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Thursday 9 December 2010

A Walk in Topsham.

Last Sunday was another cold and frosty morning in Exeter. The light was beautiful, so I decided to take a walk around Topsham. 


Walks around Topsham are great, you get beautiful views of the Exe Estuary and you are able to admire the architecture there too.


Here are some photographs.





Wednesday 1 December 2010

COLD!!!!!!

Even though we in Exeter have not sufferred as badly as the rest of the country, all I can say about the start of December is, IT'S COLD. The last week the thermometer has barely crept into positive numbers.


Anyway on Sunday I wrapped up against the weather, got my camera out and took a few photographs. Here's some views of Exeter on a cold November day.






Monday 8 November 2010

Have you heard about mouth cancer?

MOUTH CANCER AWARENESS MONTH.
1-30 November 2010.


Here is a headline fact that may shock you, one person in the UK dies from mouth cancer every five hours, mouth cancer kills more people than cervical cancer and testicular cancers combined. Surprising or what?
Over the past decade, cases of mouth cancer have risen by 41% and a lack of public awareness has been highlighted as a major contributing factor for this increase. Many people aren’t sure of the symptoms and may aren’t even aware of the existence of mouth cancer at all! An early diagnosis improves survival chances to more 90%. However many cases of mouth cancer are detected at a late stage, reducing the chances of survival.
So what can you do detect a mouth cancer. Regular dental health checks will help. At the Spicer Road Dental Practice we always check our patients for signs of mouth cancer at every six monthly dental health check. We check our patient lips, cheeks, tongue roof and floor of their mouths for ulcers, red or white patches or unusual lumps or swelling. 
What puts you at risk of mouth cancer? 75% of cases are linked to tobacco use or excess alcohol consumption. People who both drink and smoke are up to 30 times more likely to develop the condition. Poor diet is linked to about a third of cases, eating five portions of fruit or vegetables help to reduce your risk. The risk of developing mouth cancer increases with age, most cases affect people over 40 years of age, however an increasing number of young people are developing the condition.
The most important thing to remember is that early diagnosis of mouth cancer can save your life. If you have a lump, swelling or ulcer does not heal within three weeks consult a dentist and get the area checked out.
For more information visit www.mouthcancer.org .
If in doubt get it checked out!




Thursday 21 October 2010

Another smile transformed.

This lady had be seeing me for several years. A couple of years before I first saw her she had a suffered a fall and had damaged her upper front teeth. She was due to get married earlier this year and wanted to transform her smile so she could have the confidence to smile in her wedding photographs.


Here is a picture of her before we started doing any dental work.




After an extensive consultation we decided on the following treatment options. First, my patient felt her teeth were rather dark, we therefore decided to carry out some tooth whitening of both her upper and lower jaws. Second, we both felt that the appearance of her two upper central incisors could be improved. They had been damaged in a fall and had been rebuilt using white filling material. However, over time, these had discoloured and no longer looked brilliant. We decided that we would rebuild these teeth using porcelain veneers. Porcelain veneers are thin facings of porcelain that are adhesively bonded to a patient's tooth to improve its appearance or to protect a damaged tooth surface.


Our patient had two further visits and two porcelain veneers were placed on her upper central incisors.


Here is a picture of our patient's finished smile.





Our patient was delighted with her new smile, and she looked great for all the photographs taken at her recent wedding.

Does this sort of treatment interest you? We would be delighted to hear from you, to  see if we can help enhance your smile at The Spicer Road Dental Practice. You can contact us via our website here.

Thursday 7 October 2010

Golf. Is it really the way to spoil a good walk?

So the last week has been a great week for European golf.


After extending into a fourth day for the first time ever, the Ryder Cup was won by Europe by a point. Graeme McDowell won his final singles game against Hunter Mahan. McDowell held his nerve to win on the 17th green by 3 in 1. Despite being affected by some horrendous weather at Newport's Celtic Manor, the Ryder Cup was engrossing, tense and had some great sporting moments during the four days of play. You can see highlights of the victory here. I think that the odds of Europe Ryder Cup team winning the team prize on the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year have dramatically shortened.


