A Blast From The Past

       “The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

             
    By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

  A Blast From The Past

            

Hello again and Happy New Year!!  I hope that you didn’t over do it on the turkey. Also no casualties on any caramels or nuts!

Filling In The Gaps And Then Something Different

A major way of improving your quality of life if you have missing teeth is to fill in the gaps.  This can give an enormous boost to your self-esteem.  There are several ways of replacing of missing teeth. Some are more successful than others. Some are more “lookers” than “chewers”.  With some you can look great and chew great.  Options available are dental implants, bridges and dentures.

Now For The Different Bit

You may well be fed up with me rambling on about how absolutely, excellently, superb modern day, 21^st century dentistry is and’ bigging us up’ and patting us on the back. I thought that I would change tack and have a look at some dentistry from the past. Tooth replacement goes way back and some of it is really ingenious.

In 1931 a jaw bone was found in Honduras. It was believed to be the jaw of a Mayan.  The Mayas were a very sophisticated ancient society originating in about 2500 B.C. They reached their cultural heights in from about 300 A.D. to about 900 A.D.  The find was believed to be from about 600A.D.  The jaw has three pieces of shell that had been shaped into a wedge design and been implanted into the lower jaw to replace some missing incisor teeth. Two of the shell implants had evidence of bone growing around them. I doubt that the long term success rates where that great though. Many different types of materials have been used to implant into the jaws to try and replace missing teeth including shell, ivory, bone and teeth from dead and living animals and humans.  There was no modern anaesthesia/analgesia back then so a whole lot of hypnotherapy would have been needed.  Mind you I don’t know what ‘herbs’ would have been available back then.

A Rooster With A Tooth In Its Comb!

In the 18^th century John Hunt, one of the greatest surgeons of his time, performed an experiment.  He transplanted a ‘living’ human tooth whose root had not yet fully developed (i.e. a child’s tooth) into the comb of a live cockerel.  The blood vessels from the cockerel grew into the tooth and it became firmly rooted into the comb. Now get this bit!  Hunter then advocated that when a tooth was to be transplanted into the socket of a missing tooth that there should be several young donors present.  If the first tooth extracted from a child donor did not fit the socket the socket then one from the next donor would be tried and so on until a good fit was achieved. The practice died out after repeated reports of failure and the transmission of disease had been recognised, especially syphilis.

You’ve never had it so good

I know I said that I wouldn’t go on about modern dentistry but compared to that lot I reckon it’s not that bad today.  I’ll zip it now. Honest.

Whoopy Do

I went to Berlin last month to an International Dental Laser Conference and also sit my final exams for a Mastership In Dental Lasers Diploma from the University of Aachen.  Well I passed and I’m really chuffed.  There was some cutting edge stuff there, it blew me away.

Until next time.   Take care and be good. 

Chris Branfield is Principal Dentist at Castle Park Dental Care, Castle Villa, 28 Castle Road, Cottingham, telephone 01482 772550.  He has been in dental practice for 23 years and has a special interest in life changing, pain free dentistry with dental implants, rapid teeth straightening and cosmetic dentistry. And, not only that Chris is founder member and trustee of Dental Mavericks charity- ending the daily dental pain of Moroccan kids. For more patient success stories and Chris’s charity work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

  By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

Dentistry Moves On At

Pace -3D Scanning

Hello again, I hope you are well.  Well, as I write Hull City are top of the table!!  The last 20 minutes against Middlesbrough was like an exhibition match.  A great win and performance.  Well done lads, lets get back up to the top flight again.  Somebody told me that last months article made them laugh and cry.  I must say that’s how I feel when I talk about our trips to Morocco treating the kids.

Dentistry Moves On

In September I went on a whirlwind trip to Helsinki on my quest to find the right Dental Cone Beam CT Scanner.  I wanted a machine to replace my film based large X-ray unit for 2D images of the jaws but also a machine that can give great quality 3D images of teeth, jaws and sinus.  I must say I was blown away by this kit.

To get a 3D scan we used to have to send people to hospital for a conventional CT scan.  This gave a very large image with a relatively high radiation dose.  Then we couldn’t read the data and had to send off to a different company to make sense of it.  This took time and was expensive.

