A day out in Wells

I sit here writing my blog listening to The Best of Dire Straits on a cassette player (remember those) drinking a bourbon and Canada dry, it has been a hard but satisfying couple of weeks. I have had quite a few new cases start this last fortnight and did some pretty nice surgery which I am very happy with and one of my new patients has told me she reads my blog. It’s always nice when people tell me they enjoy reading it.
We treat so many nervous patients, from simple dentistry to complicated reconstruction of their mouths with implants that we forget that we, as a matter of course, deal with their nervousness using lots of TLC to make them happy dental patients. As I often say, if you show that you genuinely care for your patients then after a time it becomes rather difficult to keep on being anxious when there is nothing to be anxious about.

I had a fun weekend last weekend in that my youngest (7 year old) son (who has quite a voice – in a nice sort of way) went to be a chorister for the day at Wells Cathedral. It was great, we left him there for the day and I didn’t wish my son good luck, but I wished the choral master good luck with my son.

Meanwhile I bought my middle son a belated birthday present of a full desert camouflage army uniform. He already had the flak jacket so with the trousers, T-shirt and jacket he looked like a regular terror, which brings me back to my youngest son who we all went to see doing the evening song at the cathedral. He looked angelic (he wasn’t in the army fatigues) and during the rehearsal the choir master asked them all to sing ‘Aaaahhh’, just like at the dentist, then he stopped and turned round and with all the other parents sitting around me, he asked “Is there a dentist here?” I was going to keep quiet, but with my two other sons beside me in the choir pews there was no chance, so I raised my hand just above my head. He then asked if I got my patients to say ‘aaahhh’. Sadly he was right, I do (to look at the back of their throats). With me feeling vindicated in his example he returned to his choir with the polite laughter of the other parents ringing in my ears. I wonder if when he asks the choir to hum ‘mmmmm’ he asks if there are any Graham Norton impersonators in the place…

Anyway my son thoroughly enjoyed it and I must thank him for that.
The deal with the army fatigues is interesting as I had to use it as a punishment by the end of this week.

My middle (9 year old) son who is learning to write with a fountain pen, decided that the plastic Parker pen that I had bought for him was not good enough and took my wife’s silver Mont Blancpen – that I had bought for her 30th birthday – to school! He even managed to convince the teachers that the pen was bought by us for him! I am not sure whether it is a reflection of the myth that dentists earn too much or that we are stupidly generous people. Either way, when my wife found out about this at the parents evening from his teacher he was in for the high jump, hence the army fatigues are now in the boot of my car. Aaaahhh the joys of having kids.

While I was at Wells Cathedral I was inspired to write a poem, so here it is

 

God’s Pleasure

 

Magnificent, glorious and inspirational,

We become emotionally furiously creational,

In our desire to please YOU

And our eternal fire to be devotional.

 

We see the cathedral stone

Like an elaborate embroidery,

Rising above our city so known,

Because of the links of our common heraldry.

 

The cathedral’s sight and sound gives the impression

Of giving YOU pleasure through the expression

Of magnificence, splendour and innocent exultations

With the customs and rituals as is the church’s dependence.

 

But to all this glory and ages of love in the stone,

What pleasure is this all on its own

If it’s seen to be God’s Museum

Then it is Mankind’s Mausoleum

 

As God has no pleasure from all the art

If it does not impart to the heart,

A conduit of love between you and He

A constant with eternity.

And forget the creativity of mankind in stone

The glorious voices singing in tone.

As the cathedral for God is thee

To come to him in humility,

With love as your only measure

Then within you is the cathedral of God’s pleasure

 

 

 

James Main

16th October 2011

 

Our trip to the city.

This week we enjoyed our usual diet of dental implant surgicals and finished off our dental implant cases and cosmetic cases. One of our patients who we have completed is a clairvoyant (quite usual for Glastonbury) and needless to say she deals with a lot of people face to face. Apparently since we completed her implant retained crown, which hadn’t been right for the last 30 years, she has been showing it off to all her friends, colleagues and I assume clients, some of whom felt the urge to touch the crown. Could this be a new level of appreciation of good dentistry?

Jo and I went toLondon last weekend without the children, and running to a tight schedule we just made it as a train from Gillingham toLondon arrived on the platform. However by the time I managed to get the ticket for the car parking from the station’s ticket office the train had left. It was then, on returning to the car, that I noticed a poster advising me that we could have paid for the car parking using a mobile phone and quoting the station’s code. However there is a silver lining to this cloud as we had both left our mobile phones in our car in a rush to get to the train, which would have been somewhat disastrous over the weekend!

