"I just had complete trust in her so I was always very relaxed"

I first phoned broxden dental centre just a little over a month ago as I had braces up until a few years ago, but due to the passing of my mum in 2019 when I was only 20, I was extremely depressed and all oral hygiene just wasn’t a priority to me for a long time.

Over time, along with not having my braces removed correctly previously (there was still basically glue on my teeth causing things to stick to my teeth more) my teeth became extremely yellow, damaged & completely decayed.

The reason I phoned broxden was I am not currently registered with an NHS dentist, but I had early signs of gum disease at just 25 years old. All of my gums would bleed constantly, I couldn’t eat or drink properly so they seen me for an emergency appointment.

The initial appointment was with a fully qualified dentist there, who once I explained the above to her suggested I maybe go to the student wing to see if they could help me further, as finding an NHS dentist at the moment to fix my issues was proving extremely difficult.

When I first went to the student wing, they had a look at my teeth and listened to my story above and decided they would be willing to help me as much as they could, something I never expected at all. I then regularly started seeing Orla, who made me feel so comfortable throughout the entire treatment process, especially as I was so embarrassed about my teeth, she never made me feel self conscious about them once which was a huge relief as previous dentists have not been as understanding. Orla checked multiple different issues I had and very quickly put together a treatment plan for me.

It started with getting the gum disease cleared with anti-biotics and anti-septic mouthwash so my gums were healthy again. The treatment then went on to include removing the glue on my teeth from the previous braces, removing a tooth that had broken in half causing me a great deal of pain, removing plaque and filling in damaged parts of my teeth as well as various other things to try get my teeth as healthy as possible while making sure they looked as nice as possible, giving me my confidence to smile back.

This was all done just in the last month as Orla wanted to try do as much as she could to restore my teeth and give me my confidence back before she finished her training at broxden for the year as she will then be fully qualified in the new year. The time she has dedicated to me is absolutely incredible and I am so extremely grateful to have had this opportunity.

The change and impact this has on my life is beyond words, I even started crying when I first seen my front top teeth looking normal and healthy again as it has been so long since they have been like that, the difference really is insane. Orla kept me informed throughout the entire process, signposted each step at every appointment so I always knew what was happening and I just had complete trust in her so I was always very relaxed when visiting.

Also the supervisors at broxden who checked everything throughout the entire process, not sure of all the names unfortunately but mark being one of them. Also again not sure of all the nurses names but Steph and Ben were a massive part of this process and again, made me feel so comfortable and at ease.

All the nurses there were just so excited and happy for me when they seen the end result and if any of you read this, I just want to say thank you all so so much, honestly you really have changed my life and I will be forever grateful for all you have done for me.