With the new Dental Cone Beam CT scans we can get smaller, more specific images and the dose is reduced by loads. Also, they come with software that we use to view them and make accurate measurements.  This reduces cost somewhat.

Why 3D?                                                                                             

Normal xray images show detail in just 2 dimensions.  Most of the time this is enough but for more detailed diagnosis and treatment planning we need 3D.  It is useful when things are superimposed.  Examples of this include seeing exactly where a nerve is in relation to a wisdom tooth.  Another example is planning implants.  A normal 2D X-ray will show bone height but not how thick it is.

CBCT scan shows far more detail in 3D        

Detailed Dental Implant Planning

So, 3D planning can really improve diagnosis and planning and most importantly SAFETY.  I bet that’s got your pulse racing!  Ho Ho Ho, I know I am such an anorak.

Berlin Here I Come

Next week I’m off to Berlin to do my exam for my Mastership In Dental Lasers.  There is an International Conference at the same time and we have to do some case presentations to conference.  No pressure then!  Wish me luck.

Until next time.   Take care and be good.  Have a great Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Chris Branfield is Principal Dentist at Castle Park Dental Care, Castle Villa, 28 Castle Road, Cottingham, telephone 01482 772550.  He has been in dental practice for 22 years and has a special interest in life changing, pain free dentistry with dental implants, rapid teeth straightening and cosmetic dentistry. And, not only that Chris is founder member and trustee of Dental Mavericks charity- ending the daily dental pain of Moroccan kids. For more patient success stories and Chris’s charity work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk

	“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth” By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield It’s Been A Whole 5 Years Of Dental Mavericks
Hello again, I hope you are well.  It’s been another busy month.  I went out to Morocco with Dental Mavericks for our 8th mission to get kids out of pain.  It doesn’t get any easier but by heck it is worth it. Naïve Beginnings In 2010 a team of 7 including 4 dentists who had never met before went to the Village of El Jabah, at the foot of the Rif Mountains in North East Morocco, with the intention of improving oral health of the children there.  Well, what a shock!!  The kids’ teeth were terrible and many of them were in pain.  That first year we had to follow the lead of a small contingent from a Moroccan dental school.  It was heart breaking, especially in the morning.  By the afternoon we got to work ourselves and there was more fun and it felt like a lot more love in the room.  It was just a classroom with small wooden chairs (backache city).
Looking a bit younger in 2010
Building On Foundations We went a further three times to El Jabah.  There were always challenges.  Getting the licence every year was one challenge. Getting our equipment through customs was another.  Even with all the proper documentation from the ministry of health it was a problem. On the 3rd trip the trailer was impounded for 3 days.  We eventually got it and off to work we went.  We were still just fire fighting and getting children out of pain but gaining more and more trust. The group got larger and we had some regulars so we could get set up quickly and run a really efficient clinic.  We now had collapsible chairs to use (no more backache).
A proper little clinic
More Challenges We love seeing the kids and making a difference by getting them out of pain. However, our goal was to improve oral health through education and support with toothbrushes and toothpaste.  We needed buy-in from the school we were working with and the community.  Unfortunately, we did not get it. Now we are all self funded and it really did grate a bit when the teachers in the school wanted money off us. Oh dear, it does make me sad.  Even the guy at the “Hotel” tried it on with the money side.  Not Giving Up In June 2014 we went to the Atlas Mountains for the first time.  We went to the village of Asni were we worked with The Eve Branson Foundation (Richard Branson’s mum).  This was very much more organised as they helped a lot and we saw loads and loads of children.  We had sourced and ordered some portable dental units and had them sent by international courier.  They didn’t arrive.  They got stuck at customs for 11 months with a substantial ransom to pay for their release. We paid it but couldn’t unpack them until 18 months after buying them.   Oh, it is frustrating at times.
Asni Mavericks, we broke records here
Making Allegiances Back in Rif in September 2014 we teamed up with Rif Com,  a charity that does community projects for communities in the Rif Mountains.  They had just built a school in Khizana, and that’s where we went. This felt so right as we immediately had buy-in from the headmaster and we gained a lot of trust very quickly.  We were still just getting children out of pain but our educational message was taken on board.   At last our “Teeth For Life Initiative” seemed get some local support!  My son Edward came on this trip when he was 18.  He did well and he’s been on the two after that as well. Up In The Atlas Again Earlier this year in May we went back to Asni  to work with The Eve Branson Foundation.  Again we broke records in the number of children we saw and treated.  There was some confusion here, as we had a licence, then we didn’t then we did!  It’s never straight forward and simple here.  We ended up working in the Eve Branson craft place which was a bit weird.  A few of us climbed Mount Toubkal as a fund raiser (4167m up and down in 2 days, ouch)

