We’ve conjured up a spooky offer for Halloween, so here you have it.
Would you like to win an Oral B Smart 4 Electric Toothbrush worth £69.99?
Simply like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and share our ‘Spooky Post’. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Halloween.
Good luck!!
We are happy to announce that we have two new staff members who recently started with us.
Here at Bespoke we like to keep evolving and with two new members we hope to be able to develop and expand Bespoke Dental Care even more, offering a better service for our patients along the way.
Firstly we welcome (on the right) Michaella Karim, our new dentist, who qualified from Kings College London in 2015 with honors. She is currently studying an advanced aesthetic and restorative course to further her skill set and also offers facial aesthetics including anti-wrinkle and dermal filler treatments.
Michaella is a kind and empathetic dentist who strives to improve her patients oral health through education, She currently works with us on Fridays.
To assist Michaella (to the left) is our lovely new dental nurse Louise Flisher, who with 8 years experience brings a calm approach to our patients, she will also be assisting Colin and his patients on Tuesdays.
Louise has a particular interest in restorative dentistry and in the future hopes to undertake an impression taking course and a dental radiography course to further her skills and scope of practice.
Louise is a local hard working individual and likes to make patients feel comfortable throughout their visit.
Both of these ladies have settled well into the team and with our patients making them great additions. Should you wish to book in with a particular member of staff just give us a call on 01474 355493.
We attended the Gravesham Business Awards last Friday evening as finalists and came home runners up for the Small Business of the year award 2019. We are more than thrilled to have received this award and would like to first of all thank all of our patients who have stuck by us throughout the years as without you all we wouldn’t be doing any of this. A huge thank you to all of our amazing team who not only do their jobs fantastically but are great fun to work with, creating the best environment to work in. We would also like to congratulate all of the other businesses involved in the awards including the finalist and winners. And a big thank you to the judges and sponsors of the event who put on a great evening.
We hope to continually improve Bespoke Dental Care and provide the best service we can to our patients, and we look forward to what the future brings.
We are so proud to announce that we have been selected as Finalists in the Gravesham Business Awards.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our patients and colleagues for your continued support over the years. We are so looking forward to the award ceremony coming up in October and will keep you all updated throughout. Check out our social media on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates and please keep your fingers crossed for us.
Do you or someone you know suffer with dental anxiety or fear?
You are not alone. Feeling stressed when coming to the dentist is more common than you think.
Here at Bespoke Dental Care we pride ourselves with being able to help patient’s overcome ‘dental stresses’ and becoming more comfortable in a clinical setting. Dental anxiety or fear can be for many different reasons for example a bad experience in the past, fear of pain or simply just the fear of the unknown. Many people can learn to cope with the stresses and others just avoid the situation completely by not attending a dental practice.
We would like it so that everyone can feel comfortable with attending the dentist; we understand that, for some, it may never be an enjoyable experience however we will try to make it one as much as we can as it is your health that is important at the end of the day; down below we explain ways our experienced team help our nervous patients manage dental anxiety as there are many techniques and coping mechanisms that can be offered.
Here at Bespoke we like to allow extra time for nervous patients, this is so they do not feel rushed or hurried into stressful situations. To help with this we also have a hand up rule, just raise your hand if you need to stop and as long as it’s safe to do so we will immediately stop any treatment we are doing and give you a break. We can also explain what we are doing throughout a treatment which can be quite interesting to some.
Alternatively if you don’t want to hear us nattering on we have the perk of music, we have a Sonos speaker which allows our patients to choose any music or artist they would like to listen to, this helps to relax and drift away to somewhere else for the duration of the treatment. We also encourage patients to bring in headphones and listen to their own music.
We can use numbing cream and we also warm our anesthetic routinely, allowing for a much nicer experience when having an injection. When anesthetic is cold it can be a shock to the body (which is warm) creating the pain from the injection. We understand that this can be the worse part of a dental appointment which is why we don’t rush it, we take as much time as needed and can start by placing numbing gel on the area (if needed) and leaving it to work for a couple of minutes creating a numb gum and then the warmed anesthetic would be administered. We have a stress ball that loves a good squeeze and we have breathing techniques we talk patients through which can help in stressful situations.
We also offer a treatment coordinator service. This service is great for nervous patients as it allows you to speak with a friendly and knowledgeable member of the team in a private non-clinical environment with a cup of tea or coffee and talk over everything from what you are nervous about, your treatment plan to any questions you may want to ask.
We like to remind our patients that they are in the driving seat at all times, if they don’t want to go ahead with anything then they can stop and if there is anything else we can do to help our nervous patients feel more comfortable we will, we think having an understanding dental practice with experience in nervous patients is very beneficial when trying to tackle dental fear.
So if you are a nervous patient that’s been putting of having a check-up and you would like to book in for a free consultation with our treatment coordinator to start off with, we would love to hear from you, just give us a call on 01474 355493 or send us an email on info@bespoke-dentalcare.co.uk
With our great new offer on at the moment of 2for1 on our trademark Fatlip sports guards; we decided to interview the man who makes them, Colin Orsbourn, our onsite clinical dental technician.
