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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.