freshdental
The doors at Fresh Dental Care open at 8.30am to greet their first patients of the day. For the dentists at Fresh Dental Care, it’s another round of check ups, treatments and the occasional emergency patient who arrives at the surgery. Most appointments are booked in advance so the team know who’s coming in and, if it’s a diary full of routine check ups, each dentist can see up to 30 patients in a day.
The practice operates three surgeries Monday to Friday with a team of four dentists, three dental nurses, two receptionists and a practice manager. A hygienist is available on a Saturday morning.
Fresh Dental Care, on Collingwood Road, took over the Britannia private dental clinic in April last year, when it was successful in securing the tender for NHS services in Dartmouth – and are currently the only provider for NHS services in the area.
Practice Manager Sarah Merrifield said: “The Primary Care Trust identified a strong need for an NHS dentist in Dartmouth and we are really happy to be fulfilling that need. Our contract allows us to treat up to 5,000 patients and we still have availability to take on more patients at the practice.
Fresh Dental Care provides urgent and emergency access services for all patients in the area including holidaymakers.
Routine NHS charges fall into three bands of fees: band one costs £17 and includes a full check up, x rays and simple scaling; band two is £47 and includes check up, x rays, extractions and fillings, and band three, at £204, covers all of the above and also includes treatments such as bridges, dentures and crowns. They will always provide a treatment plan including any private treatments offered, so patients are always aware of what their treatment is going to cost.
NHS treatment is free for under 18s (under 19 in full-time education); pregnant women and mothers of babies up to one year old; pensioners on pension credit guarantee; and people on means-tested benefits.
The Fresh Dental Care practice also offers a full range of private treatments not always available on the NHS such as hygienist services, tooth whitening, white fillings and cosmetic dentistry.
Fresh Dental Care completes the group of four practices owned by experienced dentists Justin Marney and Greg O’Brien, who have been in partnership for 11 years. The other practices in the Group are Pure Dental Care and Dart Vale in Totnes, and Moor Dental Care in Ashburton.
Fresh Dental Care covers the entire Dartmouth area including Kingswear, Dittisham, Blackawton, Strete, Stoke Fleming and Brixham. The practice offers good disabled access and parking, and non-disabled parking is available on the road outside.
There are four dentists at the surgery who cover the three daily surgeries: James Richardson, who also practices at Moor Dental Care in Ashburton; Nicole Willing, who joined the team in May 2010; and Kathy Morris and Ranjana Charan who both joined in December 2010.
As Practice Manager, Sarah oversees the running of the practice. Sarah has been Practice Manager for three years with the Pure Dental team. Before taking the position she worked as a dental nurse for ten years.
“My role is to ensure the smooth running of Fresh Dental Care and making sure we are providing the services required to our patients to maintain oral health. In addition, I am responsible for maintaining our NHS contract. We maintain high standards of Cross Infection controls and I am a fully registered manager with the Care Quality Commission.
She said: “I work alongside Jennifer Oliphant, our administrator, who’s been working at this practice in Dartmouth for seven years. She has great local knowledge and knows all the history of the practice.
The Fresh Dental care practice was completely refurbished last year. It has a large, airy waiting room and reception, full sterilisation facilities and state-of-the art equipment.
On a typical day the three dentists are on duty from 8.45am to 5.30pm. On a Monday, the practice offers a late evening surgery until 7.30pm.
The reception area, operated by Jennifer and Joyce will be more than happy to receive calls from both existing, emergency and new patients wishing to register at the Practice.
First Published December 2011 By The Dart
