FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

Please ring 01239 801974 or call in at the practice, and we will book an appointment convenient for you. We will send you a reminder by text or e mail before your appointment. If you need to cancel or change an appointment please give us as much notice as possible, at least 24 hours.
The problem is it doesn’t necessarily follow that not having any pain, means you don’t have any dental problems. Tooth decay and gum disease need to be well advanced before they cause pain. By the time they cause pain, treatment becomes more difficult, more expensive and time consuming and the outcomes are less predictable. At our check ups we will check your teeth and gums very carefully and advise you of any potential problems. We also check for mouth cancer. If your teeth and gums are completely healthy, we will give you advice on how to keep them that way. We may also recommend you increase the interval between check-ups to a year or even 2 years if you are spectacularly good!
Appointment Cancellation Policy Please be aware that if two appointments are cancelled without 24 hours notice or failed (without good reason), within a 12 month period no further appointments shall be offered at the practice. A fee shall be charged for missed or short notice cancellation of private appointments. The fee is £20 for every 15 minutes of appointment time allocated.
We adhere to all the latest government regulations advice and guidelines regarding equipment, cross infection and decontamination. All our equipment is properly serviced and maintained and our staff receive regular training to make sure we are completely up to speed. We take your safety and ours very seriously!
You can either pay by cash or credit/debit card. Payments PRIVATE: All private treatment must be paid for at the completion of each visit. We also ask for a 50% deposit if you are returning for any further treatment. NHS: All patients please note that charges for NHS Treatment must be paid in full before further appointments are booked. EXEMPT: if you are exempt from NHS charges proof must be shown.
Please telephone the practice on 01239 801974 as soon as possible. We will do everything we can to help you. The earlier in the day that you ring, the more likely you are to be seen that same day and at a time that suits you best. If the practice is closed and you cannot wait until opening time, please telephone and listen to the answer phone message which will give you instructions on accessing our out of hours emergency service.

This practice is delighted to be signed up to the Greener Primary Care Framework and Award Scheme and we are actively taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint. The climate emergency is also a health emergency. We therefore aim to enhance the health of our practice population and offer sustainable choices in how we operate and the services we offer to our patients. This will provide benefits to the NHS, your health and the carbon footprint of healthcare.

You already know the answer to this one! Only floss the teeth you want to keep! It doesn’t matter how well you brush your teeth you will not get rid of the plaque (bacteria and food) in between your teeth without using something designed to clean in between. If you don’t clean in between you will get gum disease here. Your gums will bleed, your breath may smell, you will eventually start to lose the bone that supports the teeth. It won’t happen overnight and some people are much more susceptible to the problem than others, but if you can get into good habits and routines and use some floss tape or interdental brushes every day… then you are well on your way to keeping your teeth and gums healthy for life.
Many people feel a bit nervous at the thought of seeing the dentist, particularly a new dentist. Sometimes this fear or phobia is so severe it will stop people coming to see us unless they are in really severe pain. It could be you’ve had bad experiences as a child and the smells and sounds in the surgery bring those memories back, or your fear is very specific and you are really scared of injections or the slow drill. Whatever your problem is we can help! The first thing to do is make an appointment and tell us you are nervous. You will find us sympathetic and friendly. We are nice and we don’t tell people off! We will listen to you and will do everything we can to help. We use anaesthetic cream to numb your gum before we give injections, we put you in charge so if you ever want us to stop you just wave at us and we stop. We go at your pace and we do treatment in short bursts. You mustn’t feel worried about telling us to stop if you’ve had enough. If you haven’t been to the dentist in a long time you may be really worried about how much treatment you need. Most of the time it is nowhere near as bad as you imagine. The biggest thing is picking up the phone and making the appointment!
Bad breath is most commonly caused by the smelly gases produced by the bacteria coating your teeth and gums. Food debris trapped in between the teeth can also start to decompose and cause a very unpleasant odour. So, effective and regular tooth brushing and cleaning in between your teeth with dental tape or interdental brushes and cleaning your tongue is crucial to keep your breath fresh. Strong foods like garlic coffee and onions and smoking of course adds to the problem, as can having a dry mouth caused by certain medical conditions and some prescribed drugs and mouth breathing. Artificial saliva products may help. Infections in the throat nose lungs or sinuses and diabetes liver or kidney problems may also cause bad breath. If we can’t find a dental cause for your problem we may refer you to your doctor.
The nicotine and tar in smoke will stain your teeth, it will cause and accelerate gum disease which may lead to tooth loss, you may get bad breath and it also increases your risk of developing mouth and throat (and obviously lung) cancers. Smoking reduces the blood and oxygen supply to the gums. Quite often this will mean that if you smoke your gums don’t bleed (first warning sign of gum disease), even though they are very unhealthy. If you are thinking about quitting please go to http://smokefree.nhs.uk/ where you should find lots of information, support and advice to help you. Mouthwashes will help mask bad breath and may have some effect on the progress of gum disease. You need to visit us regularly so we can check your mouth for the very earliest signs of mouth cancer .
Mouth cancer can appear in different forms and can affect all parts of the mouth, tongue and lips. It can appear as a painless mouth ulcer that does not heal normally. If you ever have a mouth ulcer which does not heal after 3 weeks please come to see us so we can check it out. We do a thorough inspection for mouth cancer at every check up. We can see parts of your mouth that you cannot see. Mouth cancer is most common in patients over 40 who smoke cigarettes or a pipe and drink alcohol. Mouth cancer kills over 1,700 people in the UK every year. Many of these deaths could be prevented if the cancer is caught early enough.

