FREE CONSULTATIONS

FREE CONSULTATIONS *LIMITED SLOTS AVAILABLE*
To celebrate our latest advertisement in Excelle magazine (the full page ad at the front) we are offering a FREE initial consultation to anyone (adults of children) who brings the advert with them over the next two weeks.
Perhaps you've always fancied improving your teeth but have no idea what it would involve? Perhaps you'd like to find out more about Invisalign invisible braces? Perhaps you'd like us to assess your child's suitability for braces?
We have a limited number of slots available to fill from Monday 24th May to Wednesday 2nd June, so that includes half term. Once we're full that's it! Call us today on 01937 580510 to book an appointment.

Families

Its amazing how often orthodontics can become a family affair.

This week I have completed treatment for the second brother in a family of three, and hope to see the youngest brother soon. I've treated quite a lot of siblings, sometimes at the same time, sometimes separate. I have also treated three sets of identical twins so far, perhaps unsurprisingly with almost identical treatment!

Sometimes the family dynamics are a bit different. Hannah was one of the first patients I treated at Wetherby Orthodontics. Last year I completed treatment for her mum. This week I started treatment for her brother Tom. We're just wondering if dad needs any treatment then we can have a full set!

I am always very pleased when parents bring younger siblings for treatment as it is a great compliment to be trusted with the whole family. To make it a bit easier for parents we do offer a "sibling discount" of 10% for concurrent treatments or 5% for subsequent treatments.

Loyalty

Introducing our new loyalty card for oral hygiene products. Every item you buy will get you a stamp. Fill your card with 6 stamps and your next toothbrush is FREE! Don't forget to ask for a card next time you visit.

We stock Fresh'n'Go travel brushes, Interbrace brushes, Swirl mouthwash, Retainer Brite, retainer storage boxes, wax and other comfort products.

Choices

So the General Election is here and we need to make a choice as to how to vote. Personally I am struggling to decide where to put my cross when I get into the little booth.

Labour have been in power for a while and I feel that change is needed. However I can remember the Thatcher years and how glad we all were to get rid of the last Conservative government. But could the Liberal Democrats run a government with no experience behind them? We have only one other candidate in my constituency (UKIP).

I've had a little look around to see what the main parties are promising on dentistry. It doesn't feature very highly in the manifestos and I had to do a bit of searching to find anything!

Labour are full of what they have already done and how they're going to continue to provide more funding for more NHS dentists. Tony Blair's original promise of an NHS dentist for everyone never happened, in fact the reforms they introduced pushed more and more dentists towards private practice, and meant that although I would have taken an NHS orthodontic contract there was not one available for my young practice.

The Conservatives are, predictably, lamenting Labour's "terrible dental legacy". They want to make all new dentists work for the NHS for five years. They want to increase preventative dentistry and cut the rise in dental extractions, and introduce another new dental contract (the current one is only four years old). Dentists have not forgotten that the Conservative change in dental contracts was the trigger for the first wave of dentists leaving the NHS in 1989 (I hope that date is right).

All I can find for the Liberal Democrats is a short line promising reform of NHS dental contracts and incentives for dentists to carry out preventative work.

There are already pilots for new contracts as it has been patently clear that the system introduced in 2006 is flawed, in fact most dentists said that at the time but we didn't get a choice! Depending on the outcome of the election these could be stopped immediately!

What is clear is that NHS dentistry is in trouble. Less dentists, less funding, more bureaucracy, more paperwork. Which is why many dentists have chosen, or been forced, to expand their private practice and leave or reduce their NHS commitment. Whichever government we get will have an uphill struggle to correct the problems. They need to recognise that the dental landscape has changed and a system of free for everyone, easily accessible dentistry will never exist again.