Smile Awards 2012

The Smile Awards were held last week and for the third year in a row I'm delighted to have brought home a Highly Commended certificate, this time for 'Best Aesthetic Practice'.

Like many other industries and professions the dental industry has several awards ceremonies throughout the year, and dentists and practices are using these as a method of both team building within the practice and a way of promoting themselves to their clients. The other awards focus on things like marketing, teamwork or practice appearance, but the Smile Awards are the only ones to focus on clinical excellence. The categories cover the many ways of improving a patient's smile, whether this is through the use of white fillings, tooth whitening, crowns and implants or orthodontic treatment. Dentists submit photographs and a writeup of the case, which are judges anonymously by a panel of dentists and specialists.

The 'Best Aesthetic Practice' is a new category, to recognise a practice which provides aesthetic dentistry (which can encompass any type of dentistry which improves the appearance of someone's smile). I submitted a portfolio all about the practice, including photographs, testimonials, financial details, our branding and our staff.

The awards were held at the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, London. I travelled down with Carly-Ann and Angela, its great to be able to dress up and enjoy a night out, we're more used to spending working time together. Here we are at the drinks reception.

The Landmark is a beautiful five-star hotel, with a large central atrium decorated with palm trees. It reminds me of a rhiad in Marrakesh, but on a much larger scale. The dinner was held in the grand ballroom and was delicious! Its always great to meet friends and colleagues and I'd arranged to sit with my friend and colleague John Scholey and his team, it was great to catch up and have a bit of banter!

After dinner the awards were announced, with the judges stressing the high standard of entries and how both the number and quality of entries had increased over the last few years. Sadly neither my fixed braces case nor my removable braces case picked up a prize in their categories. However John won the fixed braces and another orthodontist who qualified the same time as me, Darsh Patel, won the removable category. Although they showed before and after pictures on a large screen for all the shortlisted entries it wasn't possible to really tell why certain cases had won, but there were certainly some impressive smile transformations.

The last award to be announced was for Best Aesthetic Practice. Originally this was to be a regional award, but all nine practices were judged together. Having checked out the opposition beforehand (of course!) I really didn't think we had a chance in this, so it was a fantastic surprise to be announced as joint runner up and to be awarded Highly Commended along with a Harley Street practice, which shows a Yorkshire practice can really cut it with the big London practices!

Of course we had to have a little celebration...

The night didn't end there, Carly-Ann and Angela strutted their stuff on the dance floor and I enjoyed chatting with colleagues, some I'd met before and some I hadn't. It was great to finally meet some faces who I've been in touch with via Twitter, I'm pleased to say we got on just as well in real life as we do online! it was clear that everyone had real enthusiasm for their own branch of dentistry. We even got filmed for a promotional video, though I'll need to review it carefully before I post the link!

Back in Yorkshire I've had time to reflect and for this to really sink in. I've worked really hard over the last six years to make this practice a success. Many said it couldn't be done without an NHS contract. It has been tough at times, particularly when the recession hit as orthodontics is a 'luxury' item, but many dentists have found that cosmetic treatment is still a growing area, we all need to feel good after all.

I couldn't have done this alone, and I really have to say a big big 'Thank You' to my husband Jack Cooke and his business partner Richard Moon. Jack and I started on the road to our own practices when we bought the property in 2005, and I still share facilites and staff with their practice Ashby Dental. Their rebrand and redecoration last year prompted my own rebrand and together we've both introduced treatment coordinators (Carly-Ann and Angela) who've really helped to grow our businesses. At the risk of this becoming an Oscar acceptance speech I should also thank Chris Barrow for his business coaching excellence since 2005, all the dentists who refer patients to me, and my patients, especially those who recommend us to their friends. And of course my family, not just Jack but my children and my parents-in-law who often help out with childcare.

This isn't the end though, I plan to keep improving Wetherby Orthodontics and making many more patients happy with their new smiles. Its not all about awards, in fact my patients are far more important. I am confident of giving my patients great service and great treatment, awards are just an extra way of recognising this.

I hate dental impressions

If you've had orthodontics, a gumshield or bleaching tray made, or a crown you've probably had a dental impression. It seems to be one of the least liked dental procedures, and yet it is a very simple one that doesn't require drills, injections or anything else usually percieved as scary. My patients have at least two sets of these, one at the beginning and one at the end of treatment, the purpose being to take a copy or print of the teeth. This is cast in plaster in the laboratory so we have a permanent 3D record of the teeth and if needed braces can be custom-made.

Impressions are taken using a tray which fits over the teeth. This is filled with a substance called alginate which turns from jelly-like to a firmer rubbery consistency in a few minutes. Most people don't like the texture, but some people have a pronounced reaction which casues them to gag or feel sick if the impression material is near the back of the mouth. It is this and the lack of control over the situation that causes people to dislike impressions, or even have a phobia of them.

Luckily, taking impressions is relatively quick and there are things which both the dentist and the patient can do to make it a less fearful experience.

First of all, do tell your dentist that you are worried about the process or have had problems in the past as there are steps the dentist can take.

• Warm water. Mixing the alginate with warmer water makes it set quicker (remember your chemistry, heat speeds up chemical reactions)
• Thick mix. Mixing the alginate fairly thickly helps it set, stops it running backwards and is more comfortable to the patient.
• Less impression material. I make sure to avoid loading too much material into the tray, as long as it won't affect the quality of the impression I need.
• Talking! I talk to my patients while it is setting to distract them.
• Apron and bowl. I give my patients a bowl and tissues, its better for them to dribble into a bowl than to try to swallow! Its also reassuring for patients who think they might be sick that they have a bowl in front of them.

Then there are the things you can do while you're having the impression. I talk my patients through this if they're worried, and remind them while the impression is setting.

• Breathe! Don't forget to breathe, but it really helps to concentrate on breathing slowly and through your nose, not your mouth.
• Stay calm. Ok, easier said than done, but do try to stay as calm as possible.
• Dribble! See above, you will salivate a bit but its better to dribble than try to swallow.
• Sit forwards. I prefer to take my impressions with my patients seated upright, then ask them to tilt their head down so their chin is on their chest. Some dentists prefer to have the patient lying down, this can also work very well, even though it seems a little backwards!
• Distract yourself. Think about something completely different, wiggle your toes, sing a song or imagine you're on beach!

Yesterday I removed the braces for a 14 year old girl, Lauren. Although she'd reached the end of her treatment she wasn't at all excited as she was very worried about the impressions and scared she'd be sick. She almost refused the impressions, which would not have been a good idea as I needed them to make retainers. I talked her through what we were going to do using the techniques above and did a 'dry run' with an empty tray and no alginate. She did great, the first one passed without incident and she told me she'd sung 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' in her head, but needed another song for the second one. I suggested 'Twinkle Twinkle', and in the end I did the singing! We all ended up laughing and I hope she went away pleased to have got over her fear of impressions and less worried for the next time she needs them.

In 22 years of being a dental student and dentist I can only think of three times a patient has actually vomited during impressions, and those were when I had no warning of a possible problem. None of those have been since I'd had my own practice, I've taken thousands of impressions so I'm pretty good at it now. I always find its never as bad as people fear, think positively and you'll be amazed.