DECEMBER 2014

MERCIAN HOUSE DENTAL PRACTICE

Merry Christmas

SEASONS GREETINGS
TO ALL OUR PATIENTS

NEWSLETTER

Prevention, Prevention, Prevention

Did you know most oral diseases are preventable? Everyday we see
preventable conditions that need not have occurred. From simple decay
to bleeding gums and even tooth wear. In order for our patients to stay in
good oral and dental health we offer preventative advice and treatment.
This newsletter will give you some simple tips on how to keep your teeth
healthy.

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Mercian House Dental Practice

Whats in this
newsletter
Recent news
Top Tips to prevent
oral diseases
Smile Makeovers

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DECEMBER 2014

MERCIAN HOUSE DENTAL PRACTICE

In the news recently

Only last month a dentist made the national news for poor
standards of infection control. Desmond D'Mello was
suspended by the General Dental Council and up to 22,000
former patients have been contacted to be tested for bloodborne viruses.

Top Tip

It is said he did not wash his hands or sterilise equipment

between patients. Experts say the risk of infection is believed
to be low but thousands of people who used the practice in the
Nottingham suburb were recalled and offered tests for HIV
and hepatitis.
This was a very serious breach of standards and here at
Mercian House Dental Practice we take infection control to be
paramount, above all else. We can reassure our patients that
only the highest standards of infection control are adhered to.
The following is a summary of what we do:
All clinical areas have a designated hand wash sink with
appropriate cleaning gels and soaps close to hand. All our staff
clean their hands between patients. We also carry out hand
washing audits every 6 months to make sure everyone is doing
it the correct way. There are also alcohol gel dispensers at
reception and we encourage all patients to use these when
entering and leaving the practice.
All instruments are re-processed in a state-of the art
decontamination room away from clinical treatment areas.
This room was installed in September 2012 and was prechecked by the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) before
installation work started. We have 2 autoclaves in this
decontamination room which are serviced regularly by the
manufacturers. Every cycle that the autoclave is used is logged
electronically and backed up every month. By doing this we
can provide evidence and reassurance that every cycle is
successful and recorded. These data loggers are also backed up
monthly.

Using Interdental Tepe

brushes daily can
significantly improve gum
health. At Mercian House
we have two types of
patients; those who use
Tepe brushes, and those
who do not. Those who
use them would never go
without them.
Tepe brushes are designed
to clean the tricky area
between teeth that manual
and electric toothbrushes
simply cant get to.
Next time you visit us
please speak to Jay or one
of the hygienists for which
size(s) is best for you.

Once instruments are processed and sterilised they are placed

into air-tight pouches. They are then only opened in the
clinical area immediately before use. This way we ensure the
instruments are as clean as possible at the point of use.
We carry out audits into our working practices every 6 months
and currently we are achieving 100% in infection control
standards. This is an audit carried out by ourselves so you may
think it could be biased. In order to reassure our patients
further we have routine inspections by external bodies too. In

Mercian House Dental Practice

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MERCIAN HOUSE DENTAL PRACTICE

the last 2 years we have had routine assessments from the local PCT (now called local health
board), The Care Quality Commission (CQC) as well the British Dental Association (BDA).
We are a BDA Good Practice and in essence what this means is that we adhere to the highest
clinical standards, not only in infection control but also confidentiality, consent, and record
keeping to name but a few areas. We are proud of this ongoing achievement. For more
information about the BDA Good Practice Scheme please visit www.bda.org.
In September 2013 we had a routine CQC inspection. The full report is available on our website,
www.mercianhouse.com. We are pleased to say that the inspection went exceptionally well with
the CQC inspector stating people were protected from the risk of infection because appropriate
guidance had been followed. Many would say that it is simply a paper exercise but I can assure
you that they consulted with several of our patients and also quizzed our staff before completing
their assessment.
With the recent practice renovations being completed now Im sure you will agree that Mercian
House Dental Practice is looking great. For more information about our infection control
procedures or to have a look at our decontamination room please speak to one of our staff
members.