Happy to get teeth out	Edward getting stuck in

A Big Breakthrough A couple of weeks ago I got back from Khizana on the 8th trip. There was a football tournament that was massive for kids.  We had, along with other dental practices sponsored a team.  We had Khizana Oranges.  I think they came last.  The funny thing was it was supposed to be a 12 and under competition.  One of our team members had a beard!! There was a bit of a going on that led to him leaving the pitch. Quite right though.  This was such a good relationship building exercise.
Spot the beard	Learning how to brush
Some kids are just cool	A great team of people
Then next morning I went with Cally, a fellow trustee who organises mavericks, to see the minister for health in ChefChaouen.  We were so close to not getting the licence but a great fellow called Mohammed who is a bit of an activist really helped us out and we got it.  The Minister came to see us work and we are now looking at a rolling on licence to stop all the messing about all the time.  Good stuff, eh? He Spotted Us Last year there was a young lad who had large infection in his upper and lower jaws with buried decayed tooth roots. His face was swollen and could get really ill.  I managed to get all the offending roots out and he was so chuffed.  He spotted Edward and myself at the football tournament.  A great moment.  He was Goalkeeper on the winning team!
Until next time.   Take care and be good.
Chris Branfield is Principal Dentist at Castle Park Dental Care, Castle Villa, 28 Castle Road, Cottingham, telephone 01482 772550.  He has been in dental practice for 22 years and has a special interest in life changing, pain free dentistry with dental implants, rapid teeth straightening and cosmetic dentistry. And, not only that Chris is founder member and trustee of Dental Mavericks charity- ending the daily dental pain of Moroccan kids. For more patient success stories and Chris’s charity work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

Zapping Cold Sores

Hello again, I hope you are well.  It’s been another busy few weeks. I’ve been over to Helsinki to research some new technology including dental CT scanners, laser mouth scanners (instead of taking impressions) and CAD CAM milling machines (to make crowns etc. straight away).   It was mind blowing, but I am a dental anorak!

Are Cold Sores The Bane Of Your Life?

I have banged on a bit before about dental lasers but the more I use them the more astounded I am with them, both with the experience and the results.  One treatment that I have done a lot of is treating cold sores.  We’ve done them at all different stages of development from the initial tingle to blister to crusty stage.  With the laser they clear up fast at any stage.  It’s just a WOW every time. In our experience it usually just takes 1 to 3 days to clear up depending on the size and the pain or tingling seems to go straight away.

How Much Of A Zap?

Well, not much really.  It’s a non-contact technique that involves just shining the laser light at two 

different intensities and only takes about 90 seconds per cold sore.  It seems crazy but it works.

 

  

A Big Thank You
It’s 5 days until we go to Morocco again with Dental Mavericks.  Thank you to everybody who has donated to help.  A really big thanks to Ann who has knitted some lovely clothes for the little ones out there in the Mountains.

Thank you Ann.  I love them and I know the kids will
Until next time.   Take care and be good.

Chris Branfield is Principal Dentist at Castle Park Dental Care, Castle Villa, 28 Castle Road, Cottingham, telephone 01482 772550.  He has been in dental practice for 22 years and has a special interest in life changing, pain free dentistry with dental implants, rapid teeth straightening and cosmetic dentistry. And, not only that Chris is founder member and trustee of Dental Mavericks charity- ending the daily dental pain of Moroccan kids. For more patient success stories and Chris’s charity work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

Record Breaking Mission

Hello again, I hope that you are well. It’s all go again on the Castle Park front.  I’m off to South Wales again for another three days advanced training course keeping up to date and adding more tools to the toolbox, so to speak.  Lifelong learning is crucial I reckon, for me anyway.

Would You Adam & Eve it?