Here’s what he had to say…
Hi Colin, With sports becoming much more encourage and accessible nowadays, the damage to teeth and gums is increasing. Most people know about the boil and bite guards you can buy but can you tell us what the difference is between a shop bought sports guard and a Fatlip sports guard?
Colin – Hi, Well there’s a big difference between the two sports guards.
Boil and bite guards come in either small, medium or large sizes, they are then warmed with water and moulded around teeth and gums. This process does not give an accurate fit, resulting in inadequate protection, breathing and speech which is not what anyone is looking for when getting a form of mouth protection.
Fatlip sports guards are bespoke manufactured by taking a mould of the mouth with a material that covers all areas of the jaw, resulting in a custom fit which ensures the mouth guard remains in place during a sporting activity giving maximum protection.
That makes sense. What is the procedure of having a Fatlip Sports guard made then?
Colin – First we would need an appointment where we would look at the patient’s mouth, discuss all of the options and choose the colour/colours they would like. We would then take a mould of the mouth and with this mould we would then make a plaster cast. This cast is then used to make the sports guard with a PVA laminated sheet which is heated and pressure moulded around the cast creating that custom fit.
The patient would return a few days later for the sports guard to be fitted.
That’s great and it only takes up to a few days to make!
What are the actually benefits of a sports guard then? And what kind of sports do you recommend wear them?
Colin – I feel sports guards are a necessity in any sport, they are a great protection to the lips, teeth, tongue, gums and jaw as it absorbs impact and protects. I would recommend anyone playing sports to wear them not just contact sports as commonly thought. For example netball, football and even horse riding should all wear one for protection. If you think about it, compare the rising prices as well as the pain of broken teeth, the cost of a sports guard is inexpensive. We can also do our sports guards in team colours which can be aesthetically pleasing especially if a whole team match.
That’s great, so can the Fatlip sports guards come in any colour?
Colin – Yes, they can be individually designed, choosing from 35 colours or any 3 different colours combined, we can also insert names and logos too giving them that extra personal touch.
If Bespoke Dental Care had their own personalised Fatlip sports guard, what colours would it be?
Colin – It would most definitely be green, with probably black and white on it to match our logo.
Of course. Lastly how long do sports guards last?
Colin – Great question! It depends on age with children due to the mouth and jaw changing so much – possibly every season. However with adults they can last longer but should regularly be checked for damage and changed when needed to maintain maximum protection.
On Saturday 6th July 2019 we had a charity event in aid of the charity Smile Train.
As you may know this charity provides free surgery for children in developing countries all over the world who have cleft lip/palate. We enjoyed the run up to the event with the whole team getting involved and practicing their baking skills for the big day where we sold cakes, cookies, brownies, quiche, samosa and so much more to raise money for this great charity.
We would like to thank every person who donated and/or attended the event, so far we have manage to raise £344.48 which is amazing and we are very proud of. We would like to raise a little bit more and hit a target of £400.00 if possible any donation will make a difference and if you would like to make one the link is below, alternatively we do have a collection pot in practice. Every child deserves to smile so thank you for any donation made.
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Bespokedentalcaresmiletrainevent
Check us out on the Kent Online website below where our event was mentioned
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend/news/dentists-selling-sweets-for-charity-207897/
Periodontal disease comes in different ranges from gum inflammation to bone loss, gum shrinkage and mobile teeth, however studies have found that apart from affecting teeth and gums there is evidence that the carrying toxins and inflammation can also affect other parts of the body and encourage other conditions. Having this disease can increase the risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Pneumonia, Diabetes and the possibility of complications during pregnancy.
Dental examinations check the health of not only your teeth but your gums and soft tissues which is why it is important to visit your dentist regularly to help avoid this disease progressing and lingering for long periods of time, which can result in tooth loss and/or affecting other parts of the body. Regular hygiene cleans with a hygienist is how tartar build up and plaque is removed this cleans the gum line which then allows them to heal.
Bleeding is one of the first signs of gum inflammation so if you are experiencing it or any other signs or symptoms that your are worried about, please contact us for an appointment.
For more information please click on this link https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gum-disease/
We are very excited to announce that we have entered the Gravesham Business Awards. We were featured in the Gravesend Messenger recently and cant wait to find out who the finalists are.
Wish us luck!
Check out the page on us here https://graveshambusinessawards.co.uk/events-news?view=article&id=57&catid=10
We are holding a fundraising event at the practice on Saturday 6th July 2019 for a charity called Smile Train.
Smile Train provide free surgery to children in developing countries who have cleft lips and or palates.
The event will start from 11:00am and we will be selling cakes, cookies, sweet and savory treats, cold drinks including traditional lemonade, tea and coffee and Pimms as it is the weekend.
There will be music, a few games to be played and a raffle with big prizes including a sports massage, haircut and blow dry worth £82 a hygiene clean and so much more, 100% of the takings will be going to the charity.
Everyone is welcome and we are expecting it to be a fun event not to be missed.
However if you are unable to make this event we do have a Virgin Money Giving page that donations can be made to.
Just click here – https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Bespokedentalcaresmiletrainevent