really lovely mints and chewing gums on the market that can help boost the freshness between meals; but remember that they need to be sugar free and aim to purchase products containing Xylitol which is particularly good for your teeth.

Also remember to keep well hydrated to maintain good saliva levels.

2) Take care of your lips!

Cracked, chapped lips can be sore and unsightly. Make sure you use a good lip balm every day; preferably with sun protection to keep your lips hydrated, protected and healthy.

Lip balm can be worn under lipstick or lip gloss and makes it last longer too.

There are even lip exfoliating products available to make sure your lips are soft and kissable.

As for technique, well…let’s just say that practice makes perfect.

So pucker up!

PS: the longest kiss ever recorded lasted over 58 hours!

 

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Saint Patrick’s Day: Alcohol and Your teeth

St. Patrick’s Day parties often get reputations for being epic. On the day of Irish pride, inhibitions are thrown out the window in favour of a good time. As much fun as St. Patrick’s Day parties can be, you will not only be left with a St. Patrick’s Day hangover, you will also pave the way for cavities to set up shop on your teeth.

Tooth decay is a big problem related to alcohol consumption because of the sugars and acids in alcoholic drinks. When these sugars combine with natural bacteria in the mouth they form an acid that attacks enamel, breaking it down. This is especially true when the teeth are constantly exposed to sugars and starches in alcohol without a break.

But it is not just the sugar and starches in alcohol that can be harmful to teeth. Alcohol dries out your mouth just like smoking does. Saliva is a powerful tool in reducing the incidence of cavities. Dry mouth can accelerate the damage caused by the sugar in alcohol.

So be warned. If you are going to partake in St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans, brush and floss your teeth as soon as possible!

For those that are heavy drinkers and plan on a weeklong St. Patrick’s Day bender, the probability of damage from drinking is much higher.

Heavy drinking can cause:

  • Irritation of the gum, tongue and other tissues in the mouth
  • Poor healing after dental surgery
  • Poor dental health habits
  • Increase in tooth decay
  • Increased risk toward periodontal (gum) disease

Heavy drinkers are also at greater risk of developing cancer in the mouth, throat and oesophagus. Obviously these are side effects that you want to avoid so if you are going out this week, take it easy. Your teeth will thank you!

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Christmas Opening Times at Absolute

Christmas is nearly upon us, and here at Absolute, we are looking forward to spending some time with our loved ones, as we’re sure you all are too.

We like our patients to know that we are here to look after them – even over the Christmas period.

Our opening hours this year are as follows:

Friday 23rd Dec 8.30am – 5pm

Saturday 24th Dec Closed

Sunday 25th Dec Closed

Monday 26th Dec Closed

Tues 27th Dec Closed

Weds 28th Dec 8.30am-5pm

Thurs 29th Dec 8.30am – 5pm

Friday 30th Dec 8.30-5pm

Saturday 31st Dec Closed

Sunday 1st Jan Closed

Monday 2nd Closed

Tues 3rd Jan 8.30a.m-5pm

Weds 4th Jan Normal hours

We hope that you will not need us outside of these hours, but if you do, call us on 01548 852165 and follow the instructions on the answerphone message. baubs

 

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Confusion in the savoury snacks aisle in Tesco!

We like to keep everything current here at Absolute Dental and so Christina and Ruth decided to update the “Healthy Snacks” leaflet we give out to our younger patients last week.

Christina our very talented dental therapist, loves a challenge and took to the internet to do her research and looked to ways to jazz up the leaflet.

We came across one surprise and thought we should share it with you…..

Plain breadsticks (often a common lunch box favourite of mums and considered a good healthy snack and an alternative to sweet biscuits) left us all scratching our heads.

We checked the ingredients of Tesco Plain Breadsticks, and NO sugar – result!

We looked at the mini alternatives too – better for little eaters! Once again, NO sugar – perfect!

However, the problem comes when we looked at the more convenient “lunch box” alternative, the same Original Mini Breadsticks but in handy individual packs……..

…..In these, the third ingredients on the list (in other words, the 3rd largest ingredients in the product) is SUGAR!!!!!
Christina quickly emailed Tesco to highlight this to them, and raised her concern that in her effort to promote “healthy snacks” to patients to reduce tooth decay, the message can easily become confused by inconsistencies such as these – and went on to ask them when they would be removing sugar from their recipe!
The response from Tesco was swift, and is as follows:
Dear Christina

Thanks for emailing me.

I’m sorry to learn that you’re unhappy with the sugar content found within our own brand breadstick; after reading through your email I can understand your concern with this.

I’m unable to make a decision as to changing any part of a products recipe but I’ve now spoken to my Business Support Team and have advised them of your concerns with the sugar content; they’ve taken this as feedback that we can give to our suppliers as a suggestion.

Thank you for taking the time to email me; if I can be of any further assistance please feel free to contact me.

Kind regards,

Aaron Watson

Tesco Customer Service

Tesco Customer Engagement Centre

We are sharing this with you as we feel many people would examine food labels as closely as we were able to on this occasion – and want to raise awareness that even the healthiest seeming snacks are not all that they seem.
Maybe some of you will be motivated by this to read labels more closely – or even do as Christina has done and drop an email to a high street shop…..we need to take action on this, either on a personal level or on a larger scale to try and change the health of a nation an their teeth.
Please share this to raise awareness – and maybe a few back to school pack lunches will look a bit different next week…..
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