Our new digital scanner enables us to digitally scan your mouth to help you understand and visualise your dental health in a clearer way. We can also send images directly to our dental laboratory partners to enable work to be processed digitally. This improves efficiency with the added bonus of reducing our carbon footprint. Exciting times!
In June this year, Team WDC will be climbing Scafell Pike via the corridor route to raise funds and awareness for Our Dementia Choir. Following the success of our Snowdon fundraising, we felt ready to take on a new challenge. Bring it on!
To sponsor us please use:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/wollatondentalcare-1674412628751
We are open as normal at WDC, but please check the information on the notice if you have an appointment or are planning on coming to the surgery. Thanks
On Wednesday 2nd October we will be carrying out some essential maintenance work on our phone line system. As a result you will not be able to get through to us from 5pm on Wednesday 2nd until 8am on Thursday 3rd October.
Apologies for any inconvenience.
Image credit: https://www.oudtshoorncourant.com/News/Article/National/10111-broken-telephone-20170711
We are pleased to announce that we now have a dedicated recycling bin in our waiting room for all your oral care products and packaging. Please support us by bringing in your old toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes when you visit and any recycling will be converted into cash to support Cancer Research – so everyone wins!
More details below:
Toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and more could now be recycled in the UK after Colgate has announced a new programme in partnership with TerraCycle.
Oral care products have long been a bugbear of the zero waste world. Most manual toothbrushes are made of plastic and, if we follow the advice of our dentists, should be replaced every three months – meaning in the UK alone, that’s a potential 264 million brushes thrown away every year.
And though there are alternatives – the home-compostable bamboo toothbrush is growing in popularity – these are certainly not the most readily available, nor the cheapest, option on the market. Even these options often still have nylon bristles just like the standard toothbrushes.
Then there’s the question of toothpaste, which is most commonly packaged in squeezy plastic tubes, sometimes lined with aluminium or an aluminium-plastic composite. Hard toothpaste tubes are easier to recycle, but they can be fiddly and time-consuming to clean out – and even then, not all councils accept them. True zero waste pioneers might go for homemade toothpastes, but for many, the simplest option is continuing to buy those products that end up in the bin.
Acknowledging the problems caused by many oral care products, Colgate’s new, nationwide recycling programme will be accepting any brand of toothbrush, toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrush outer packaging, electric and battery toothbrush heads and toothpaste cartons.
Individuals, schools, charities, local authorities and companies are all able to get involved, simply by making an account with recycling company TerraCycle and signing up to the programme. People can then download a free shipping label, and collect and send their used items to TerraCycle, which will sort the materials and shred and melt the plastics into pellets for use in new plastic products.
Since the launch of the UK programme at 9am yesterday (1 November), around 350 organisations have already signed up to create public collection points, and TerraCycle says it will most likely be extending the number of spots available to around 1,000. Those not keen to set up a public collection point or drop their waste off at these locations can sign on as a private collector, meaning they can send their waste directly from home.
A unique element of the programme is that users are able to contribute to charity at the same time as recycling their items. For each shipment of waste over 200 grams, the sender will receive TerraCycle points, which can then be redeemed to the charity, non-profit or school of the sender’s choice. One kilogramme of waste will earn 100 points, worth £1 – so the larger the shipment, the greater the reward, making it beneficial for large organisations and councils to sign up and create community collection points.
TerraCycle, which launched in the UK in 2009, has set up a wide range of free recycling programmes for difficult to process items such as coffee pods, baby food pouches, cigarette waste and biros. All the programmes are funded by companies and brands looking to improve their environmental footprint by recycling their products at end-of-life.
TerraCycle states that more than 1,956,000 individuals and organisations across the UK have signed up so far, collectively diverting over 48 million items of packaging waste from landfill (around the weight of a jumbo jet) while earning over £664,000 for schools, charities and non-profit organisations.
Commenting on the new oral care programme, Laure Cucuron, General Manager of TerraCycle Europe, said: “Oral care products are used by all of us each and every day, so it’s one of the most frequently asked about types of products that consumers tell us they want to be able to recycle. So, we’re delighted to partner with Colgate to launch the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Programme which now enables everyone in the UK to recycle their oral care waste of any brand.”
