In any job, I think it’s fair to say that working for the same place for a number of years is quite an achievement. 10, 20, 30 years are all big achievements but this week we have celebrated our lovely practice manager, Vanessa, 40th year at the practice.

To put it into perspective, Church Street Dental Care has been open for 93 years (celebrating the big 90 in 2017!). Which means Vanessa has been part of the family for over 43% of our operational existence.

Fun Fact

On average, UK employees will stay with an employer for five years before moving onto their next position. So this is truly an incredible feat and we feel very honoured Vanessa has been with us for this time.

Times Have Changed

in 4 decades the world as we know it has changed. Technology is not slowing down any time soon. In the 80’s it was all about learning the moon walk, the Sony walk man, Darth Vader was Lukes dad (spoiler alert!), and live aid in 1985!

Then there were the 90s, was there room for Jack on the raft? (we think there was!), deciding which spice girl we are (Geri – union jack!), Nokia 6110 (snake) and footballs coming home (1996 was the first year for this!).

The naughties 00 – the millennium bug (Y2K), the millennium dome (short lived!), the first ever big brother (nasty nick!), you are the weakest link (Anne Robinson), Brad and Jen!

The tennes – is this even the correct term? Who Knows! We had our first iPad (what generation are we on now?), Lady Gaga chose a questionable outfit made out of meat….Will and Kate married (it’s been 9 years already!), Harry Potter ended. Psy gave the world gangnam style, and then we had the Harlem shake, and also we poured ice buckets over our heads for charity.

(A special mention to captain Tom who won our hearts for the work he has done for the NHS recently.)

Over the past 40 years there has been so many things that have changed that we could easily write several dissertations.

Dentistry Has Changed Dramatically

Vanessa has seen a lot of changes throughout her time at Church Street. One of the biggest changes which is hard to imagine in these modern days of dentistry, is the fact that back then we didn’t need to wear gloves when treating patients! Cross infection has come on in leaps and bounds which we have all adapted too (which is all in the best interest of the patient). So as you know we wear gloves and masks (which wasn’t required back then either) and this has again changed with the current covid-19 situation of PPE requirements.

Current Situations

The current Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the most unprecedented and strange time that a lot of us have lived through. Dentistry as you know has particularly been affected by the current crisis and the guidelines we have received have been limited at best (without much time for us to be fully prepared for the re-opening). We are all really happy to be back (albeit at a reduced capacity) to be helping our patients again.

That being said, we have a great team and everyone has pulled together to get us open to see our lovely patients again. Vanessa has again played a huge role in getting us ready and has helped keep the team motivated, sane, and reassured during this time of not knowing. She is a beacon of knowledge to the younger team (and older team alike).

Join us in raising a glass to Vanessa!

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Medical Forms

Introducing Patient Portal!

In these times, it is vitally important that we have up-to-date information about you, including your medical history.. We have therefore introduced a service to enable you to complete your forms online before you attend your appointment. You can do this from the comfort of your own home, minimising the amount of time you need to spend in the practice , safeguarding yourself and our staff.

You will recieve your links to complete your forms in your email and text message reminders prior to your appointment.

See the video below for a quick how-to guide on using Patient Portal.