The thing is I don't think golf spoils a good walk. The game is often frustrating but when everything clicks, the game of golf is great. Sinking a long putt or hitting a great tee shot feels brilliant. Today I had an early morning round of golf at Exminster Golf Centre. As I drove to the golf course, I started driving through quiet dense early morning mist. This quickly burned off and when I reached the second green this was the view I saw.



The weather today has turned out great and I had an enjoyable round of golf. My game was a little rusty but I didn't play too badly. Looking forward to having another game tomorrow and hopefully my game will be a little better.





Tuesday 21 September 2010

Let's talk about tooth whitening.

How would you like to wear your smile with style?


Everybody wants whiter teeth, and why not? Your smile is the first thing that most people notice about you, it can say more about you than any other feature. 


Tooth whitening is the simplest, kindest and probably the most affordable way you can change your smile. Most people look and feel years younger after the treatment, having removed the stains caused by tobacco, food, drinks and internal pigments which can make your teeth look darker with age.


Do you have a special occasion or family event in the near future? Tooth whitening could be the way of achieving the dazzling smile you have always wanted.


At the Spicer Road Dental Practice we offer tooth whitening treatments. If you would like more information about tooth whitening or about us, visit our website  or contact our reception team to make an appointment on 01392 272408. We look forward to hearing from you soon.





Thursday 2 September 2010

The Bank Holiday Weekend

So August ended with the traditional bank holiday weekend. A welcome break after a hectic August at work.


It was an enjoyable, the weekend being the typical mixed bag of weather we've come to expect with bank holidays in Britain.


Saturday was a rest day, Sunday we had the family to visit and had a barbecue whilst dodging the rain showers. Monday, we were greeted with glorious sunshine. So we had a long but restful walk along the quay followed by brunch at one of the local cafes.


I managed to take some photographs of Exeter Quay and our dog.





Thursday 26 August 2010

Where is the year going to? How about sponsoring someone in this year's Royal Marine Commando Challenge?

Amazing to think that August has almost passed, the last bank holiday weekend of the year starts tomorrow. Soon we will be looking forward to the autumn and Christmas! I can't believe the year is passing so quickly.


Just thought I would post a request for a friend of my wife who is competing in the annual Royal Marine Commando Challenge in a few weeks time. I entered this two years ago and had a great time tackling the Royal Marine's Assault Course on Woodbury Common, we got to crawl through tunnels, wade through mud and get dunked in the infamous sheep dip.


Here's some pictures of my friends and I when we did the Commando Challenge in 2008.




If you are interested in finding out more about this event check out the Royal marines Commando Challenge website and if you are interested in sponsoring someone taking part in this years events, check out this Just Giving page.

Monday 9 August 2010

Further ways to change your smile.

I just thought I would write about some other ways that you can radically change your smile.


This week I thought I would show you how we changed someone's smile with tooth whitening and porcelain veneers. Porcelain veneers are thin porcelain shells, custom built by skilled dental technicians that are cemented to the front surface of a patient's teeth. Using porcelain veneers we can change the shape, position and colour of the teeth.


This patient was unhappy with the appearance of her upper front teeth, she felt that her teeth were crowded and she wanted a straighter, more symmetrical smile. Other options were discussed with the patient but she decided that porcelain veneers were the treatment she wanted. Prior to preparing the teeth for veneers, we "bleached" the patient's teeth using a home whitening system for two weeks. On the initial appointment the teeth were prepared and provisional veneers were made. Two weeks later we saw the patient again and fitted her new smile, we placed six porcelain veneers.


The patient was delighted with the result.


Here is a picture of the patient before her treatment,



Here is a picture of the patient's smile one month after we cemented her new porcelain veneers.


If this type of dental treatment interests you, and you feel the time is right to consider changing your smile. Please contact our reception team at the Spicer Road Dental Practice on 01392 272408 to arrange a dental health check. We will be happy to help you achieve your dream smile.

Monday 2 August 2010

Some of my favorite places.

Here are some of  my favourite places that I have visited on several holidays. The photographs were taken by myself, hope you like them.

Yellowstone National park.