Just a few short weeks ago I went back to Morocco with Dental Mavericks to get kids out of pain again (this was just before the mountain climb).  This was my 7^th Maverick mission. We teamed up with the Eve Branson foundation for the second time.  It’s great to work with partners like this and we are making progress with our ambition of an established “Teeth For Life Program” including supply of toothbrushes and tooth paste as well as the all-important dental education.

Record Breakers

Wouldn’t stop brushing!

We have come a long way since our first mission back in 2010 with just four dentists in a classroom and just the little wooden chairs.  This last trip we had five dentists and two dental therapists.  The fantastic thing was we had as many dental nurses. This meant that we could be so much more efficient and see more children and rid them of their daily pain. Also, going back to the same property meant that we had a game plan already and just set up and cracked on.  There are always challenges in Morocco and it always seems to be bureaucracy.

For some reason we couldn’t work on the morning of the second day and had to relocate to a different property that was smaller, so we had three chairs instead of five.  Eventually later on day two we cracked again getting everyone out of pain. In a day and a bit we had seen 340 children, actively treated 170 and took out about 400 teeth! Bless them.  Everybody got a tooth brushing lesson and a tooth brush and tooth paste.  We will also be providing enough for the year.

More Good Thing To Come                                          

Last year we purchased 2 portable dental units so that we could actually restore (fill) and save teeth.  This is particularly important for front teeth. BUT, they got stuck in Casablanca and held to ransom. Anyway, after paying the ransom they arrived in Asni in the Atlas Mountains.  We actually saw the two crates that they were in but we couldn’t open them let alone use them. This was a bit frustrating.  The good news is that they have been “signed off” and we will be able to use them on our next trip in September in the Rif Mountains.

Keeping It In The Family

My son, Edward, came on his second Mavericks trip. He’s grown in confidence and having experience working at my place has helped.  He was great with the kids, they loved him.  He taught them how to brush their teeth. He did very well for an 18-year-old lad.

Another Big Thank You to all who sponsored Edward and myself. To date we have raised about £1300.  Also a thank you to the Ladies group in Hedon that I gave a talk to.  They have collected a load of toothpaste and toothbrushes that we can send out.  That’s great stuff. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/castleparkdentalcare 

Until next time.   Take care and be good. Oh, and come on Hull City, get straight back up

Chris Branfield is Principal Dentist at Castle Park Dental Care, Castle Villa, 28 Castle Road, Cottingham, telephone 01482 772550.  He has been in dental practice for 22 years and has a special interest in life changing, pain free dentistry with dental implants, rapid teeth straightening and cosmetic dentistry. And, not only that Chris is founder member and trustee of Dental Mavericks charity- ending the daily dental pain of Moroccan kids. For more patient success stories and Chris’s charity work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk

Should It Stay Or Should It Go?

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

Should It Stay Or Should It Go?

Hello again, I hope that you are well. Well, it was my 20th wedding anniversary the other week. Time really flies. Mrs B has done well putting up with me for that long, she deserves a medal!

Inspiration From The Radio

I was listening to the radio, radio 2 in fact, and they played “should `I stay or should I go“ by the Clash. That was it, my inspiration for writing this month. When is it time to lose a tooth rather than try and save it? There are many factors to making this decision and it’s not just the dentist’s decision in some cases.

Is the tooth painful? Is it a straightforward procedure to save it or is it tricky, very technical and time consuming? It is a useful tooth or redundant so you won’t miss it? Can you see it or not? The decision whether to remove or not is based on these questions but also people have different philosophies, attitudes, wants and needs so not everybody will want the same thing in similar situations. Everyone is an individual so us dental lot need to listen.

All Cracked Up And Decision Made

There is one situation when the decision sorts itself out there and then. This is when there a vertical fracture of the root. This is one of the most common reasons that I place implants, to replace a fractured root that had a post in it.

Teeth with cracks can be saved with a covering like an onlay or crown that wraps around to protect and hold it together but once the crack has gone down the root and under the bone it’s had it.

It’s a bit mad but I’ve seen loads recently. It’s most common with teeth that had a lot done to them but you can see it virgin teeth that have not been touched.

It´s such a shame but this one has had it.

 It could be a hard seed or an olive stone. It tends to be people with a deep, heavy bite. It’s that heart sinking moment when you see one half of the tooth moving and the other half not.

