Mouth Cancer Screening

• A change in your voice – hoarseness can be an indication of mouth cancer.
• Pain or difficulty swallowing.
• Chronic bleeding in your mouth, not caused by gum disease.
• White or red patches on the soft tissues in your mouth.
• Ulcers in your mouth or on your lips that are not healing.
• Lumps and growths in the mouth or jaw area.

We advise making an appointment without delay if you notice any of these symptoms – don’t wait until your next routine dentist appointment. We can’t stress how paramount early intervention is when it comes to treating mouth cancer.

We recommend that patients come in to see us at least once a year. Lifestyle factors such as smoking and regularly exceeding the RDA for alcohol each week may warrant you coming in to see us more often. This will allow us to keep an eye on the health of the soft tissues in your mouth more regularly. We can also point you in the direction of professional services which can help you to reduce your alcohol intake and to stop smoking.

A healthy diet and limited exposure to UV and UVB rays will also help to keep your risk of mouth cancer low.
Nervous Patients

Helping nervous patients is one of the most important responsibilities we have as dental professionals. However severe your phobia of the dentist has become, we’re confident we can help you to relax in the dentist’s chair, one step at a time.

Caring and compassionate dentists at your service. Being successful dentists isn’t just about being highly skilled and knowledgeable medical professionals (though this is obviously important to us!).

When it comes to helping nervous patients, a warm and empathetic approach is indispensable. Both our clinical team and our front-of-house team are kind individuals who will treat you with the respect you deserve, and we believe no question is too trivial for us to answer. If you come in for a scheduled appointment, but you feel you’re not quite there yet with building up your confidence, it’s absolutely fine if you’d like to re-reschedule. It’s all about going at a pace that suits you.

Yes, and most of the patients we look after with dental anxiety tell us that their phobia can be traced back to distressing past experiences at the dentist.

It might be that you felt rushed into treatment, you were in pain, or your clinician didn’t understand your anxiety. In our care, you will never be rushed into treatment, and we will only proceed once you are fully aware of what’s involved.

Many patients find their confidence significantly improves once they have experienced the care of a team that appreciates the gravity of their phobia and that does everything it can to help. That’s us here at Loddon Vale.

Yes. If you would like to come and take a look around our dental practice here in Reading before committing to a clinical appointment, we’re more than happy to arrange this for you. This is a great opportunity for you to speak to our receptionist, who can answer your questions about our ethos and approach to patient care.

We see hundreds of patients who have been put off coming to see us because of the condition of their teeth. Taking the step to arrange an appointment is a victory in itself, and we are never here to judge our patients, no matter what the reason for their avoidance of the dentist in the past. At Loddon Vale, you will be treated with the utmost respect, and it’s our priority to get you smiling again.