At least you now know if you’re in a rush to get on the train at Gillingham to not bother getting a parking ticket but instead to read the poster beside the parking ticket machine. The thing that we did notice a lot this time while in Londonwas the number of young people actually homeless on the streets. I have worked with homeless charities now for almost 20 years and I have seen quite an improvement in those 20 years – in particular the work that’s been done by Taunton Association for the Homeless (TAH) with whom I still work – but our visit to London this time seemed to take us back at least 10 years and that was very distressing to see.

One of the things I find interesting doing my job is that it is both technically and artistically demanding. However, when we deliver a surgical solution for patients it’s easy to forget that the patient has a journey and experience to go through in order to achieve the results that they wish for.

This is one thing, having treated so many phobic patients over the years, which I am extremely aware of and place a lot of emphasis on ensuring that the experience patients have, no matter how complex the procedure, is always a pleasant and good one. It is one reason why I always call my patients the day after surgery to see how they are doing and it is always gratifying to know that within 24 hours they are no longer taking painkillers and feeling generally good. This is very much the experience of the vast majority of our cases, although it is always difficult to get the apprehensive new patient to believe your stats. But I believe that the patient’s experience and journey through the treatment is as important as the end result itself.

Jo and I have another busy week ahead with kids and work, but hopefully we’ll get some time to ourselves.

Best wishes

James

Life-changing holidays and life-changing smiles.

A lot has happened since I last blogged, and whilst it was barely a month ago that I took my family away for leave it seems like an age away. Took the family to France and I must say that it has been a number of years since we had been in Europe and I was quite shocked at the cost of everything, even the basic goods. I think the myth of a cheaper retirement in Franceis now exactly that – just a myth. We also decided to take our boys into Parisfor the day – BIG MISTAKE! They did their usual of running around but my younger seven-year-old really excelled himself by having a complete tantrum outside of a very smart designer shop near Champs-Élysées where he decided to sit down on the pavement in front of the shop entrance in protest. Despite our best efforts he was not to be budged from his protestations of his grievances which I can no longer recall. Needless to say the manager and the security guard of this rather upmarket shop wanted to move him along, to which Jo responded “please help yourself”; they did not take up the offer. We did eventually move on from there but the day was quite fraught to the extent that we were going to cancel a big treat of eating in a French restaurant but they did eventually come round and believe it or not, they all had a serving of escargots and frogs legs which they thoroughly enjoyed. The sad thing is Jo and I had some lovely memories of Paris from a romantic weekend we had when Jo was 21 and now our memories are such that we may never want to visit Paris again!

The practice has been busy since we have been back. I have started on a number of new dental implant cases and a number of new cosmetic cases. As well as which we are reaching the end of a number of large treatment plans, and as I said before it is great to see the final result, but even better to see how delighted the patients are and what a confidence boost it gives them. I’m currently writing up a case report for a dental journal involving a patient who first came to see me because he had a very severely worn dentition and whilst he was not particularly concerned about his appearance, because he was perfectly happy within his own skin, he had been offered an opportunity to fund his treatment as he was being recruited to work in a clinic in Holland. After the treatment was done, not only was he able to eat better and it improved his digestion but he realised what a difference it made in how he interacted with other people, even with people that had known him for a long time. In particular he told me that prior to his teeth being done he was delivering a presentation to a potential sponsor with regards to a charity mission to Kathmandu. After the presentation, the sponsor said to the leader of the mission that she was very keen to sponsor such a mission however she did not feel comfortable that my patient could be trusted with the money! Months later, once his teeth had been done, he gave another presentation with regards to the same mission to Kathmandu to the same sponsor. There was no problem and the money became available. This is an incredible story of how one’s teeth, smile and overall appearance can have a major influence in how others see you even though you may present with complete confidence within yourself. I  attach some photographs of before and after to show you what can be achieved with dental implants and cosmetic dentistry. The beauty about this case is that we just added to his teeth as opposed to taking anything more away, and that is the beauty of what dental implants can do.

Finally the major worry for us this week is our eldest son had been kicked in the head whilst playing rugby so we’ve been in and out of Musgrove hospital to get him checked out. This is a strong recommendation for wearing scrum caps at all times as well as professionally made gum shields.

Take care

James

It’s a funny old month.

It has been quite interesting since the last time I wrote. I had to be in the surgery until almost midnight as a child had fallen over at Greenbank Swimming Pool in Street and literally broke and knocked his two front teeth out. I got the call from his father in the evening just before I was about to go home and had to get my nurse, Emma, back to the surgery. The child, by this time, had already been to the Mendip minor injuries unit and Musgrove Hospital, unfortunately despite their best efforts they did not have the equipment to treat the child properly. Fortunately the father’s partner had passed our practice and the sign and decided to give us a call.