Top Tips
What we tend to see more and more of is tooth wear. Before decay and gum disease were
prevalent but thankfully due to more awareness of these common problems they are on the
decline. As we strive for perfectly clean teeth we tend to brush harder than is actually necessary.
Accompany this with whitening toothpastes currently on the market, which are inherently more
abrasive, we tend to see more wear to the sides of the teeth. This can also make gums recede and
the subsequent exposed root surfaces to be sensitive to hot and cold. Simple measures such as
limiting the use of whitening toothpastes to a couple a times a week can help. Also some Braun
Oral B toothbrushes have in-built sensors which alert you when too much pressure is applied to
the teeth. So next time you are thinking of changing your electric toothbrush or if your are
upgrading from manual to electric look out for one with a pressure sensor built in. They need not
be expensive either. Aim to spend no more than 50.

Christmas Opening Times

Christmas Eve 9.00am to 1.00pm

Christmas Day Closed

Boxing Day Closed

Monday 29th 9.00am to 1.00pm

Tuesday 30th - 9.00am to 1.00pm

New Years Eve - 9.00am to 1.00pm

New Years Day Closed

Friday 2nd - 9.00am to 1.00pm

From Monday 29th to Friday 2nd we will only be offering a limited

service such as simple fillings and hygienist visits. We will not be
carrying out routine examinations during this time. There will still
be a local emergency dentist on call over the festive period.

Mercian House Dental Practice

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MERCIAN HOUSE DENTAL PRACTICE

Smile Gallery
As you may be aware we now carry out cosmetic makeovers from simple teeth whitening and
Invisalign teeth straightening to complex full arch reconstructions.
Here are a few cases carried out this year. All the patients below have given their expressed
written consent for their images to be used for education and promotional purposes.
This lady was unhappy with her smile and
wanted to know what could be done to
improve the crookedness and yellowing.
After careful assessment and discussion
with the patient we agreed to whiten her
teeth followed by 7 porcelain veneers. She
was delighted with her new smile and is
now more confident to smile fully.

This lady was unhappy with the

appearance of her front teeth as they were
not straight. Treatment with an Inman
aligner took under 3 months to complete.
After a little whitening as well she got the
smile she always wanted.

This young man suffered with

congenitally missing teeth (hypodontia).
As a result he was never happy with his
smile. After careful assessment we
confirmed a plan involving the placement
of 4 porcelain veneers to his upper front
teeth. In order to decide how the new
teeth we looked Jay carried out a simple
simulation using a computer program.
This was then sent to our lab along with
the photos. A wax up of the new teeth
was produced which was then used as a
template for the new teeth.
He is delighted with his new smile and
wished he had it done years ago!
Mercian House Dental Practice

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MERCIAN HOUSE DENTAL PRACTICE

Online Appointment Booking

We now provide an online booking system for our patients. If you receive a reminder from us via
either email or SMS text message to say that your routine
check up is now due you can simply follow the link and book
your appointment instantly. This service is completely free of
charge and many patients are now using this service
regularly. If however you ever need an emergency
appointment please call or email us.
We also now use Ipads to update your contact information
and medical questionnaires. It is completely secure and
allows you to see the information we hold about you.

Feedback
We held our annual Patient Participation Group
meeting in August this year. This is where we ask a few
of our patients to come in over a lunch time to discuss
the services we provide. Speaking directly with our
patients this way enables use to engage better and
understand what it is patients want from us and how
we can improve further. If you would like to put your
name forward to be part of our next meeting please
speak to one of our receptionists next time you see us.
Alternatively you can email your interest or any other
feedback for that matter to mercianhouse@gmail.com.

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Coming Soon Interest Free Finance
A lot of people have said to us that they would be interested in having the
smile they have always wanted but simply couldn't afford to pay for it over
a few weeks. As you know paying for products/services on finance allows
you to spread the cost over many months.
We will soon be offering patients the option of paying for complex
treatment on finance. The plans that we will be providing will be 6 or 12
months interest free or 24 to 36 months with interest. No paper forms.
No sending forms in the post. No PDFs. Completely online with
eSignature. For more information please visit www.finance4patients.com.

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Thats it for this edition. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you
next year!

Mercian House Dental Practice

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