Hello - my name is Liz

If you, like me, have wondered for years what it would be like to smile knowing that people will not cringe at the sight, to bite into food with confidence that parts of, or entire, teeth will not them expect to be chewed rather than used for the purpose for which they were intended, or to live in fear that what you need doing at the dentist will remove the roof over your head and plunge you into debt for ever more, you are not alone.

If you have ever felt, or presently feel, physically sick at the thought of an extraction under local anaesthetic and the fear is worse than the pain of a toothache, you have come to the right place.

All of those descriptions are me - or were - me to a T.

I have never had nice teeth. I think that, born shortly post WW2, my parents wanted to make up for the shortages imposed by rationing. I was fed lots of bananas, oranges and  tomatoes, good cuts of meat, best English or New Zealand butter  -   and lots and lots of sweets and sugar. There would have been no fluoride in our drinking water, and no knowledge of its benefits or conversely of its dangers.

My parents certainly made me clean my teeth regularly but nevertheless I needed numerous fillings even in my milk teeth. 

By the time I was in my early 20's my teeth were a mess and I was scared of the dentist as each time I went it cost me vast sums of money, and  it hurt - all, it seemed to little avail as despite my best efforts the cycle of decay, damage, drilling, and distress to both my mouth and my bank account continued apace.

In my mid - late 20's I was working in the Middle East and managed to save a considerable sum of money. Shortly after I had decided that it would be spent on dental work, I was involved in a car crash which fractured my jaw and broke many of my remaining sound teeth. It was six weeks before I could leave the country to seek restorative work. I found a dentist in England with whom I felt comfortable - one of a rare breed! - and who was certainly very skilled and caring. In 1977 had extractions of my most badly-decayed and broken molars under concious sedation and a great deal of restorative work on my remaining teeth, including root canal work and several crowns. I could smile again!

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