Welcome to our October Newsletter . This month is Breast cancer awareness month and on Monday 9th October all of our practices will be looking to raise awareness and raise funds for a charity that affects so many of us. ‘Every 10 minutes someone new is told they have breast cancer. The big Pink will help fund life-changing services so women, men, families and friends can get vital care, support and information when they need it the most.’ We will be thinking pink and will have several activities taking place to raise money so please do ask our team and read the display boards when you visit leading up to and on the day for further information We will have a raffle, cake sale and competitions running throughout the day or you may want to pop a donation in the charity box at our reception desks to help us raise as much as we can for this great cause. We hope you enjoy the trick or treats of Halloween.

Tooth Trauma! Article by Dr Elizabeth Hartle, Principal Dentist Tooth enamel is the hardest part of the body but if broken does not repair itself. Preventing damage to our teeth is important when playing contact sports such as rugby, hockey, Taekwondo. A properly fitting mouth guard can prevent hours spent having dental treatment. However, not all tooth injuries happen during sport…….falling off a skate board, flying over the handlebars of your bike, a slip at the swimming pool or a swing hitting you in the playground! Injuries to primary teeth are very upsetting as due to a good blood supply the mouth area usually bleeds profusely. Fractures to primary teeth cannot always be repaired but you can take comfort from the fact that they have replacements developing in the gum! Trauma to secondary teeth can be painful and distressing. There are many types of injury: intruded teeth (pushed into the gum), avulsed teeth (knocked out), fractures to the enamel, the root and the bone and expose nerves as well as soft tissue injuries. In all cases, you should try and attend the dentist. If a tooth is avulsed it should be stored in milk or in an emergency in the cheek of your mouth as this will prevent it drying out and improve its chances of survival if it can be re-implanted. This needs to be done ASAP! Intruded teeth can be gently extruded over weeks, mobile teeth and fractured bone can be managed by using customised splints. If jaw or other facial fractures are suspected, you would be referred to a maxillo facial unit. Accidents don’t always happen at convenient times so you should have a note of the out of hour emergency dental services number. Article by Dr Elizabeth Hartle, Principal Dentist Aycliffe Dentistry offer custom made clear or coloured mouth guards. Please speak to your dentist or a member of our team if you have any queries.     Watch out for our next newsletter as this will have some offers and discounts. We hope you have found our newsletter interesting and we look forward to seeing you again soon!