Find the tooth…if it is clean push it gently back into the socket yourself .. Make sure it is the facing the right way! Come and see us ASAP.
If it isn’t clean or you are not confident about pushing it back yourself. Put the tooth in either a container of milk or your mouth. Do not swallow it.
Get to see us as soon as you can, ideally within 60 minutes. If you can’t get to us try another dentist or hospital.
Take painkillers if you need to. Avoid aspirin as it may encourage further bleeding.
Don’t handle the tooth by the root. It has fragile ligaments which need to be kept intact if it is to be successfully replaced.
Don’t try to clean it with disinfectant or water. Don’t let it dry out. Just put it in a container of milk.
Don’t panic! Teeth can and are successfully put back in! We may need to splint the tooth in position and you will almost certainly need further work on it later on.
Baby teeth get knocked out and we don’t usually try to re-implant them and if an adult tooth has not been knocked out in one piece it may not be possible to re-implant it, we will always do everything we can to help.
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Many people think that diet coke is better than ‘full fat’ coke because it has no sugar in it and therefore doesn’t cause tooth decay. However, all cokes and fizzy drinks contain phosphoric acid which mean you are essentially bathing your teeth in a weak acid and this destroys enamel (dental erosion). This causes disfiguring tooth loss, pain and sensitivity. The odd can isn’t a problem but we know lots of people drink up to a litre a day! Not only does the phosphoric acid damage your teeth it also damages your bones, so water and milk and are the best things to drink. Duraphat toothpaste (very high in fluoride) and changing your diet as well as help and advice from your dentist and hygienist can prevent further damage.
The amount of radiation received from a dental X-ray is extremely small. We have recently invested in new digital radiography technology which reduces the radiation exposure still further. Radiation is present all around us all the time. You get about the same amount of radiation from having two dental X-rays as you do travelling on a flight to Spain. We take your safety and ours very seriously. We take x rays to give us much more information about your teeth and mouth than we can see just by a visual inspection. It can show us decay in between the teeth or under old fillings which if treated early, is much easier and less expensive than waiting until the problem becomes obvious . They can show us how adult teeth are developing and the position of your wisdom teeth and allow us to check whether you have gum disease related bone loss.
Sensitive teeth are usually triggered with cold food (icecream) or drinks, or touch (toothbrush or fingernail) or sweet foods (chocolate). The pain is severe but only lasts for a few seconds. If you get pain that lasts longer than this and is triggered with hot things more than cold you have toothache not sensitivity! Sensitivity can be caused by exposing the more sensitive dentine on your teeth either by brushing too hard or drinking /eating too many acidic foods, fizzy drinks, white wine, fruit juice. The solution is to limit the exposure of your teeth to acid attack, cleaning with an electric tooth brush and using toothpaste for sensitive teeth. Use the toothpaste as an ointment…rub it into the sensitive areas and leave it there. If you find no improvement come and see us!
We are very proud of the care we provide, and we know that most of our patients most of the time are very happy, but sometimes despite our best efforts we do get it wrong. We promise we will always do whatever we can to put it right. We genuinely believe a negative comment gives us an opportunity to improve not only our service, but also our relationship with you. So, if you are unhappy please tell us. There are several things you can do. If it is something clinical please do initially talk to your dentist. They will always do everything they can to resolve problems. If you are uncomfortable discussing things with your dentist for any reason, or if a non-clinical issue cannot be sorted out by our reception team, then please ask to speak to Betha Faulkner our Practice Manager. Alternatively you could write or email or telephone. However you communicate with us please be assured we take your feedback very seriously and it will be acted on … Quickly. Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so, unless they are a child under 16. In the unlikely event we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction and you would like to progress it further, please speak to our practice manager who will provide you with written comprehensive information to help you to do this effectively.
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