Welcome to our April newsletter. The spring has been beautiful and apparently the summer is supposed to be too (well, we can live in hope!).

Our main news is expected, however still will leave a huge hole within the practice and that is Mr Worthing’s forthcoming retirement. Mr Worthing plans to retire at the end of July this year. Many of you will know of this already.

Mr Worthing and his wife Helen established the practice 38 years ago. Dentistry then was very different. Practically it is all still about teeth and gums however, Mr Worthing and Helen would have seen many changes over the years with NHS regulations, cross infection, lack of funding from the government and staff changes. Now you can see for yourself it is a successful family private practice and a thriving business.

Although Mr Worthing obviously will not be practising dentistry,he will still be overlooking the running of the business alongside Mark, Rob and Louisa.

Patients of Mr Worthing are currently transferring over to Rob our associate.

So there we are, Mr Worthing is hanging up the forceps and the only drilling he will be doing are the DIY jobs that Helen has lined up for him!

Now for more news, we have a busy year planned for the Tupsley team.

Mark and Rob have been attending weekends away for their Occlusion course. As mentioned in our January newsletter, they will both gain more experience with jaw relationship (how your teeth meet) and headaches which they are learning are a common cause.

At the end of April, Mark is spending four days increasing his knowledge of advanced surgical techniques in a specialist centre in Leeds.

In May, the clinical team will attend the Biennial Implant Team Congress. This is a two day congress where we will extend our knowledge on implant treatments and the future of replacing missing teeth. Implants are becoming a more treatment option for single and multiple missing teeth and we are proud that our clinical team are trained to such a high standard.

Cosmetic dentistry is another area where we pride ourselves and some of you would have had treatment and a smile you would not think would be possible. Well now we can offer more tooth whitening. Lisa and Stella have completed their training, so at your next appointment with them why not ask them about a brighter whiter smile!

On the 16th May, Mark will be taking part in the Big Black Mountains Challenge where he will run 29km and try to beat a time of 3 hours.

Staying with a gruelling physical activity Mark and Rob have entered the 2009 Three Peaks Challenge. Along with 2 other team members they will walk 3 mountains in 24 hours and travelling between the mountains is part of the challenge.

The event is scheduled in June and the mountains are Mount Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis. The event is in association with The Fire fighters Charity. Will let you know how they get on in our next newsletter.

So that’s it for now, have a great summer and I’m sure along with all of the staff past and present we all wish Mr Worthing a long happy retirement and a huge thank you to his service to Dentistry in Hereford over the last 38 years. Mark and the Tupsley team can guarantee we will continue his legacy of a successful Dental Practice.

July 4th 2010

I was privileged to spend time on Tuesday and Wednesday last week with the six brilliant dentists who produced some beautiful dentistry on their lucky patients over the 8 days of the 2010 IRS (Intermediate Restorative Course), plus our two great instructors, Graham and Richie. This is what makes it all worthwhile for me – all those light bulbs switching on as they finally begin to “get it”!

Graham Browning (Lead Instructor), Nirav Thakker, Alejandra Loureiro, Rob Masters, Doug Rider, Mark Worthing, Sunil Mangla and Richie Morgan (Back-up Instructor)

The course took place over 4 2-day sessions in Poole, Dorset, at Richie Morgan’s Dentistry @ 68 Wimborne Road Practice, expertly lead by Graham Browning (of South Coast Dental Specialists, Wimborne) with wonderful technical support from John Wibberley and his team at Water’s Edge Ceramics, Saddleworth.

People are always asking me for the names of dentists around the UK they can trust – well now we have six more to add to that list: Nirav Thakker (Leeds), Alejandra Loureiro (Edinburgh), Rob Masters (Hereford), Doug Rider (Milton Keynes), Mark Worthing (Hereford) and Sunil Mangla (High Wycombe). A lovely group of skilled dental surgeons, any of whom I’d recommend without hesitation.

The SDS IRS Course has been running regularly in the UK since I attended the very first one, way back in 1987. Whilst the POS Course provides the knowledge and skills in occlusion it’s not until you reach IRS that those skills become second nature and part of every treatment plan on every patient.

IRS is all about treatment planning and making complex dentistry simple and predictable. Suddenly quite daunting cases become a pleasure and patients who have been used to being patched up receive comprehensive, long-lasting care. It’s a life-changing experience, as these six dentists will testify.

The dates for the next IRS course have not been finalised, but if you would like to attend please register your interest early and we will reserve you a place.

ARS (the Advanced course where delegates restore a full mouth under close supervision) re-starts at the end of this month (31/7/10). If you’ve completed IRS in the past and you have a patient that needs a major reconstruction with a change in vertical dimension … now’s your chance to join us. I think just one place remains available and this course will not run again for almost 2 years.