Practice Plan Perks

We would like to take this opportunity to remind all of our membership patients that their membership entitles them to more than just outstanding service and dental care! Your membership also includes access to the fantastic discount website, Practice Plan Perks.

If you haven't registered with Practice Plan Perks already, you can do so by clicking on this link https://practiceplan.corporateperks.com/login All you need is your Wessington Way Dental Practice membership number. If you are unable to find this, please contact the practice who will be happy to help.

The offers on the site change regularly. At the moment you will find discounts of up to 35% on holidays, 5% at major electrical stores and 5% at big supermarkets. The more you use the site, the more reward points you can save for better deals and even cash back.

Happy shopping!

You said, we did

At Wessington Way Dental Practice, we survey our patients regularly in order for us to continuously improve our services. We would like to express our gratitude to those that have taken part.

Our most recent survey has highlighted that a few of our patients have had to wait longer than they would like for an appointment. We apologise to any of our patients that have had to wait longer than they think is acceptable for an appointment and would like to offer the following explanation and advice:

We review our appointment book on a regular basis to try and ensure appointments are available. A patient is unlikely to wait more than 2 weeks for a dental treatment appointment however we do appreciate that this can be longer if you require a longer than normal appointment, or in the event of a dentist or hygienist being on holiday. If you have a dental emergency, we will always endeavour to see you within 24 hours and if urgent treatment is required, we will do our best to accommodate your needs. The practice operates a list for patients that may wish to attend for their appointment in the event of a short notice cancellation. We have always operated this priority appointment list, however, we feel that we can promote this service better by offering it to all patients.

Our appointment book is managed to try and offer patients a variety of appointment times that are suitable for them. Each dentist and hygienist works a combination of shifts to offer patients appointments on different days of the week including some early mornings, late evenings and Saturday mornings. These out-of- hours appointments always prove to be very popular and patients can sometimes wait longer for an appointment if they only wish to come at these times.

Many patients find it convenient to visit the practice for their dental health check and plaque control visit at the same time. We appreciate that this is convenient and will try our best to accommodate this, but please note that the dentists and hygienists only work at certain times together. We can nearly always book patients in sooner, if they are prepared to attend these appointments at different times. We are currently reviewing our hygienists' working hours and are hoping that we can offer more convenient appointment times in the near future.

Please help us to maintain out appointment book by giving us as much notice as possible if you need to cancel an appointment. The more notice we have, the more likely it is that we can offer the slot to another patient.

The Bridge

It has been well documented in the local press that the construction of the new Wear Bridge may begin next year. For the construction to begin, Sunderland Council require the land that Wessington Way Dental Practice is built on.

The current situation is that the Council have compulsory purchase powers over the Practice however, they have not as of yet chosen to use these powers. We want to take this opportunity to reassure our patients that we are doing all we can to safeguard your dental services in the future.

We will keep you updated once we know more.

Eat, drink and be healthy this Christmas

We all like to indulge a little over Christmas. Whilst we still want you to enjoy food and drink over the festive period, here are a few tips to ensure that you keep your smile healthy.

Try to reduce snacking. It is not about the amount that you eat, but the frequency that you eat. Eating a lot of chocolates in one go is kinder to your teeth than eating them throughout the day. Cheese is a tooth-friendly snack as it reduces levels of acid in the mouth.

Many drinks, especially alcoholic drinks are very high in acid and sugar. Try to cut back on acidic drinks and using disposable straws will reduce damage to your teeth. 

If you do not already have one, electric toothbrushes are on special offer at this time of year in many shops and they make ideal gifts. If used correctly, electric toothbrushes can be more effective than manual brushes. Ask your dentist or hygienist for advice.

Teeth do not make good nut crackers or bottle openers. Fact.

Happy Christmas!

Christmas Opening Hours

Merry Christmas to all from Wessington Way! Should you need us over the festive period, our opening hours are as follows:

Friday 21st December:         8am - 3pm
Saturday 22nd December:   Closed
Sunday 23rd December:      Closed
Monday 24th December:     8am - 5pm
Tuesday 25th December:      Closed
Wednesday 26th December: Closed
Thursday 27th December:     8am - 5pm
Friday 28th December:          8am - 3pm
Saturday 29th December:      Closed
Sunday 30th December:        Closed
Monday 31st December:       8am - 5pm
Tuesday 1st January:             Closed
Wednesday 2nd January:     Normal opening hours resume

If you have a dental emergency outside of our opening hours, please dial 111 to speak to an NHS service operator about your dental emergency.

National Customer Service Week

Last year, Wessington Way Dental Practice become the first dental practice in the country to be awarded the Customer First standard. This honour recognised that the practice strive to be the most patient centred practice in the country.

As we were the first in the industry to achieve this standard, Customer First wrote a case study on the practice's experiences with the awarding body. Click here to read our case study.

Also, this week is National Customer Service Week. To mark this, Customer First wanted to interview a prominent business leader in a customer-led industry and they chose our very own Martin Anderson! Click here to read his interview. You may be surprised by some of his answers!

Welcome to the world Sophia and Lily!

Wessington Way Dental Practice would like to wish our team members Amanda and Karen a huge congratulations on the birth of their daughters Sophia and Lily, respectively.

Good luck girls and enjoy them!