In the past six years, dentistry has seen remarkable advancements, yet the adoption of these innovations has been slow. Our CARE4TEETH.ORG website presents five informative videos on the front page designed to assist the most vulnerable members of our community. By exploring these resources and advocating for the services you need, we can collectively drive progress in dental care.
By clicking on the image, you will find a series of short videos accompanied by follow-up questions and answers designed specifically for those caring for residents in care homes or family members at home. This resource also includes links to additional courses that offer certification suitable for oral health champions.
We are currently trialing various methods to enhance the healthcare of residents, aiming to prevent unnecessary premature deaths due to aspiration pneumonias. We recognize the time constraints and demands placed on staff, and our initiatives are designed to support their efforts.
This was the original website I built for my patients, many of whom were carers. Their insights helped me understand the care they provide to residents in care homes, particularly the unique challenges faced by individuals living with dementia, such as my dad.
I plan to retain the website to experiment with different appearances and explore new tools. I encourage you to take a look, especially at the carers page, which features some innovative ideas and additional details not mentioned on this site that you may find valuable. I will also continue to add new content to this site.
“When the facts change, I change my mind – what do you do, sir?”
― John Maynard Keynes
One of the key lessons I remember from an excellent year-long BOULD dental business distance learning course—back when we didn’t have computers—was the importance of adaptability and change for success. I encountered challenges with my partners because I wanted to support the NHS, I moved and set up an NHS practice, that in 2006 which nearly led to bankruptcy, I sold to a corporate who threatened me with constructive dismissal when I posted my first YouTube video. Another struggle with a principle prompted me to ask a patient to file a complaint, ultimately resulting in my day in court and a fine from the GDC in 1984.
Fortunately, I am an optimist with a poor memory, but not everyone is so lucky. I developed an interest in Minimally Invasive Dentistry (MID) following loss of NHS funding, exploring topics such as the use of ozone, hypochlorous acid, volkscrowns, and milled occlusal veneers. My successes and failures are documented here. Although I created this content during COVID, you may still find it relevant. I developed my App to encourage and protect dentists from periodontal litigation.
Some of this may still be of value. We really need a DHS App, as well as the public.
I was a trainer for twenty years, and observed a decline in the clinical experience of young dentists. This situation worsened in 2020, as the influx of underexperienced dentists entering the field placed additional strain not only on new practitioners but also on their trainers.
In response, I sought to help by curating reasonable videos that demonstrate optimal and ideal treatment techniques, while also reaching out to universities for support. Although I haven’t reviewed the examples of gold and silver for some time, I currently have about thirty videos focused on prevention, complete with text and instructions on how to add your own voice and improve the content on the site or simply send to your patients, as they trust your voice, not mine.
I encourage you to consider the homepage as a valuable project for Foundation Dentists (FDs) and their trainers. I also plan to relocate the video library into the dentalhealthservice, incorporating improvements suggested by other FDs, Local Dental Committees (LDCs), study groups, and peer review groups.
When I developed my app six years ago, I recognized the need to create my own videos. I learned a great deal through the YouTube platform, and most of the original videos are still available for viewing. While the content has primarily focused on prevention and has remained largely unchanged, the visual presentation has gradually improved. I plan to incorporate SEO features in the future, but the current search functionality works quite well—just type in “DHS” for some ideas. Please subscribe, as this increases the likelihood that the public will find us.
The challenge with social media for people my age is that many of us aren’t familiar with how to use it, and we often feel self-conscious about our appearance. I don’t have a perfect smile, and as we age, we may either resort to a lifetime of fillers or simply end up looking tired. That’s why I’m investing in an avatar, which I presented in March 2021. You can use avatars yourself and even modify them from my YouTube Shorts.
Interestingly, I only receive attention on my content when I experience an accident on my bike, but one video stands out as having the highest number of likes—it truly resonates with my audience. Click on the pictures to see the difference…😅
There is nothing better than the natural teeth we are born with. Guided by the Hippocratic Oath, which emphasizes “do no harm,” we believe that the current NHS system and the discredited GDC should not obstruct our efforts to provide accessible dental health services. Our goal is to offer care that is free at the point of contact, and avoid unnecessary drilling.🤨