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History
The practice has been in Wembley for over 50 years. Many patients will remember that Blinkhorn and Aust were the original dental surgeons who started the practice on the High Road. The practice then moved to London Road where an old community medical centre was converted to provide larger premises. Martin Delahaye and Paul Hodge were the principals in 1994 and in 2003 the practice moved to the current site back on the High Road.
 It is worth reflecting on the way in which dentistry has changed over these years.
1950's | 1960's | 1970's | 1980's | 1990's | 2000's | Today
The early days of the practice of dentistry in the 1950's were characterised by a large NHS workload that was inherited with the inception of affordable dentistry for all within a national strategy for the first time. Years of neglect had surfaces almost overnight and patients were keen to have ravaged mouths put right. These were times of poor delivery of quality care and many patients opted for dentures to solve problems. Wholesale extractions were the order of the day for most dentists.
During the 1960's the development of the air rotor drill allowed cavities to be cut in a fraction of the time. This one tool allowed the emphasis of treatment to change from extractions to conservation both for adults and children. Amalgam fillings proved to be a universally successful material for conservation and was ideal for saving teeth in vast quantities.
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Developments in the 1970's are significant in a number of fields. Work carried out in Scandinavia into the causes of gum disease and decay showed that plaque was the cause of most tooth loss and that treatments were simple if prevention programmes were adopted. Hygienists were introduced into dental practices to provide oral hygiene advice. During this time dental public health was a revitalised science based on careful and compelling research. Examination of school children by a specialist Community Dental Service provided the basis for early education of parents and children alike. The orthodontic treatment of children took on a national role and for the first time most children had available the potential for straight teeth.
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It was the development of new materials that characterised the 1980's with new composite fillings and tooth coloured crowns becoming available. This era also saw the return to a two tier system as private dentistry began to develop and these new products were introduced to practices to offer patients choice for the first time.
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In the 1990's we see for the first time aspects of clinical governance dominating the decade. The setting of universal standards by the Royal College of Surgeons, introduction of Peer Review and Clinical Audit to dentistry and the introduction of robust legislation relating to health and safety issues. This decade put in place strict guidelines for practice and improved the quality of patient care without doubt. It also was the time when all dentists realised that the cost of working within the NHS was becoming onerous and at this time many practices converted their services to treatment within the private sector only.
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The new millennium has brought us huge change already. The success of osseo-integrated implants means that we are able to provide teeth again where there are none. This extraordinary development has taken thirty years of research and development and now provides the ultimate in dental reconstruction. Tooth whitening has reached a level where patients can again have a smile makeover with no drilling or filling.
With the development of IT systems our use of networked practice management tools has equipped us with systems that are fast, accurate, paperless and confidential at a level that constantly improves. Dentistry has concentrated on quality products, systems and equipment and the days of 'state of the art' technology drive every part of our daily treatment. Our over riding commitment is now the quality of the training that we provide our staff with. All staff our either qualified or training. All our team are committed to life long learning and all our audited against training needs and specific outcomes that the partners define.
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At Present
Looking back at the development of Central Dental Care, our practice development has been consistently ahead of its time because those with responsibility for patient care were able to predict trends, understand new materials and equipment development and its ergonomic advantage. The current partnership have reached the peak of development early by concentrating on putting systems in place for delivering audited patient care and delegating specific roles to carefully trained team members.
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