A quick update from us, and key info about Mouth Cancer Action Month!

We know that the current national lockdown has left many of our patients with lots of questions, and right now it can be hard to keep track of which businesses are still open, and to what extent. So, this week we thought we’d give you a quick update to let you know what we’re doing at AP Smilecare, and how we’re still working to deliver the highest standard of service to you, our patients.

Currently we’re still operational as an emergency dentist for Denplan, private and regular NHS patients. We are still accepting new Denplan and Practice plan patients, and performing routine examinations for all existing Denplan and Practice plan patients. On that note, if you are a Denplan patient, we’ll take a moment to clarify that there are no additional charges for PPE. We’ve made sure to absorb the cost of PPE for all our Denplan patients, so there are no hidden fees for you to worry about.

(Unfortunately we’re not able to take on any new NHS patients at this time.)

We’re aiming to get fully operational again as soon as the law permits, so that we can get back to providing a comprehensive range of dental treatments to as many patients as possible. But before we get to that stage, we’d like to quickly talk about another pressing issue that’s been on our minds.

Look after yourself for Mouth Cancer Action Month

Mouth Cancer Action Month is held in November of every year, and is supported by the Mouth Cancer Foundation and British Health Foundation – not to mention us right here at AP Smilecare!

Here are a few quick key facts for you:

• About 60,000 people will be diagnosed with mouth cancer over the next ten years
• Age is a factor, with people over 40 are the most likely to be diagnosed. However, more young people are now being affected than in previous years
• Tobacco is still considered to be one of the main causes of underlying cancer, from smoking cigarettes and cigars to chewing paan or gutka.

One of the most important things to remember about mouth cancer is that early diagnosis makes a huge difference to treatment and survival, so make sure that you watch out for the most common signs and symptoms, especially if you regularly drink or smoke.

Some of the most common symptoms of mouth cancer include:

• Lip or mouth sores that do not heal
• Unexplained lumps in your mouth or lymph glands (in your neck) that don’t go away
• A white or reddish patch on the inside of your mouth
• Teeth that are becoming loose for no clear reason
• Pain in your mouth or ears
• Difficulty or pain with swallowing

Some of these symptoms can be the result of less serious infections, but it’s really important to check with our dental experts here at AP Smilecare if the symptoms last any longer than 3 weeks. Just let us know the problem, and if possible send in a picture too, so we can get a closer look at the issue in advance. We can then arrange a checkup for you.

Similarly, if it’s been longer than 12 months since you last had your dental checkup, we’d also encourage you to book one, as it can be all too easy for dental issues like gingivitis or gum disease to develop in the meantime.

How we’re keeping you safe when you visit our Blackburn dental clinic

We understand that a lot of our patients are – not unreasonably – worried about visiting our dental practice in person, so we’ve made sure that we’re doing as much as we can to ensure your safety.

We’ve made sure that you can complete the majority of necessary paperwork online, and as we touched on above, we’re asking patients to send in photographs in advance so that we can assess problems with their teeth. This enables us to gauge what treatment you need well in advance, so we can book you in with a single appointment to complete the maximum amount of work in one go.

We’re also minimising the number of people in our waiting room by asking our patients to wait outside or in their cars if they turn up early to their appointments. Obviously, we’ve adopted particularly stringent infection control policies in recent months, including even more sophisticated PPE.

This is just the broad strokes of what we’re doing to keep you safe – trust us when we say that it’s our absolute highest priority. If you have any further questions or concerns about our operations or how we’re adapting to the crisis, or you’d like to book in for a treatment or checkup, feel free to give us a call on 01254 297 000, or email us at enquiries@apsmilecare.co.uk.