At our fantastic practice, as a dentist Wimbledon, we are pushing the boundaries of dentistry, opening up opportunities to our patients that you simply cannot find at other surgeries.

We have always seen dentistry as having a large crossover between general and family dental care. By integrating the services we deliver, we have gained the necessary funds to make new investments in equipment and training, pushing the momentum of the surgery forwards and increasing the quality and breadth of treatments in the clinic.

This has allowed us to increase the number of patients we see, while tailoring the experience to their individual needs. There are different considerations that we need to take on board when with each of the patients we face in our surgery.

The return of the family dentist

With increased mobility and families often living over wide areas, the idea of the whole family seeing the same dentist has become increasingly rare. But with remote appointments and a little innovative dentistry, we are bringing together multiple generations of families into the same clinic, which is something we feel is important in community dentistry.

The priority with our youngest patients is focused around education, how to care for their teeth and gums. This is partially because they have temporary teeth that require little work and any fillings or treatments would be excessive. Our time with a younger patient is better spent teaching them how to care for their teeth with good brushing techniques and general oral hygiene, preventing the need for treatment in the future. This is often a good time to begin monitoring how adult teeth may come through and consider the need for orthodontic intervention.

This is quite different from the care we provide to our elderly patients. For them, a trip to see our team is more focused around maintenance and assessment of any previously carried out work, ensuring all fillings are secure and carrying out any adjustments to dentures and other oral prosthetics. There is also a greater emphasis in screening for cancers and suspicious growths.

Maintaining dental records

One of the things lost when when families use multiple clinics and regularly change their dentist

is an inconsistency with their dental records. They may have procedures made in one clinic which are not paired with the medical staff of other institutions. The result is that some disorders and treatments can be missed or a genetic condition found in one family member might not be followed up by the another clinic.

Having records of multiple members of the same family can be extremely useful in predicting a patient’s prognosis and taking steps in order to prevent serious issues. It can allow us to map similarities in tooth position and vulnerability to cavities and oral cancers have all been noted in studies in relation to genetics. For instance if a patient’s family has a particularly high incidence of cavities we could apply a fluoride sealant preventively.

We continue to operate fully, despite recent disruption to many dentist Wimbledon practices and we are currently accepting new patients. If you are interested in becoming one, please feel free to contact our dentist Wimbledon. We can be reached by phone or email.