Assessment time

We don't like to rest on our laurels here at Wessington Way so have applied for re-accreditation in two national awards: The British Dental Association's Good Practice award and Customer First.

We are delighted to announce that we have achieved the Good Practice standard for the 7th year running, meaning that we have now gained silver membership status. Our commitment to Good Practice
is outlined below, in what we like to call our ten commandments!

1.   We aim to provide dental care of a consistently good quality for all patients.
2.   We only provide care that meets your needs and wishes.
3.   We aim to make your treatment as comfortable and convenient as possible.
4.   We look after your general health and safety while receiving dental care.
5.   We follow current guidance on infection control.
6.   We check for mouth cancer and tell you what we find.
7.   We take part in continuing professional development to keep our skills and knowledge up-to-date.
8.  We train all staff in practice-wide work systems and review training plans once a year.
9.   We welcome feedback and deal promptly with any complaints.
10. Every member of the practice is aware of the need to work safely under General Dental Council             guidelines

Two years ago, we became the first dental practice in the country to be awarded the Customer First award. We want to hold on to that prestigious title so are being reassessed this week. We will keep you posted with the results.

The results are in

Thank you to all of our patients that have completed our Customer Sure survey in the Practice. At Wessington Way we like to make sure that you are satisfied with our service and we are pleased to say that the latest results are very positive.

If you have any comments or suggestions you would like to make about our service, please contact the practice or send an email to enquiries@wessingtonway.com

Cake!

We just wanted to share a photo of the wonderful gift that Martin Anderson received from one of his patients. We are sure you will agree that there is an uncanny resemblance to the man himself!

Smile Month Winners

A big congratulations goes out to our smile months winners: Richard Nelson and Ella Ho.

Richard correctly guessed how many tubes of toothpaste were in our vase throughout National Smile Month. For those who entered this competition, the correct answer was 178!

Ella had the team smiling with her lovely picture in the "draw your dentist" competition.

We hope Richard and Ella are both "buzzing" with their prizes of brand new electric toothbrushes!

Investing in our people

At Wessington Way Dental Practice, we are strong believers in investing in our team to get the best out of them and to help them grow.

The practice sets aside 2 hours every Thursday lunch time to allow for team training. This training is very diverse ranging from dealing with medical emergencies to customer service role plays.

We also encourage the team to tell us what they would like to do to help them develop their careers. Our nurse Kirsty has just begun an NVQ level 3 apprenticeship in Customer Service. We wish her all the best!

Wessington Way Dental Practice supports the British Dental Health Foundation

For several years Wessington Way Dental Practice has been a supporter of the British Dental Health Foundation and we have regularly taken part in the Foundation’s annual campaigns – Mouth Cancer Awareness Week and National Smile Month – in fact, we are in the middle of National Smile Month right now, which anyone who has visited us recently couldn't fail to have noticed!

The British Dental Health Foundation is an independent charity dedicated to improving oral health – in the UK and around the world.

How does it do this?

• Free Dental Helpline for the public which offers free and confidential advice by phone or email (nearly 50,000 calls)
• Provides educational material for use by the public, health and dental professionals
• Raises awareness of the importance of oral health through campaigns such as Mouth Cancer Awareness Week and National Smile Month
• Magazine “Word of Mouth” and a blog which can be accessed along with other information, tips and contact details on the website www.dentalhealth.org

Wessington Way in the community

As part of National Smile month, Richard, Jayne, Emelia and Ashleigh visited Southwick Community School to take part in a school assembly on healthy teeth.

The children had a great time playing healthy eating games, learning how to brush their teeth and even dressing up like dentists! Click here to read the full article in the Sunderland Echo.