We found out, without any prior warning at the same time as the rest of the country on Thursday evening that dental practices could re-open from 8th June. Since then, we have had mixed communications from our regulators and have been advised that further guidance on operating procedures will be provided to us next week.

At Brightside Dental, we have been working hard to do everything we can to be able to provide face to face dental care for our patients, however there are many risk assessments; team training; equipment tests and recommissioning; and the most challenging is sourcing the appropriate PPE required. None of these can be finalised until we have the further information by the government and our regulators.

We are doing everything we can to be able to open as soon as possible, however the safety of our patients and team members comes first and we need to ensure that can be met.

We will start booking appointments once we are able to and these will be initially for dental problems.

If you do wish to book an appointment, please contact us by email at info@brightsidedental. co.uk or message us via our social media channels and we will advise you accordingly.

In the meantime, if you do have a dental problem and need some help, we are available by email or phone.

Thanks very much for your continued patience and understanding and we expect to have a further update for you next week.

Brightside Dental will have been running for 10 years on 1st May this year. The dental practice was first established over 40 years ago and I have been working here for just under 16 years. Although current circumstances mean we can’t formally celebrate, this is a fantastic milestone we have reached.

I am hugely proud of the progress we have made at the practice during the past 10 years, which has meant we can serve our patients better by offering a wider range or treatment options; advanced equipment and technology as well as more comfortable surroundings. We have invested significantly in both financially and time in equipment, refurbishments and technology.

This started with becoming computerised on the first day I took over ownership; full refurbishment of all our treatment rooms and creating a dedicated decontamination room to various projects being worked on including contactless check in and departure when visiting us – which is now very relevant with Covid-19.

I would like to thank all of our patients, whether joining the practice recently or those who have been with us for the whole of my time here, with many who have been with the practice from the start in the 1980’s; our team members both past and present whose hard work and commitment has helped us progress to where we are; also all suppliers, coaches and consultants who have provided invaluable support and advice.

Although the practice is currently closed, I look forward to the (delayed) start to our next decade and look forward to providing the best care we can for our patients and continuing progressing in the ethos of Brightside Dental.

Ketan Shah. Practice Principal

For most of us, over the past few weeks our lives and daily habits have changed dramatically. Now more that ever, it’s important to have some structure and routine to help us through these difficult times and also ideally to be able to continue and maintain this once a new “normal” becomes reality. This situation will end and it’s important that we are in the best mental and physical state to move forward in the best possible way.

In these series of 5 videos, Brightside’s principal dentist Ketan discusses his morning routine and how the lockdown has given an opportunity to make these actions daily habits as part of a routine.

• Video 1 https://bit.ly/2wL95Hl
• Video 2 https://youtu.be/gQHlYLI7g4I
• Video 3 https://youtu.be/PNu0HnEjChs
• Video 4 https://youtu.be/8KiGp2dyg-Q
• Video 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUoWYURc2ZA&feature=youtu.be

Here are the links and information on the resources discussed in the video with details of offers available.

• Calm: https://blog.calm.com/take-a-deep-breath
• Daily Greatness https://dailygreatness.co.uk 10% with code DGJ10
• Lean Greens https://bit.ly/2XHZPir Discount code – BRIGHTSIDE10
• Peleton Fitness https://www.onepeloton.co.uk/app free for 90 days
• Robin Sharma – 5AM Club https://amzn.to/2VeEmMc
• Hal Elrod – Miracle Morning https://amzn.to/34Jvf9r

If you would like any further information from Ketan or any of our team, please contact us.

With the practice currently closed for bookings and us still being on lockdown, with many of our patients self-isolating, dental treatment is challenging to say the least.

We have been providing telephone advice and remote prescriptions where required for our patients. At the moment, we don’t know how soon the situation will change and when we will be able to start seeing patients for appointments.

During this time where many people are at home and possibly not working and having more time available, we are finding an increased number of enquiries for advice on treatments for smile improvements such as for crooked or misshaped teeth; gaps and missing teeth; and improvements in the colour of people’s teeth.