A Couple Of Beauties Here

In situations like these, unfortunately, there is only one thing to do and that’s remove. 

Doing so as early as possible means that there is more chance of a successful replacement especially with an implant.

I’m missing the first Hull City home game as I’m off to Cornwall with the family in the caravan. 

Hope it’s a good start to the season.

Until next time.   Take care and be good.

Up & Down A Mountain- A Hobbit’s Tale

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

Up & Down A Mountain- A Hobbit’s Tale

Wow, what a 2 weeks that was.  Phew!!  I travelled to Morocco with my son, Edward to meet up with fellow Dental Mavericks (Dental Mavericks is a charity that I am a founder member and trustee of).  This was my 7th time going over to get children out of pain and the 2nd time in Asni working with The Eve Branson Foundation. 

As usual there was some bureaucratic and political nonsense to overcome so we lost half a day.  BUT, we cracked on and saw loads of kids.  We saw about 340 children, actively treated 170 to get out of pain.  That’s somewhere in the region of 400 teeth taken out.

Edward looking after a little one

After Teeth Out - Pain Free Dentistry

Then A Mountain To Climb

As a fund raiser we had decided to do a sponsored Mountain climb, as you do.
This turned out to be the hardest thing I have ever done.  We set off in the 40 degrees heat from Imil on a 6 hours steady climb to the Refuge (basecamp at 3000m)

Before The Crack Of Dawn

We went to bed in a mixed dormitory of bunk beds with no space in between so there were approximately 40 people.  Oh, we didn’t sleep. It was awful.  Anyway, up before daylight, head-torch on and crampons on. Yes crampons on!!  There was quite a lot of snow.  It was a long hard slog and after a time the snow disappeared.  I could feel the altitude effects of nausea and headache.

Always Worse Coming Down

I was rubbish coming down.  There was a lot of loose scree and I kept losing my feet.  I landed right on a rock, OUCH!  When we got to the snow again it was softer and slippy, we ended up coming down on our bottoms for good bit as it was safer.  After up and down the summit it was a steady trek down to Imil, it felt never ending.  A 14 hour day all together. Well, the next few days were interesting trying to walk.  Edward was fine as he has youth on his side.

All safe and sound in the end.  I went straight to a 3 day dental implant conference in Glasgow, I was so stiff!! That’s dedication for you. What an anorak!

I said there was quite a bit of snow

Edward and I at the top

Thank You, You’re Great

A massive thank you to all who have sponsored us
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/castleparkdentalcare  if would like to sponsor us or pop in for cuppa.

Until next time.

Take care and be good.

Castle Park - Supporting B1G1

What a birthday. Celebrating 8 wonderful years. 64 million smiles. from B1G1.

Oh, How Things Have Changed

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

 Oh, How Things Have Changed

 

Hello there. I hope that you are well. As I write it is a beautiful sunny morning. It really does make a difference. Well, my last trip to London for a 2-day course on Cone Beam CT Scans and teeth laser scanning went well.

 

I’m off to Leeds next week on a follow up so watch this space. This could be a real game changer and could simplify dental implant treatment.

 

Well, you don’t see this any more

 

Isn’t it strange how things change. Knowing what we know now you wonder how adverts like this could have ever happened. Dentists promoting smoking. A bygone era.

 

Now, not only dentists but doctors saying how one brand is less irritating and better for your throat!

It’s all change now

 

 

These days we obviously understand the health problems associated with smoking and there are much more stringent rules on advertising. I find these two examples almost unbelievable. Today there is a major push in the dental profession to heartily encourage people to stop smoking. In fact it now considered our professional responsibility.

It can be really difficult though. You don’t want to nag or upset anyone, you just want to help.

Hocus Pocus

Many years ago I did three hypnosis courses. No, we didn’t get each other to walk around like chickens or anything daft like that. I did the introductory, the more advanced and the smoking cessation courses. It isn’t Hocus Pocus at all. It can be a really good life skill. I was much better with heights after the second course.

 

What a result! It gave me a good insight and I found the stopping smoking bit really interesting indeed. Going cold turkey and shear will power can work but tends not to have a great success rate so you often need to throw everything at it. I don’t do formal hypnotherapy myself anymore but I do use a few bits and bobs that I picked up that can help relaxation.

Until next time. Wish us luck. Take care and be good.