The team at Torrington Dental Practice are excited to announce that Sara Hurley, the Chief Dental Officer (CDO) for England, will be visiting the practice on the 19th of September. The CDO will be attending Peninsula Dental School the previous day to receive an honorary award from the University of Plymouth and has agreed to travel to North Devon to see what we get up to in Rural North Devon!The practice was very fortunate to have the previous Chief Dental Officer, Barry Cockcroft, visit the practice in 2005 when he met staff and patients to discuss the challenges facing NHS dentistry. Sadly, many of these challenges still exist, and there are increasing demands on the dental team despite chronic underfunding. This will be an opportunity to discuss these issues with the Chief Dental Officer, but it will also allow the practice to showcase some of the unique projects which we are currently delivering at Torrington Dental Practice.
- Care of the older patient – our focus on improving oral health for patients in residential care is based on a collaborative approach between our oral health and domiciliary teams. Our oral health team are working with patients and carers to focus on a preventative approach to improve oral health, while our domiciliary team are able to offer home visits to those who are unable to visit the surgery.
- Care of the anxious patient – focus on how the practice works with anxious patients to overcome their fear of dentistry and support them in caring for their own oral health. Our sedation team currently treat over x hundred patients a year which helps anxious patients overcome their fear of dentistry. This helps vulnerable patients improve their own oral health, avoids unnecessary suffering, and reduces the number of children attending hospitals for dental extractions under general anaesthetics.
- Environmental sustainability – our practice is committed to environmental sustainability and doing our bit for the planet. We aim to do our bit for the planet by adopting a green philosophy wherever possible: REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE. As part of our commitment to sustainability, we have recently installed solar panels at the practice, reduced our energy usage, changed to a GREEN dental materials supplier, implemented a more effective recycling policy for paper, cardboard and plastic, and developed a strategy to reduce clinical waste. This new waste management policy has been based on research undertaken at the practice in collaboration with Plymouth University.
- Research in primary care – Torrington Dental Practice is recognised as an active research practice by the Primary Care Research Network. We have undertaken various research projects with our partners, Peninsula Dental School, University of Plymouth and the Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP). These projects have included research into oral surgery referrals, delivery of person-centred care, the use of virtual reality goggles to improve patient experience, and environmental sustainability in general dental practice.