Thankfully, it is not something we do too often, but we were able to get the child’s teeth put back in a better position and reposition the bone around the teeth back to where they should have been. Fortunately for the child, the quick thinking of the people at the minor injuries unit, who placed the teeth back into the socket within thirty minutes of them coming out, gave them the best chance of them retaking. Anyway the child was fine and his father was very happy with what we had done. Hopefully I may be able to report in the future that we managed to ensure the teeth have reattached themselves back into the jaw bone.

August is always a funny month with lots of people away. We have been doing quite a lot of crown work and replacing patients’ amalgams (mercury fillings) in a safe way – by using a rubber sheet to isolate the teeth when we remove them. By doing it this way I ensure that the mercury and amalgam debris does not go down the patient’s throat but goes into our aspirator hose. This has been scientifically proven to be the best way to ensure low blood levels of mercury during removal of amalgams.

Despite it being a patchy month we have done some nice dental implant work and done some bone work, repairing some bone around the tooth that was lost due to gum disease. We also have a keyhole surgery case to look forward to at the end of the month, during which we shall give the patient instant teeth!

I have also sent numerous packs and flyers to local dentists about a course I am running on the Thursday 29th September at the Holiday Inn Express at Blackbrook,Taunton. Alongside my technicians we shall be talking about the treatment of the Difficult Denture Case.  Anyone interested in going on the course should contact us.

Our 3 boys have been out camping and also attended the Multiactivity course at Millfield School. Last Friday they had a fancy dress fete and my wife took to school a Cyberman, Manchester United footballer and Gok Wan (courtesy of my eldest son). He was disturbingly convincing and amused all during their lunch break telling the staff that what they were wearing ‘just had to go!’ – he even had the Gok Wan walk. Rory Bremner had better watch out!

We shall be off next week so will let you all know how we got on whilst the practice was closed.

Finally as all the kids are off I offer you this poem I wrote some time ago about mothers and their children.

  One for the Mums  

I know it seems that we don’t care

Except to run you ragged here and there;

I know it seems that you are in a hole

As the darkness around you enfolds.

As seem as it may seem to be,

The reality is that we love you dearly;

And what may seem a darkening hole

Is just us all hugging you close.

 

Best wishes

James

Implants, Papers, Ibiza and Kilts

It has been a busy month yet again where we have completed a number of our implant cases, as well as starting a number of cases by surgically placing the implants into those patients. In particular one case I was very pleased about was where the amount and quality of the bone was initially very poor, but using a unique technique piloted by ourselves I was able to improve the bone quality prior to placing the implants and the proof of the pudding is that we had successfully completed his implant retained bridge on the upper right side, thus allowing him to eat properly again. I also saw a case yesterday which we completed about four years ago, for a gentleman we’ve not seen for over a year. When I first saw him, he had a number of teeth which were very loose as he was suffering from severe gum disease. He had had quite a number of dental problems over the years relating mainly to the gum disease. Four years ago we supplied him with an upper and lower implant retained denture and when I saw him this week he said he wished he had done this years ago as his quality-of-life is so much better. He no longer suffers with toothache or dental problems and the implant retained denture works extremely well for him.

In contrast, I was catching up with outstanding treatment plans and I called a gentleman who suffers with his denture. He is unable to smile properly or eat properly and finds that he is tending to slur his speech as he tries to control his upper denture which is reducing his confidence to interact with other people. If only I could give him just one day to experience the quality of life that comes with an implant retained bridge. As I said to him yesterday; life is too short to suffer unnecessarily.

On another note I have had a paper published in a new dental implant journal which came out this May. It is about the sentimental tooth where a patient and the dentist hang onto a tooth that really, at some point, should have been extracted and an implant replacement fitted. Hopefully it will stimulate some thought amongst my colleagues to think of other options. Thinking of other colleagues it is always gratifying when I see patients who are no longer at the practice (as they have moved away) who have been to see another dentist. In the case of a patient who moved up to Edinburgh she has seen a dentist up there who says that she was amazed at the work that was in her mouth – a mixture of implants and cosmetic dentistry – which we did for this patient about four years ago. Good to have recognition from one’s colleagues!

On a personal note, Jo and I went toIbiza for a 50th birthday celebration over the course of a weekend. We both had an interesting time in getting a good tan and a rest from both work and the kids and Jo and I even managed to go to the famous club Pascha. We arrived there at 1am but it was completely dead – however Jo did get in for free as she did look a lot more glam than me – and it was not until around 2.30am that things started to hot up by which time us oldies were ready to cross the road and get into our hotel bed. Looks as if my days of clubbing are now long gone! We have also been away to a wedding in Berkshire of Jo’s cousin Lucy. It was a great wedding and the first time that our boys have actually been to a wedding. I have at long last invested in a kilt, which I find wearing in England, looking the way I do (that is Chinese looking) certainly raises a few eyebrows. Especially when I went to the Kebab Shack in Marlow after the wedding at around 1am. People there did ask whether I was a real Scotsman, my usual reply being, “Doesn’t it show?!”

