On this Friday 8 MAY 2020 we remember the VE DAY CELEBRATIONS IN ENGLAND, 75 years on from 1945, when Winston Churchill announced May the 8th was a Public Holiday as the 2nd World War ended. People everywhere danced in the streets, including our Queen!
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we will sadly not have our street parties this year but we should appreciate how much healthier we are, compared to those of the same age in 1945. Then 70% of people had multiple missing teeth and gaps in their smiles. Today in the UK, less than 4% of people wear dentures.
The vast majority were smokers & smoking peaked in 1945,(an average consumption of 12 cigarettes/adult in the UK). This affected gum health, increased loss of teeth and stained those remaining teeth. According to the Telegraph in August 2019 about 14.6% of UK adults now smoke and the average smoker smokes about 10/day.
In 1945 people brushed their teeth on average 2-3 times a week and it was rare to use floss. In 2017 almost 88% of UK brush daily. Flossing or other interdental cleaners are now regularly used as part of our daily routine. This has improved our oral health and with fluoride toothpaste reduces decay & tooth loss. Good gingival health has been shown to reduce inflammation in the gums that can release C-reactive proteins in the bloodstream. Increased levels of C-reactive proteins are associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Now we keep so many more teeth we can enjoy crunchy vegetables, salads & fruit! Even though Covid 19 has taken us back to medieval Plague ridden times, we are so much healthier than we ever were and we will get through this and dance and hug our family and friends again!
At Upper Berkeley Dental Care, we have always taken cross-infections control seriously; even before the Quality Care Commission inspected our practices. Every item we use is either disposable or sterilised. Between each patient coming into the surgery, it was thoroughly cleaned & disinfected all disposable items were thrown and clean sterile instruments were used for the next one.
On Sunday 10th May, Boris Johnson will announce his plan for unlocking the country and I hope we will return to work as soon as possible. However, the world will be very different. We will be wearing gowns different face-masks, hats & gloves, but underneath it all we are the same smiley girls!! It will take longer to change the surgeries over and with 2meter distancing we can have only one person waiting in reception, unless they are from the same household. Coming early for an appointment thus will not be possible (even though in the past, they were our favourite patients!). Your safety is of paramount importance! We will nearer the time to give you an outline of each visit.
Myself, Ilaria, the hygienists Jurate and Ciara, all the nurses: Lucy (returning after her maternity leave) Andrea, Michaela and Diana have really missed you all & are so looking forward to seeing you again when we re-open. On Bank Holiday Friday as we all bask in the sunshine please remember and sing along with dame Vera that;
“I know we’ll meet again some sunny day!”
