My outdoor adventures require a lot of kit (lucozade, ipods, Munsterlanders, change of clothes so as not to offend the parents on a Sunday afternoon with loathsome outdoor smells …etc.etc).  Said kit traipsed to the front door.  Key in lock.  Turn. Or not.   The bolt to my one and only door in and out of my maisonette flat is outright refusing to move. 

So here I am writing my blog whilst waiting for the emergency locksmith to come and rescue me.

It’s been a peculiar old week, involving several embarrassing incidents.  Happily I started my ‘official’ dental nurse training this week at Westmorland Hospital with the lovely people at Training 2000. Having had to forfeit my first lesson to drop matey off at the train station (www.skeletoncoastexpedition.com), I was keen to make a good impression (be on time, new pencil case etc.). However, I had been playing Russian Roulette with my beloved old LandRover’s diesel dial for a few journeys when Lady Luck decided to kick me in the teeth.  The tricksy dial had been telling me lies again, and Defender 90 konked out agonisingly close to Crooklands Garage.  One embarrassing call to the lovely people at the AA, and on the road again, arriving only half an hour late for my NVQ Level 3 Dental Nursing class. 

Aren’t the AA brilliant?  One of the very few organisations or people who unflaggingly turn up much earlier than expected. And with the doorbell ringing, local locksmiths too…

You may notice that I’m not around the office at Total Dental Ambleside very much anymore.  Much as I love chatting with our patients, I need to spend more time getting new ones!  This might seem a bit daft, as we’re always asking that you recommend us to family and friends if you have appreciated the dental treatment which we have provided you with.  However, the practice thrives from meeting new cosmetic dental patients, and that’s what Total Dental is all about – our patients.

Mike, Cheri and I like to keep you posted about what’s happening in the Booth world too.  Well we’re pleased to announce that Thomas and Elise (now Booth too) got married on 19^th September – and what a lovely day we all had.

Mike and Cheri are really busy right now and really are the back-bone of Total Dental.  I’m trying to convince them to take a bit of a break up to Sharrow Bay , one of their favourite hotels, to recharge the batteries.

Diane, our lovely hygienist, has got a place (again!) on the Virgin London Marathon next year, and I’m hoping to get a Golden Ticket place also, as unfortunately didn’t get a place in the ballot.  I’m hoping to run for Prostate Cancer.

Esme (who is a midwife and works not so far away from The Mall Dental Care) is preparing for interviews to become a senior midwife.  We all know she can do it – we’re very proud of her.  The Power Point slides are coming thick and fast!               

And the BF’s off on another exciting adventure.  Adventure Challenge Solutions took off to Namibia last week with Voyage Concepts on the Skeleton Coast Expedition.  Davy and a team of 14 other crazies head off up the Skeleton Coast from Luderitz, unsupported, on foot for over 300 miles, and hand-pumping water like fury using Katadyn De-Salination units – as the only water they’ll be able to get is from the sea.  Check out Skeleton Coast Expedition Davy Newell Interview Part 1 and Part 2 on You Tube.  He’s been sponsored by one of my best buds – the very talented Carole Harrison of Zoca Active, and also the team at Buff – who also sponsor my endurance rides.  The fruit cakes are back in the UK on 30^th October.

Anyway, was just having a coffee, basking in the Autumn sun, when a text arrived:

“Call me if you are up” cheeky ….”I have a huge favour to ask”. This was from Phil Broughton who I spend half my week with at his practice in Manchester. Very high profile. We carry out a lot of cosmetic dental procedures like veneers, crowns, tooth whitening, implants and orthodontics. And the favour was to see if I could see a poor unfortunate young chap who had come off his Mountain Bike at Centre Parcs at Penrith.

To make it worse, this guy’s sister and brother in law were both dentists and with him.

How grim must that have been for them. Away from home, no kit, helpless. The connection with Phil I hear you asking was that the brother in law was a delegate on Phil’s year long advanced cosmetic dentistry course, so not knowing the area, had rung Phil for advice.

So, of course I arranged to meet ASAP, before The Great North Swim traffic built up.

Actually that never happened. Everyone was either walking or swimming. Cones everywhere !!

Greeted at the practice with a broken front window, glass everywhere. I’d like to think it was a football and not a dissatisfied customer. Then Neil arrived. Poor chap cuts, bruises, distressed and in PAIN.

Anyway, no pressure Mike, role your sleeves up and work wonders…..with no nurse and two concerned dentists looking on!! I nearly said, well please feel to use my surgery. Anyway, thought better of it, and decided to use it as an opportunity to hopefully impress.

Not many people like going to the dentist, so it requires great people skills at the best of times, anyway, poor Neil needed that and massive TLC. I always like sorting out trauma cases. I know that probably sounds a bit ghoulish, but it’s the one time when you can really help a fellow human being. Neil’s worst problem was a fractured incisor, with a loose semi-attached fragment……and lots of exposed dentine….remember Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man !!….God that hurts.

Carefully administered local anaesthetic…instant pain relief for Neil, removal of the fragment, and tooth patched up if only temporarily. Didn’t give the tooth much hope really. It would definitely need a root canal, and then a  post crown. These always have a limited prognosis after trauma. I advised that he would probably be better having a planned and controlled extraction, and then an implant and crown. I took a panoral X-ray, and fortunately, no broken bones, or apparent problems with other teeth. Much better prognosis. But that was for another day. Neil definitely perkier now, and sent away with painkillers and anti-inflammatories. Can’t say another satisfied customer, but definitely a much less uncomfortable one…….Now let’s pick-up the glass and get the window boarded up.