Our boys were also all kilted up and they looked magnificent.

Hopefully this summer I will get the chance to write a couple more papers and help a few more patients improve their quality-of-life through my cosmetic dentistry and dental implants.

Mediums, new trainees and bikes

It has been quite a tough and satisfying few weeks since I last blogged. We have completed some long-standing cases, and we’re about to complete some others where we shall be giving people that have had no teeth for quite some time a complete new set of fixed teeth, along with a new smile and more importantly greater self-esteem and self-confidence. Thinking of confidence I had a good vote of confidence from a patient of mine who is a medium (being in Glastonbury we do have a few patients who are mediums) and on the day of her implant surgery she advised me that she had heard a clear voice (sounding like me) saying that James will ensure that she will have a good job done on her that day. I was very heartened by this because it’s good to know that my reputation does not only apply to Glastonbury and Somerset, but to the world beyond! I know at least that I will have a ready patient base when I pass on to the big practice in the sky!

We all seem to be working very hard at the moment. We now have a new trainee starting with us called Emma and I am very hopeful that she should do well, she’s already seen quite a bit of surgery so at least we are confident that she is not going to be too squeamish.

On the home front it has been tough as the lady that helps us out with our boys has had to leave us due to ill-health and with half term it puts a strain on Jo’s time. The boys have been getting into their bikes and I hope that sometime this summer we should do some cycling together. My youngest, who is just about able to ride his bike, was getting somewhat ambitious and decided to go onto the main road on his own without a helmet! Needless to say we were livid, however just very glad that no harm came to him, so couldn’t really tell him off to badly.

I used some hypnotherapy recently on the medium I treated, something I have not done for a little while and that seemed to have worked really well for her, so I may get back into it again.

My interesting Belgium trip and quad-biking grannies

A lot has happened as you would imagine since my last entry, I have been completing a lot of full mouth reconstructions and, at last, my oldest patient that I have placed dental implants on, who is now 86, has returned to health for me to complete his case. I am really pleased about it as he is desperate to be able to eat his steak and I am keen to get him all completed so that should his health deteriorate again at least he will have no problems with his teeth. I also went to Belgium to give a talk to a leading Italian implant dentist about what we get up to in sleepy old Glastonbury. In particular I talked about Keyhole dental implant placement, and how along with the unique technique we have developed at our practice we are able to give patients a full set of fixed teeth within hours – and with no stitches! It was an interesting trip as I managed to exit Belgium twice within 30 minutes. The reason for this was that I was given a very nice bottle of olive oil by way of a ‘thank you’ from the Italian dentists. I only had hand luggage and when I took it to the security gate they wanted to take it off me as it was a liquid. So I went back out to buy myself a small suitcase, went to check it in and then went back through immigration again, fortunately there was a new immigration officer there as I just caught the change of shift!

I have also completed a number of new smiles and cosmetic cases and I am really happy with the transformations that we are giving people – giving them the confidence to be themselves instead of hiding behind their embarrassing teeth. These people really want to smile and often they give out the body language that they are miserable when actually they are cheery characters who just need to have nice teeth and smiles. That is where we come in; to give them a natural smile that they feel confident with.

I went to Scotland at Easter and stayed in the Crieff Hydro with my Scottish aunts who are in their 60′s and 70′s. They are full of life and the eldest of them who is 75 has decided that she would like to work on a bucket list in that she now wishes to try all the things she ever wanted to do before she dies. So she decided with my other aunt to go quad biking. Having dropped them for their one hour quad biking I returned later to take some photos only to find that my aunt had been taken down to the hospital as she had fallen off her quad bike. I had to take her and my middle aunt (more sensible by a small shade – she has been videoed on a space hopper on a trampoline with one of her grand-nieces) to the hospital in Perth where they had an X-ray machine. This she did still in her camouflage overalls and boots and they had to have a double take at the date of birth when they received the order to take the x-ray of a patient who had fallen off a quad bike. Anyway it was an experience and I now have dubbed her GI Granny. Whilst I despaired at the time I prefer them to be as energetic as they are despite the age. My aunt said she knows a lot of people who broke their bones this winter slipping on the ice. At least she broke her arm doing something more exciting. I must say that the patients who come to me for dental implants and cosmetic dentistry could also be of that age and they haven’t slowed down much either. More power to their elbow I say, so long as they do not break it!