Merry Christmas and a review of my 2009

Wishing all my readers a very merry and peaceful Christmas holiday and a happy and successful 2010

For me, 2009 has been dominated mainly by many great memories and good things happening despite the recession around us.

In no particular order ...

Impending Granparenthood- my son and his partner's first child are due in march 2010

Excitement and pride at my daughter's independant spirit as she travelled by train from St. Pancras to Moscow via St Petersberg and the took the Transmongolian Express via Russia, Siberia,Mongolia then on to China, Khazakstan back to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and home via Thailand and on her return finding her entrepreneurial spirit with interesting plans for 2010 

Web 2.0 has been an eye-opener as well as a door opener for me. I have made many new acquaintances some only virtual but in many cases real friendships have been struck up,

having met face to face with some Twitter buddies.  More "Tweet-ups" are planned in 2010.

Although I "do" facebook and Linkedin, for me Twitter has reaped the greatest benefit and rewards. Some new business ventures and opportunities have happened and are still opening up as a result of this activity.

At the Practice

This year we have also re-branded our practice and it now known as Richard Charon at Newbury Smile-Makers with new logo and stationary, business and referral cards.

Signage has been delayed as we decide the best way forward. One of the many highlights was the opportunity to see , hear and meet Paddi Lund in Durham thanks to Richard Fretwell of the Guidepost Practice near Morpeth. Following Paddi Lund's lead, we have taken our adverts out of Yellow pages this year with more critical non essentials to follow to add value to our client's experince of visiting us.

A new e-marketing campaign is underway with Mark Oborn resulting in one patient travelling from Norway to seek me just last week and another from Kent 2 months ago!

We have also had great success in training 2 dental nurses who are now highly capable, and an asset to our practice though yet to qualify and register


RA Courses and Teaching

There has been further interest and support for the teaching I do, running hands-on training courses for other dental teams in Relative Analgesia - The Happy Air method of light sedation to overcome dental fear and anxiety. We ran a course in Northumberland in December, our 4th away from Newbury, in addition to the two run earlier in the year in Newbury.

Additionally I have been comissioned to publish two on-line articles on the subject of Relative Analgesia helping to raise my profile as one of the leading UK dental practitioner experts in this field. One for the DentalAngels recuitment agency - surely destined to go far and one for a new on-line prescence for dentists dentinaltubules.com

We now have an extra course scheduled by request for January in Dublin at the specialist referral practice of periodontal specialist Dr. Paual Quinlan. We are oversubscribed for the next course in Newbury in Feb. 2010 and bookings have already been taken for the following Newbury date in May.

Quadrant

Just prior to the Dental Showcase Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, I became involved in a new venture with three others. The group is called Quadrant and offers a day of learning for dentists seeking ways to take their practices to a new level. Time will tell if it succeeds.

We have a promising start to 2010 with a number of patients lined up to begin some major makeover and rehabilitation dental work.

and finally .... On Jan 4th 2010, my wife, Chris and I celebrate our 21st anniversary at our Newbury Practice. We will be holding several events to celebrate during the year. So watch this space as well as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin too.

Thank you for your interest and support.

Richard Charon

Nice new testimonial

Dear Richard,
Many thanks for all your hard work, patience and perseverence. I hope that this testimonial is useful.Please thank 'the girls' for their care.
Best wishes
Sheelagh

"Richard has been my dentist for over twenty years – since he opened his practice in Newbury. His whole team are attentive, approachable and thoroughly professional.
The welcome one receives on arrival is warm and friendly. Chris makes an effort to be as flexible as possible in making convenient appointments and the care provided by all makes for a painless experience.

Richard always shows genuine interest and a great desire to achieve the best possible outcome. He is clearly interested and enthusiastic about his craft and is obviously fascinated by new techniques in dentistry. He explains clearly the treatment suggested and this inspires confidence.

I have recently undergone a lengthy and complex course of treatment where Richard’s meticulous preparation, technical skill and attention to detail throughout inspired trust. I am delighted with the successful outcome."

So if you know someone who would appreciate this level of personal care within 100 miles of Newbury, please pick up the phone and speak to Chris Charon on 01635 47757

Teaching and mentoring other dental teams

6 years ago I developed a one-day Hands-on Teaching course based in my private dental practice to encourage/enable dental teams to introduce “RA” as a service to their own patients.
So this Friday Chris and I are off to Morpeth, in Northumberland to run our 21st Hands-on teaching course in “R.A” for dental teams . We are being hosted by Richard and Josie Fretwell and the beautiful Guidepost Dental Practice who are Facebook and Twitter buddies !
What is RA? It is also called. Relative Analgesia. Happy Air, Happy Gas or more formally, Inhalation Sedation. It is a technique using a mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide to provide light sedation to anxious dental patients.

The strength of the mix depends on the patient’s response. So some people, including adults will be comfortably relaxed with a small dose of Nitrous oxide, others including some children need a much greater amount to achieve the same level of relaxation. It all depends.

Is it a new idea? . Not by any means, although there have been recent improvements for the dental teams in terms of equipment used.

The concept is simple. It provides a light level of sedation giving people of almost all ages a feeling of comfortable, relaxed, well-being which lasts only as long as the treatment session. Once the treatment is completed, the patient will breathe Oxygen for 2-3 minutes and will be ready to return to the patient lounge area and usually later can return to work or school as normal.
Want to know more?
So who benefits?
· Anyone who finds dental treatment scary!
· Anyone who needs lengthy appointments.
· Anyone who tends to feel like they might choke or have a marked gag reflex making dental treatment difficult, including having impressions taken or x-ray pictures in the mouth.

So if you know anyone who you think might benefit from this technique which could quite literally change their whole perception of a dental visit the please make contact with Chris on 01635 47757 or chris@newburydentist.co.uk