As many of you will know, having seen our blog posts and our pictures of elephants in the clinic and on our website, we have been supporting the work of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for a number of years. It is therefore with much sadness that we must let you know of the passing of the Trust’s founder, Daphne Sheldrick.

Daphne founded the trust after the passing of her husband, David Sheldrick, the founder warden of Kenya’s largest National Park, Tsavo East, in 1977. Through her work, and the work of those who she inspired, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has made a huge difference to wildlife conservation efforts in Kenya, greater Africa and around the world.

Here are some words from Daphne’s daughter, Angela Sheldrick:

“It is all very raw but I must share with you the passing of my incredible mother Daphne Sheldrick.  What an example she was to us all, and I feel blessed to have been able to call her my Mum because she was quite simply ‘one of a kind’. She was a national treasure and a conservation icon. Daphne passed away the evening of the 12th April after a long battle with breast cancer, a battle she finally lost. Her legacy is immeasurable and her passing will reverberate far and wide because the difference she has made for conservation in Kenya is unparalleled. She will be sorely missed, but never forgotten, and this is what Daphne drew the most comfort from in her final weeks; knowing that her memory and work would continue with the tiny steps of baby elephants for generations to come and that the work that she pioneered has been able to achieve so much for wildlife and wild places throughout Kenya. She died knowing that she will continue to make a difference each and every day upon a land that she held so dear to her heart through the work of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, thanks to a dedicated team she leaves behind. Daphne was fortunate to live long enough to preside over mud baths at Ithumba with well over 100 orphans, ex orphans and wild friends frolicking, and be able to say to herself, ‘but for I’. What a gift she leaves us all with, as she really is a shining example of the finest of humanity. Thank you all for your love and passion and support.”

If you would like to help add to the legacy of Dame Daphne Sheldrick and the work of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust then please visit their website and read about the amazing work they do.

We get asked this question a lot (please do ask us again the next time you visit) so for those who forgot to ask, or who aren’t in for a while, here’s a nice and simple guide from the Oral Health Foundation

1. Place the head of your toothbrush against your teeth, then tilt the bristle tips to a 45-degree angle against your gumline. Move the brush in small circular movements, several times, on all the surfaces of every tooth.
2. Brush the outer surface of each tooth, upper and lower, keeping the bristles angled against your gumline.
3. Do this again, but on the inside surfaces of all your teeth. To clean the inside surfaces of your front teeth, tilt the brush vertically and make several small, circular strokes with the front part of the brush.
4. Brush the biting surfaces of your teeth.
5. Brush your tongue to help freshen your breath and clean your mouth by removing bacteria.

Remember, for great oral health:

• brush your teeth before breakfast and last thing at night, with a fluoride toothpaste
• clean between your teeth with ‘interdental’ brushes or floss at least once a day
• eat sugary foods and drinks less often, and
• have regular dental check-ups

As some of you might be aware, Bridge Dental Clinic helps and sponsors The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The aim of the trust is to help preserve Africa’s endangered elephant and rhino population.

They have recently posted an update about the rescue of a baby elephant they named Sagala (after the mountain which is visible from where she was found). She was found abandoned, dehydrated and with a pride of lions very close by.

This video shows images of the rescue:

but if you have time then it’s worthwhile to read about it in their latest update.

Here she is happy and healthy in the Nairobi National Park.

Thank you all for supporting us allowing us to be able to support a cause that’s very dear to our hearts.

Did you know that we offer free examinations for children up to the age of 16?

With a recent BBC News article showing that nearly 40,000 children a year in England are having to have teeth extracted, we feel it’s more important than ever to help you protect your children’s teeth.

When you visit Bridge Dental Clinic with your child we can also give advice on how best to look after their dental health at home.

For a little extra help, and before you come to see us, here’s a video produced for the Childsmile scheme from NHS Health Scotland which tells you how to brush your child’s teeth.

Remember, children’s toothbrushes should be replaced every 3 months, or when the bristles start to become splayed. We’ve got a selection available at the reception and would be happy to help you choose the best one for your child.

We’ve had a few people ask us about charcoal toothpaste, so we thought we’d update you with the latest medical research and share a more visual experiment by a couple of young dentists.

Firstly, dentists Jay and Luke did a bit of an anecdotal experiment and filmed it for their YouTube channel, Tooth be Told. They used charcoal toothpaste for one week, measured whiteness before and after, and found that it made no difference. They also noted that it tasted particularly unpleasant.

Although this isn’t a scientific experiment, it’s good to see and hear results from real people who happen to be experts in this field.

To find move conclusive results, we turn to The Journal of the American Dental Association. Their research indicates that further studies need to be carried out, but through looking at 118 eligible articles conclude there’s insufficient evidence to be able to recommend charcoal toothpaste as a way of whitening your teeth.

In summary, if you are going to try charcoal toothpaste, please make sure it contains fluoride otherwise you will need to brush again with another toothpaste.

If you really want to get whiter teeth then please book in for a consultation with Bridge Dental Clinic where we will assess you for a custom tooth whitening kit.

As Christmas 2017 fast approaches, we just wanted to update you on our opening hours over the holiday period and thank all of our customers for their support throughout the year.

We’ll be closed from Friday 22nd December at 12.30pm and will reopen again on Tuesday 2nd January at 8.30am. For those with an emergency over over the holiday period, please call 07911 721759 for the emergency dentist.  Over the holiday period there is a £230 call out charge as well as treatment costs.

2017 has been another busy year for the team at Bridge Dental. In April we welcomed Dr Ushita Shah (Ushi), to the practice and I’m sure you will all agree that she has been a great addition and has seen many of you on her first eight months here.

In July, Bridge Dental Clinic was also honoured to have won the Customer Services Awards for the best business in Guernsey. This was a great boost to all of us who try our best every day to help customers and each other.

Finally, at the start of December we took part in Save the Children’s ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ where, as well as a bit of fun, we helped contribute to the £652,630 that has been raised this festive season. All the money raised will go to helping improve the lives of Children around the world.

WOW, we were very happy last week to win the Customer Services Awards for the best business.  The Customer Service Awards have been running in Guernsey for around 9 years.  During this time I have seen many people be nominated and many people win, also others who were disappointed to lose.  I have been to the awards ceremony a few times and been delighted to watch the anticipation as those shortlisted have been read out and then the surprise on the faces of those that won it.  Never thinking that as a team at the Bridge Dental Clinic we could win, we decided to participate and encourage some of our wonderful patients to nominate us.  All we asked is if you feel that you get good service from this business, would you be happy to nominate us. People often say, ‘if you are not in the race, you can’t win it’ so we decided to be in the race.  Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business, everything flows from it, from our reception staff, to the dental teams. Not only are delighted to have won the ward it also shows that our we work well as a team and everyone here at Bridge Dental has a positive attitude towards all the patients who walk through our door.   Our beautiful trophy now has pride of place on our reception desk and we as a team are delighted.

Thank you to all our wonderful patients who felt that over the past year we had given them good service.  Many of our patients are nervous and phobic and all they want to do is get out the door as quickly as possible.  We are not a place that many people want to visit and we really appreciate when a patient takes the time to thank you or well done.  Teamwork is the edge that made us winners.

Thank you also to The Busy Bee Hives  whose role is all round customer service and who also sponsored the award.  They have written a really good article about the Customer Service Awards and its certainly worth a read.