Grand Teton National Park.


Landscape Arch, Moab, Utah.


Paris, where I got engaged.


Cape Town and towards Cape Point.



And finally, Cardiff Bay, close to where I grew up.







Let me show you some of my dental work. Some smiles I have transformed using crowns

Here are some examples of the transformations that I have made to some of my patient's smiles. 


Using crowns, we can improve the appearance of discoloured, mis-shapen or heavily filled teeth.


We work together as a team with our dental technicians who demonstrate great skill and artistry to custom build beautiful crowns for our patients. Using my clinical skills and their artistry we can transform your smile.




This patient wanted to improve the appearance of his discoloured upper front teeth.



We treated this patient with three porcelain crowns which dramatically improved the appearance of his upper front teeth.


This patient was unhappy with the appearance of her existing crowns and the black lines you could see next to the gum.


By replacing this patient's existing crowns with new all porcelain crowns we dramatically improved her smile.


If this sort of dental work interests you contact my practice for a dental health check and assessment. Let's see if we can transform your smile too. Our reception team look forward to hearing from you, they can be contacted on 01392 272408.




Monday 26 July 2010

Great reviews for The Spicer Road Dental Practice

About two months ago, The Spicer Road Dental Practice joined the Best of Exeter. We joined with the ambition to be recognised by our patients as Exeter's best dental practice.


At a recent meeting we were awarded with a certificate that recognised the team at the Spicer Road Dental Practice. We were recognised for our professionalism and our friendly and caring staff. If you want to see some of our great testimonials and review, visit our page on the Best of Exeter website. If you want to join us as a patient, visit our practice website for details on how to join us.







Happy First Birthday to Barney Our Dog

Tomorrow is the first birthday of Barney our dog. We had a little party for him yesterday.




Monday 5 July 2010

Using an iPad as a presentation tool in the Dental Surgery



We often now have to present treatment plans and treatment options to patients as part of our everyday clinical lives.


Having seen and now handled an iPad and doing some research. What about using the iPad as a presentational tool? It is capable of running Keynote, Apple's version of Powerpoint, and as is often said, a picture can paint a thousand words!


What do you think?







What other dental uses are there for this year's must have gadget?

Monday 21 June 2010

A great day, a great course, a stunning venue.

Today was a day away from the practice. I wasn't being lazy, I was away on a course, learning about "Smile design-with a less invasive approach." The course was held at the Watergate Bay Hotel, near Newquay, an absolutely amazing and stunning venue. Our lecture room had huge panoramic windows overlooking Watergate Bay. During our coffee breaks we could admire the stuning scenery, I almost wished that we were doing a surfing course instead.


Here is the view from the hotel.






The Course was great, the speaker was engaging and interesting, we learnt lots of interseting information on restoring smiles. Discussions of the various treatment options was given and the course was presented in an interesting and exciting way. 

Having spent the day at Watergate Bay. I'd love to return and visit for a short holiday, we can even take the dog too!!

Saturday 19 June 2010

Isn't there some big event going on in South Africa?

So week one of the world cup has finished. So what has been my feelings on it so far. Realistically England have been poor, they really need to turn things round with a big win on Wednesday, however with their performances so far I don't think this will happen, it seems England are scared by the prospect of failure in the big event. Best teams I have seen so far have been South American, Mexico and Uraguay, and from Europe, Holland.


Just a quick note as an aside, even though I'm Welsh, I don't want to see England fail. Let's hope something changes on Wednesday afternoon.




This was Green Point Stadium in Cape Town when we were there on honeymoon two years ago, amazing what was built in that time!

Monday 7 June 2010

Just look at our puppy Barney

I had the chance to get some new photographs of Barney over the weekend. What do you think?



Thursday 27 May 2010

A glorious afternoon at Exminster Golf Centre

I spent this afternoon playing golf at Exminster Golf Centre. The weather in Exeter today has been glorious, sunny, reasonably warm with a gentle breeze blowing. I played reasonably well, the wheels came off a little on the last couple of holes, but I still enjoyed myself.


Thought I would post a couple of photographs taken showing the glorious views from adjacent to the 8th green.