Philip Durocher, General Manager at Colgate UK, added: “We really encourage people to take advantage of the programme and recycle their oral care products and packaging via the programme and tell their friends and family about this new recycling initiative.”
TerraCycle has already set up a similar scheme in the United States, which claims to have raised over $70,000 (£53,730) for charity. This scheme is currently not accepting new participants – so interested parties in the UK might want to sign up quickly.
For more information, or to sign up, visit the TerraCycle website.
Article credit: https://resource.co/article/colgate-launches-uk-recycling-service-toothpaste-tubes-and-toothbrushes-12932
Image credit: https://www.terracycle.com/en-AU/brigades/oral-care-brigade
Christmas Opening Times for emergency appointments only
Monday 24 Dec 2018 8.30am – 12.30pm
Tuesday 25 Dec 2018 – CLOSED
Wednesday 26 Dec 2018 – CLOSED
Thursday 27 Dec 2018 8.30am – 12.30pm
Friday 28 Dec 2018 8.30am – 12.30pm
Monday 31 Dec 2018 8.30am – 12.30pm
Tuesday 1 January 2019 – CLOSED
EMERGENCY SERVICE
Private and WDC Careplan Patients – Should you have any problems out of surgery hours, please call Nottingham Emergency Dental on 07769935142 OR call the NHS direct on 111.
WDC Away From Home Tele no: (Abroad) 0800 525631 (UK) 0800 525631
NHS Patients – Should you have any problems out of surgery hours, please call NHS Direct on 111.
For all routine appointments, please call back during normal opening hours.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
We wish you a Wonderful Christmas and a Jolly New Year.
Image credit: https://christmasstockimages.com/free/decorations/cyan_blue_bauble_background
Just a little note to say a massive THANK YOU to all our patients who supported our charity Oral B toothbrush raffle.
A total of £117.80 was raised for Macmillan Cancer support and we are sure that the lucky winner now has extremely shiny clean teeth!
Thanks again for all your support
Just to let you know that the practice will be closed on Friday 26th October.
We’ll be busy being updated on all the latest cross-infection protocols so we can keep the practice shiny and clean for all our lovely patients and also having our annual refresher on dealing with medical emergencies.
If you are in need of an emergency appointment please call the practice on 01159283253 where you will hear details of our emergency cover for the day.
We’ll reopen at 8am on Monday 29th October
Research led by the University of Birmingham has found that vapourised e-liquid fluid has a similar effect on the lungs and body that is seen in regular cigarette smokers and patients with chronic lung disease.
The research, published in Thorax and funded by the British Lung Foundation, shows that e-liquid that has been vapourised through the use of an electronic ‘e-cigarette’ boosts the production of inflammatory chemicals and disables key protective cells in the lungs that keep the air spaces clear of potentially harmful particles.
They found that vapour impairs the activity of cells, called alveolar macrophages, which are key to the immune response within the airways. Alveolar macrophages engulf and remove dust, bacteria, and allergens that have evaded the other mechanical defences of the respiratory tract.
The findings have prompted the researchers to suggest that, while further studies are needed to better understand the health effects of vaping on people, e-cigarettes may be more harmful than we think.
Professor David Thickett, of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “Cigarette smoking is associated with the cause of almost every lung disease – lung cancer, asthma, COPD and fibrosis.
“It has been suggested electronic cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes, and this narrative is increasingly supported by tobacco companies that have established research institutes devoted to generating supportive data.
“E-cigarette users have been given advice based on relatively little information. We hope that by disseminating this data as widely as possible the public can at least make an informed choice; the public must be aware that these devices are not harmless.
“We hope this information will be taken on board by advisory bodies when considering their public advice strategy. We also hope this highlights the need for dedicated funding and research to determine the long term effects of e-cigarette usage.”
Dr Aaron Scott, also of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “Several previous studies have examined the effects of unvaped e-cigarette liquid however, it is well established that the vapourising process changes the chemical composition of the liquid.