Following day, Sunday, had promised to visit Eleanor up in Wasdale. It’s just like being a dental James Herriot!!. Poor Eleanor had had some elective back surgery in Manchester, very specialised and clever, but had started her orthodontic treatment some weeks earlier, and was now off school at St. Bees. She wasn’t able to get in a car, and she was overdue for some adjustments.

Cheri and I thought we’d make a day of it. We set off, and of course I’ve always had this innate ability to get to places without a map, and always know better than the SatNav. So what should have taken one and a half hours took two and a half!!

Have you been to Wasdale recently, or at all? God it’s beautiful, at least it is on a lovely sunny day. The best of the Lakes and no people. Eleanor’s  Mum and Dad have got an amazing farm of about 100 acres and look after Herdwick sheep and goats. I suspect it’s very hard work, and Mum and Dad hold down full-time professions as well!! Eleanor was in good spirits, and had even baked for us. My kind of girl!!

The teeth were looking pretty amazing and I duly used the couch as a make shift dental chair and did my bit. Will need to see Eleanor back in Total Dental Ambleside next time though, in a couple of weeks.

Back to Arnside, mowed the lawns and bed. It will soon be 6am Monday and back up to Ambleside.

This yearning has being going on for quite some time now, and something needed to be done about it.  In the beginning, there was riding.  Which tones ones’ nether regions slightly better than they had been toned before, butt (ha, ha) still, no Lara.

On the second attempt, there was running, which requires one Munsterlander, two Labradors, lots of Lucozade Sport (not good for the pegs, people) and Aerosmith.  And still, no Lara.

Things were getting desparate, and so on the recommendation of my pious, vast amount of weight losing sister, I joined Slimming World.  And then got bored and ordered a Chinese.

And so, it was a very maudlin Miss B. who agreed to join the bessie mate at Coniston this weekend and dog sit whilst he worked. Restraining over 100kg of dog ought to at the very least, sort the upper arms out.

I should explain…the fabulously organised Guide Dogs Coniston Team Challenge took place this weekend, with basecamp being John Ruskin School. The challenge consists of walking (or hauling in my case) up Coniston Old Man, then cycling through gorgeous Grizedale Forest , then hopping into a canoe to do a tour of the lake.  Easy peasy.  Although I could only do the hike (as dogs don’t cycle or canoe – ahem…) I was up for it.

The Team Challengers are looked after brilliantly by Guide Dogs.  Before setting off for the hike in the morning, the teams are briefed by Davy Newell, and his professional team of mountain and outdoor professionals. The challengers are provided with a check list of items that they must take with them for comfort and safety, and are even frisked for these before they set off on the challenge.  A paragon of professionalism, Mr Newell…

My safety briefing was, of course, just as thorough.

Him – ‘Right, got all the leads?’
Me – ‘Yep’
Him - ’Got a drink?’
Me - ’Yep’
Him - It’s up there (pointing skywards) - just keep walking until you get back down here – see you later’.

Marvellous.  Mountaineers and explorers clearly follow the same doctrine as dentists.  The nearest and dearest always have the worst teeth…

The Guide Dogs Team Challenge Event is so well organised, that they even have their own medic on site.  Jamie of Ex Meds (that ’s Extreme Medics…does what it says on the tin), fortunately, was very bored all day.  Which only fuelled his excitement for his up and coming contract in Norway.  During one of our many chats of the day – him having refused to dog sit so that I could do the rest of the challenge, we got talking about dental injuries and how many times Mountain Bikers actually do manage to head plant. Or, don’t stay ‘rubber side up’ – dude.

We were pondering on the many virtues of titanium plating for jaw bones (and shoulders, in my case, following a gripping horse-riding escapade), when I got a call from Mike in Ambleside.  He likes to tell us all about his exciting cases, and was phoning to tell us that he’d been at Total Dental attending to a mountain bike injury…

So like Mike says, he’s like James Herriot, but with a drill.

The joys of rural practice and living in Cumbria.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of our family dental practice. It is a privilege and great pleasure for us to be able to aim to provide you and your Family with the highest standard of dental and oral health care.

Please continue to refer any friends or colleagues to us, and accept our genuine ‘thank you’ for your future referrals.
We try to treat our patients with the utmost dignity, respect and compassion. And it’s very satisfying to see just how many patients pay us the ultimate compliment by referring their friends and family to our practice. We
are truly grateful for your trust.

For all my practising years, my motto as a dentist has always been The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that ’something extra’.
During the past few months, the practice has become the living embodiment of this as we have been upgrading the practice in Millans Park,
and Diane our hygienist has (finally!!) agreed to do an extra half day on a Friday! Many of you have been supportive and enthusiastic about the
new enhancements, with the more relaxing ambience and revived waiting area. We’ve even heard comments such as “I actually really look forward to
coming here”, “Can I stay longer?!” and “This is a major escape from reality!’. We are proud and certainly know that this is part of our goal of constant improvement.
Of course, enhancing our service is always part of that commitment.

Recently, Cheri, Chloe and I read a book by Dr Paddi Lund, an Australian dentist. His practice in Australia is now so well thought of by his patients that
he has to run it as an ‘invitation only’ practice. We would like to think that the practice in Ambleside is an ‘invitation’ practice, but that our patients invite their Friends, Family and
colleagues to join us – which we are pleased to say seems to be the way that the business grows, week on week.
We hope that you enjoy this edition of our newsletter and that we see you very soon.

Mike and the team

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