We are very happy to announce that we are able to offer FREE virtual consultations both for patients of the practice and friends or family members. The consultations can take place via Zoom, Whats App, FaceTime – we will set up the bookings to suit you and at a convenient time.

If this is something you would like to arrange or if you need general dental advice or would like to have a chat, please reply back or give us a call on 020 88884401.

In the meantime stay at home, stay safe and we look forward to seeing you in the near future either virtual or in person.

This is Easter will be different than any other for all of us. I was due to be going to Spain with my family for a week. Over Easter, usually we meet friends and family members and an ongoing tradition is exchanging Easter eggs. This won’t be happening this year. One upside, is maybe people will be having less Easter eggs and treats which are bad for your teeth.

What is likely to happen is that most people this year, will simply buy Easter eggs for themselves – that’s what we will be doing and yes we do have chocolate in my house (me included!)

Here are 5 tips to help keep your family’s teeth healthy this Easter and for the future. This is more important than ever before as with dental practices closed for routine appointments for the foreseeable future, you really want to avoid having dental emergency.

1) Ensure Regular and Thorough Brushing
Children (and adults) are not always fond of brushing their teeth and will sometimes go to great lengths to avoid it. Help them understand the importance of twice-daily brushing with books, colouring pages, videos, and anything else you think will help. Children need to be brushing their teeth as much if not more than they usually do when Easter treats are abundant.

2) Drink Water After Sweets and Treats
Water flushes away food particles that work with mouth bacteria to form decay-causing acids. Serve water with Easter sweets and encourage your children to drink it as they eat chocolate bunnies and other sweets. Wait at least 30 minutes after eating before advising the children to brush their teeth to avoid brushing acids into tooth enamel.

3) Avoid Snacking Throughout The Day
For the teeth, it is best to have sweet treats all at once and ideally after meals. The more frequent sweet things are eaten and drunk, the higher the frequency of acid within the mouth which is more damaging to the teeth. Also, please avoid sweets late at night and close to bedtime.

4) Avoid Sticky and Hard Sweets of Chocolates These should be avoided as firstly they can get stuck in the teeth and be more difficult to clean away. Also, these foods could increase the risk of breaking a tooth or dislodging a filling

5) Avoid Sweets Close To Bedtime Sweets and chocolates should be avoided late in the evening and certainly should not be consumed after brushing in the evening. When we go to sleep, there is much less saliva present in the mouth. Saliva protects the teeth and reduces the amount of acid present in the mouth, so the teeth are more prone to damage and decay if sweet things are had late at night.

If you need further help or advice, please give us a call on 020 88884401.

In line with government advice and to ensure the safety of our patients and team members, Brightside Dental is closed for appointments until further notice.

All appointments are cancelled currently up to 25^th April. If you do still have an appointment before then, we will be in contact with you to cancel it, however if you are able to reply to this email, it will make it easier.

Although we are unable to see you face to face, which with the industry we are in poses huge challenges, we feel there are many ways we can still help our patients during these uncertain times. Here are 12 ways (with hopefully more than these) in how we can assist you:

1. At Brightside, the practice may be closed, but we are available to offer dental advice. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, but it’s best to phone between 10am and 5pm, where one of our team would be available. Out of hours, calls are taken by a call answering service who would pass on a message to us to call you back.
2. Our emails are being regularly monitored so if you need any kind of assistance, please send an email and we will respond as soon as possible.
3. For all our patients who are part of our membership club, your monthly payments have been frozen to save on your costs. Apologies to those patients who are paying for treatments by direct debit and may have had an email in error – these payments continue as normal.
4. We have introduced the option of arranging a video call, which can be useful to advise on a visible problem and is particularly useful for orthodontic patients. We had a video call with a boy and his mum this week and were able to assess the problem and advise on what to do at home.
5. We are able to access your dental records and xrays remotely, which can help us advise you better.
6. If you have a dental emergency, we can advise on what you can do about it at home and if antibiotics are indicated, a prescription can be sent directly to the pharmacy. I had a patient call me yesterday who used to come to Brightside, but moved to Cornwall a couple of years ago. She was in a lot of pain due a dental infection and had tried calling every local dental practice to her but they were all closed. I was able to access her previous dental records and xrays we hold and give her advice over the phone and emailed a prescription to her local chemist for antibiotics to help with the infection until she is able to see a dentist.
7. We have had many calls from patients who are not registered with a dentist, or their dental practice is fully closed. If you have a friend or family member who needs dental advice, we are happy to help, however there will be limitations without having their records.
8. It’s more important that ever for your oral hygiene to be as diligent as possible. If you are struggling to source products you normally buy from us, get in contact and we should be able to post what you need out to you.
9. We have been and when possible again, will be carrying out some repairs and refurbishment work to minimise any disruption once we re-open.
10. We have already been working with some of our suppliers on ways we can improve bookings and appointments, as well possible methods of contamination during your visit with us, so that once we can re-open you are as safe as possible, as it seems Covid-19 won’t be fully leaving us for a considerable time.
11. If you are within a vulnerable risk group or self-isolating and don’t have support from family or neighbours, we can help with collecting groceries, supplies or prescriptions.
12. We are providing advice on taking care of your mouth and general health, along with advice on the common dental problems we encounter and what you can do at home if these happen. These are all on our social media channels along with latest practice news:

Facebook at www.facebook.com/BrightsideDentalUK 

Instagram at www.instagram.com/brightsiden11/

If you need any further assistance or have any questions you would like answered, please do contact us

Take care, stay safe and we look forward to seeing you at the practice in the near future

Ketan and the Brightside Team

It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform you the practice is closed for new bookings until further notice. This is in line with the safety of our patients and team members health being our highest priority.

As a result of the rapid progress of Coronavirus, we are only currently able to provide urgent and emergency dental care. 

We are able to send prescription requests to Clockwork Pharmacy for collection.

Our opening hours are currently very restricted. If you need to contact us, the best method is by email, to which we can reply even if not at the practice. We have an out of hours phone answering service who will pass on messages to us.

Please note, all existing appointments are cancelled until at least Tuesday 14th April. We are currently unable to book any new appointments.

We will keep you updated on changes in legislation and working patterns depending on the progress of the infection. There is a possibility, we may be advised to fully close the practice for a period of time.

All patients who are members of the practice, will have their monthly payments stopped until further notice. Anyone who has paid in advance for treatment or a deposit will remain in credit. If you would prefer to receive a refund, please let us know.

We will still help our patients where possible. If you need any dental advice or have a concern, please send us an email and we will offer advice. 

We are putting in place the option to arrange a video consultation with us to discuss your dental needs.

There will be regular posts on our social medial pages, where there will be the most up to date information and practice news; along with advice on taking care of your mouth in the best way to try and avoid dental problems while we can’t see you.

Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BrightsideDentalUK and Instagram at www.instagram.com/brightsiden11/

We are really grateful for all the positive messages and support from our patients and rally appreciate your understanding.

I have no hesitation that once this temporary situation is resolved, Brightside Dental will be back stronger and better to provide the service and care you expect from us.

Take care and stay safe

Ketan and The Brightside Team

Katy first visited Brightside 4 years ago, primarily because she had always been unhappy with her smile but had never found the right solution for her and it was having a major impact on her confidence.

Various treatment options were considered and Katy decided on having fixed cosmetic braces to straighten her teeth with our principal dentist Dr Ketan Shah. The decision was more significant in her case than most patients as the treatment involved extraction of 4 teeth before fitting the braces (for most of our patients extractions are not required). The braces were in place for 2 years.

Once the teeth were straightened, a course of teeth whitening was carried out to brighten up the colour. Katy had a further problem that a number of her front teeth were chipped and mis-shapen. After looking at different solutions, we carried out the relatively new Smilefast treatment of composite bonding on the upper front 6 teeth and reshaped the lower front teeth – this was done in 2 appointments to complete the transformation of Katy’s new smile.

As you can see from the photos, her smile is unrecognisable to 3 years ago and Katy is very pleased with the results; now smiling instead of covering her mouth which she used to; and is feeling much more confident.

If you would like to find out about how we may be able to help improve your smile, contact us on 020 88884401.