We celebrated our 15th birthday in style on the 6th December with a packed reception enjoying glasses of English Fizz from Kingscote, Denbies and Balfour winerys and food from Papa Ciccia's in Fulham. It was so nice to see patients who have been with us from the very beginning, new clients and new businesses from Fulham High Street attending.

Our charity raffle was a great success with the winners of some great prizes announced including ZOOM in surgery whitening, take home tooth whitening kits, Oral B electric toothbrushes, a Christmas hamper donated by our neighbour Dr Espresso, a case of High Water hard seltzer donated by the owner and one of our patients, Waterpik air floss units, bottles of English Sparkling wine and beer from Exeter Brewery! Phew, what a list. We managed to raise over £3000 for Alzheimer's Society, a brilliant team effort for a wonderful cause. 

What a journey it has been. Here's to another 15 years, cheers!
 

We are delighted to announce that Dr Nissit Patel was a finalist for Practice Principal of the Year for London at this years Private Dentistry Awards 2023. The Private Dentistry Awards is held every year in December to showcase the very best in private dental care throughout the UK. To be nominated as a finalist is a great achievement and testament to the dedication of all of the staff at the practice; after all it is all about the team. 

There was also cause for a double celebration with November marking 14 years as Practice Principal for Dr Nissit Patel. In 2009 the practice was barely open with a dilapidated premises, run on paper and with a poor reputation within the local community. The changes could not be more drastic with improvements made every year. We now boast a modern, fully digital practice with the latest technology including both types of dental laser, CBCT scanner, 2 intra oral scanners, surgical microscope, surgical ultrasonic and much more. Our team consists of two dentists, four dental hygiene/therapists, an endodontist, specialist Maxillofacial Surgeon, facial aesthetics medical practitioner and of course, our amazing Practice Manager and assistants. We're planning further investment and improvements for 2024, so watch this space! Stay tuned for exciting updates at our dental practice in Fulham.

Time has flown by and we forgot to post our case of the month for December so we have decided to combine them with a tremendous case study involving a complete smile makeover. 

Our client really hated her smile. The main issues were that the smile was not wide enough, the back teeth caved in so that they were not visible on photos and the bite was all over the place. As well as teeth crowding and an overall yellow shade, so a number of aesthetic problems. 

After careful planning, which is always the key to success, Dr Nissit Patel formulated a treatment plan which involved full upper and lower invisible braces which would develop the arches and improve the smile width. The bite, or we call it occlusion, was improved and treatment was completed with tooth whitening. 

Overall, the treatment time frame was 12 months and we needed adjustment visits every 6 weeks in general. One of the key aspects in a comprehensive case like this, is the use of elastics. These are worn from the upper teeth to the lower teeth , ideally 20 hours of the day. The reason for this is to improve the way the teeth sit together. If you are not committed, the end results will not be as good! 

Here is a before and after photograph. Truly stunning!
 

If you are undergoing orthodontic treatment at this present time, I can appreciate that it is probably quite a worry about when your next appointment may be. After all, orthodontic treatment is all about seeing progress for teeth straightening and it is unlikely the next adjustment or review appointment will be for some time yet.

However, it is important to stay positive and remember the fact that things will return to some level of normality in the near future and that teeth can always be straightened despite the time delay!

On that note, I thought it would be useful to discuss orthodontic emergencies and how to manage them at home during lock down. The most common types of problems encountered listed below with some helpful tips on how to manage them at home.