“The use of vaped liquid in our study makes this a better reflection of the exposure of the user, allowing us to examine whether e-cigarettes have a negative impact on the viability and function of cells called alveolar macrophages, which are key to the immune response within the airways.
“Our work clearly shows that vapourised e-cigarette fluid is toxic to living cells; increases the production of inflammatory chemicals; and inhibits the function of cells that are key to the immune stystem.
“Importantly, we found that exposure of these cells to e-cigarette vapour induced many of the same cellular and functional changes in function seen in cigarette smokers and patients with COPD.
“While further research is needed to fully understand the effects of e-cigarette exposure in humans in vivo, we suggest continued caution against the widely held opinion that e-cigarettes are safe.”
To find out the impact of vaping e-liquid, the researchers devised a mechanical procedure to mimic vaping and produce ‘condensate’ from the vapour.
They extracted alveolar macrophages from lung tissue samples provided by eight non-smokers who had never had asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
A third of the cells were exposed to plain e-cigarette fluid, a third to different strengths of the artificially vaped condensate with and without nicotine, and a third to nothing for 24 hours.
The results showed that the condensate was significantly more harmful to the cells than e-cigarette fluid and that these effects worsened as the ‘dose’ increased.
After 24 hours of exposure the total number of viable cells exposed to the vaped condensate was significantly reduced compared to the ‘untreated’ cells, and condensate containing nicotine exaggerated this effect.
Exposure to the condensate increased cell death and boosted production of oxygen free radicals 50-fold and significantly increased the production of inflammatory chemicals – more so with condensate containing nicotine.
What’s more, the ability of cells exposed to vaped condensate to engulf bacteria was significantly impaired, although treatment with an antioxidant restored this function and helped lessen some of the other harmful effects.
The researchers conclude that the vaping process itself can damage vital immune system cells, at least under laboratory conditions.
Article credit: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2018/08/e-cigarette-vapour-disables-key-immune-cells-in-the-lung.aspx
Image credit: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321130.php
Mouth Cancer Action Month is a charity campaign which aims to raise awareness of mouth cancer and make a difference by saving thousands of lives through early detection and prevention.
Throughout November, we aim to raise awareness to get more mouth cancers diagnosed at an early stage. By increasing education of the risk factors and signs and symptoms to encourage everyone to discuss these with their dental professional.
In the UK, more than 7,800 people were diagnosed with mouth cancer last year and globally there are in excess of 300,000 new cases every year.
The number of people being diagnosed with mouth cancer has grown by around a third in the last decade and remains one of very few cancers which are predicted to increase further in the coming years.
Although there are risk factors heavily linked to the disease, mouth cancer can affect anyone – that’s why it’s so important that we all know what to look out for. The campaign is all about taking action and promoting the messages:
This year, we want everyone to get involved, whether you’re on your own or as part of a team, we have numerous ways you can be part of the campaign and make a real difference.
Mouth Cancer Action Month remains a focal point for everybody across the country to act and help spread awareness of the disease. Your support for the campaign continues to grow year-on-year, as does our passion to reduce the number of lives effected by mouth cancer.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who continue to help us raise awareness of mouth cancer – your participation, no matter how big or small, is always warmly received and makes a huge difference to the campaign’s success.
Our thanks also to our sponsor, Simplyhealth Professionals and supporter Dentists’ Provident, whose contributions ensure we are able to reach the maximum number of people with our messages of education, prevention and early detection.
Since we ran the campaign 14 years ago, it has helped facilitate thousands of events and projects, and continues to act as the spearhead campaign for providing organised grassroots activities such as oral health checks and free mouth cancer examinations, talks, sponsored events, roadshows, displays, open sessions – all which have the ultimate goal of engaging people in the importance of being aware of mouth cancer.
This is just a small sample of what we have done for Mouth Cancer Action Month over the years:
Article credit: https://www.dentalhealth.org/mouth-cancer-action-month
Image credit: https://www.dentalhealth.org/mouth-cancer-action-month
