A Bit Of Hard Work Does You Good

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

A Bit Of Hard Work Does You Good

Hello again. I hope that you are well. Just back from Morocco with Dental Mavericks getting people out of daily pain. My 12th trip, I think. You would think that you just get used to it but it is always emotional.  

My wife picked me up from Hull train station and to my amazement BBC radio Humberside was on in the car and it was the football commentary (my wife doesn’t do football). She was gripped by the drama of it at the end of the season. However, it was not to be for Hull City to stay up in the premier league. Here we go again! There is now the possibility of more drama and excitement trying to get back and even possible Wembley trips again. Enjoy the journey of life!

We Were Absolutely Whacked

This trip to Morocco was backed by the King’s advisor so had a licence to treat adults as well as children. There were so many people! My word, I have never worked so hard in my life. My colleagues said the same. When you treat children there it is tiring but more on an emotional level. This is because they are children having teeth removed and doing our best to look after them with a language barrier demands total concentration in this regards to building a relationship with constant eye contact, verbal contact, body language and reassurance. It is like this with adults there and with our patients at home in Cottingham but more intense over there with the children I feel. It’s all about PEOPLE. Now with throwing adults into the mix there are the same challenges but also some very difficult tooth extractions, more often than not multiple. Well, with one after the other all day your body starts to feel it. I’m not getting any younger you know. I’m not joking; some of us were ready to drop at the end of each day.

Getting Rewards

The most rewarding for me is when we went rural up into the hills. There is more proper poverty here and people cannot access a dentist at all. We saw a lot of Berber children here. Our translators had to learn a bit of Berber as they did not speak Arabic, and then teach us a few words. These were so lovely, very stoic and appreciative. One little boy I treated had 4 teeth out in one go. He was only 6 yrs old and afterwards he hugged me and clung on like a limpet, he had a smile from ear to ear. It really touched me. This is when you know you’re doing the right thing when it means so much to be out of pain.

Unusual Name

One of the Berber kids had an unusual name. He was called Tagine. Our Moroccan translators had never heard this name before and thought it rather special. Pretty much every meal we had was a tagine of something. His parents must like their food eh?

Time For A Bit Of Awe

We have couple of lovely ladies that have done kitting for us to take out with us o give to the needy. Now, I didn’t go to the maternity but a couple of midwives in our group did. It was a far cry from the facilities we have here. Babies everywhere and not very clean. They distributed some of the lovely garments that Ann had made so there will be some cosy warm babies. I must say that I would wear some of the stuff if it was in my size.

Until next time. Take care and be good.

Chris


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 24 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 humanitarian work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk

Kick The Habit

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”

By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield

Kick The Habit

Hello again. I hope that you are well. Now then, last month a new report came out that I found disturbing. We are going backwards in child dental health. This particularly grates at me as in some remote parts of Morocco it is improving due to the ‘Teeth For Life Programme’ that Dental Mavericks have introduced, working with local communities.


So What’s The Habit?

The habit is SUGAR, too much to often. Even with good cleaning and Fluoride the balance is tipped in favour of dental decay when there is too much sugar. The other thing is that sugar is known to be worse than fat for obesity and heart disease as well as type 2 Diabetes.


What’s The Report Then?

NHS figures obtained by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) show there were 9,206 tooth extractions performed on children aged four and under in 2015-16, an increase of 24 per cent since 2006-07. The research by the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS), part of the RCS, is the first time long-term data for this age group had been published.

“When you see the numbers tallied up like this it becomes abundantly clear that the sweet habits of our children is having a devastating effect on the state of their teeth,” said Professor Nigel Hunt, Dean of the FDS.

Of the 84,086 tooth extractions on four-year-olds and under between 2006-07 and 2015-16, 47 were performed on babies under the age of one. The data is set against a 16% rise in the population of children aged four and under over the same period.

The Government has pledged to tackle childhood sugar consumption by means of the Soft Drinks Levy, scheduled to come into force in 2018, whereby manufacturers will be taxed for the amount of sugar they use in their products. However, Professor Hunt questioned whether the measure went far enough to successfully limit children’s exposure.

“Children can eat their daily amount of sugar at mealtimes with no problem, but constantly snacking between meals and bathing their teeth in fizzy drinks gives them no chance,” he said. “Removal of teeth, especially in hospital under general anaesthetic, it not to be taken lightly.”


Now This Bit Is Interesting

Professor Hunt added that people whose first contact with dentistry was when having a tooth removed were less likely to visit the dentist throughout their life.  

Now this makes things like a spiral getting worse. We see quite a bit of this in Cottingham, usually associated with the old school dentist and a bad experience. This creates a programme that is running in the brain. Our job is to provide an update disc. It’s not easy sometimes but so rewarding when we see the change in dental health and confidence just coming to see us. It’s truly “Life Changing”. That’s where we get our “Buzz”.


You Can’t Win Sometimes

As well as allowing their children to consume food and drink which are obviously sugary, many parents feed their children fruit juices without realising that these also high sugar content.


Showing My Age

Did you notice that the sweets above are old fashioned ones from the 70’s and 80’s.

Going to Morocco again with Dental Mavericks in 2 weeks. I’ll let you know how we got on this time.

Until next time. Take care and be good.

Chris