Dr Laura Sanderson Dentist

My dental philosophy is to educate, support and provide high-quality dental treatment in a calm, friendly and trusting environment so that patients are empowered to make positive changes to improve their oral health.

That I will always endeavour to provide the highest quality of care for all of my patients, with a major focus on ensuring the patient is happy, comfortable and relaxed during their visit.

I attend regular continual professional development courses and conferences, I also complete online courses and read dental journals / publications to develop my skills and knowledge in many areas of dentistry.

From a very young age, I always knew I wanted to be involved in a career in the medical /dental field. I was fascinated by the science behind it and even more so I wanted to help people. I had a number of bad experiences visiting the dentist as a child and these made me quite fearful, as I approached my teenage years I met a wonderful dentist who was kind, gentle and very skilled at what he did, he inspired me and showed me what good dentistry was, he encouraged me to pursue a career in dentistry.

I am very grateful to be in a profession where I am able to meet new people every day and provide a service that potentially improves my patients' quality of life; such as relieving pain, creating a new smile, and improving function. It gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction to help my patients and be part of their dental journey.

I have found that over the years of practicing dentistry that many patients are concerned that the treatment is going to be painful, and this can deter people from attending the dentist regularly. I try to reassure all of my patients that I will ensure that the treatment is as painless as possible, there are several techniques that can be utilised for certain procedures to reduce the discomfort, taking time to explain and carry out the procedures can help reduce patient anxiety, helping them feel more relaxed, which in turn can make things feel more comfortable.

Sometimes I find patients will only attend the dentist when they have a problem such as a broken tooth or experiencing pain. Fear of the dentist and financial burden can be some of the factors that deter people from attending regularly. I try and encourage all patients to attend regularly so that we can diagnose and treat dental disease early before it becomes a larger issue. By attending regularly we can also help to improve confidence about visiting the dentist and reduce the fear that many individuals experience. When we diagnose and treat decay early it is much less expensive and less time-consuming for the patient than leaving the decay to progress which would result in more expensive treatment modalities.

It is hard to look at oral health and general health as two separate entities as it is evident that they have a synergistic relationship. Studies have found a correlation between poor oral health and other systemic diseases such as the increased incidence of periodontal disease in patients with poorly controlled diabetes. A thorough examination of the oral cavity can often be used as road map to identify other health-related issues, prompting early referral for further investigation and treatment. Poor oral health comes with a number of consequences, diseased teeth have compromised function, aesthetics and may cause pain. This can result in reduced confidence, inability to eat/ speak properly and discomfort on a daily basis thus affecting quality of life and overall well-being. By taking care of your oral health, visiting the dentist regularly and maintaining a healthy active lifestyle we can improve both general and oral health.

I find it very hard to pick as I have 3 favourites; Grease, Dirty Dancing and Forrest Gump, I could watch them all a hundred times over.

Rockin Robin by Jackson 5

Any pasta dish, I love carbs!

Will Smith, he seems funny charming and probably has a lot of interesting stories to tell.