Sunderland dentist Michael Oliver coast to coast challenge 2010

The date ...... Friday September 10th 2010
The place ....  Whitehaven , Cumbria to Sunderland , Tyne and Wear.
The task .....  150 miles of cycling

Olivers Dental Studio owner Michael Oliver foolishly accepted the challenge of his friend Steve from London and Harry Hall of Reds Hair and Beauty Sunderland to cross the country on his mountain bike at the ripe old age of 50yrs. Ego stepped in as he accepted the challenge to ride with these two experienced cyclists and of course the old fella decided to do it without training. Mistake number one...

Starting at the official kick off point at Whitehaven having loaded up with a chicken bhuna in the town the night before could be considered as mistake number two. Not the tactics of Lance Armstrong I'm sure. Whitehaven was like the M25 at the start but the c2c course soon thinned the field as we climbed up towards the Lake District. Destination Glennridding on Lake Ulswater for day one was manageable ,only just, with a comfy bed in a good old fashioned band b a godsend for the aching bones. Soaked to the skin but a good days cycling. At the back of  Michaels mind was the much hyped second leg from the lakes over Hartside Pass and down to Stanhope ,Weardale .

Michaels quote at the top of the gruelling leg to this Pennine summit " if I had seen a farmer with a shot gun I would have begged him to shoot  me "  Long periods in 21st gear on steep hills tests the metal especially when those who had abandoned their bikes to walk were travelling faster - but "I did not walk". Conned into thinking the pass marked the beginning of the long downhill to Sunderland, Michael was disturbed to find several more shocking ascents on the 69 mile ride to Stanhope.
Some gorgeous scenery but the price was a rear that could not be sat upon.
Day three was the home leg and apart from the torture of an early morning climb out of Stanhope the joy of a downhill journey to Sunderland. c2c fans will be familiar with a lovely old converted railway route all the way to Sunderland. It was a lovely day and after the hard work over three days Michaels home town had never looked better to him particularly the last section around the shrine that is the Stadium of Light.
Tradition has it that you have to dip your wheel in the sea to complete at Sunderland , and so to conclude a great three days .....

Another box ticked for this ageing dentist..

Would he do it again? - no chance
Should you do it ?  You bet, a fantastic experience.
Thanks to best pal, Steve Williamson for his effort in organising and convincing Michael that this was sensible to do
To Steve's wife Joan for her logistics, photography and morale boosting.
To Harry Hall for the laughs and Marshall Hall for making these three old blokes feel fitter than they otherwise thought.

2010 The Re Brand Year for Olivers Dental Studio Sunderland Dentist

Hi folks,
Sorry its been a while, but what a year it's been for us.......
2010 has seen in excess of quarter of a million pounds invested in our popular Sunderland dental studio with the aim of leading the way for our patients in dental care provision.
The dental market is a competitive world these days and falling behind isn't on the agenda at Oliver's.

Brand Oliver's
Our well known logo

As a large dental facility it became obvious to us that as well as providing first rate care in a high quality environment our corporate image was becoming important. Our old blue for boys branding was looking dated and a little cold and so with the help of professional advice and an imaginative team of dental nurses we changed direction.

Oliver's Dental Studio
Home of the Red Shoe Girls

Dental demand is often driven by the ladies and so a warmer and softer Burgundy shade was chosen to make the girls feel at home without upsetting the butch boys of the North East. We had a complete redecorate around these colours and our extensive team of support staff had a fashion upgrade. Looking great in their new black and piped red uniforms , we played our trump card ,red shoes !! Boy have our teams red shoes added to our branding. 

To compliment our internal changes we thought we had better let the world know we are here and so our front garden had a major hair cut and two new branded signs have grown in the garden. You may be able to see us from space now but boy have they had an impact.

Our most exciting 6 months EVER !

My O my have we packed a lot into the last six months at the studio.

Starting the building work during the worst winter in recent memory was a challenge to say the least but certainly brought out the best in our team.

Our plans to turn our facility from its well known ground floor development to a state of the art, three floor dental centre have now come to an exciting conclusion. From the building team, our fantastic staff and tremendously supportive patients it was a huge team effort.

We were delighted to welcome the North East football legends and radio celebrities Mick Horswill,Bernie Slaven and Bob Moncur as the official opening party in early April. The lads were fantastic and more importantly made me look a lot younger in this photograph.

Looking back , our building work lasted just over three months but included a Christmas break.Incredibly we lost only two surgery days,fantastic for our customer service to patients and keeping our costs down. Take a bow Wearside Construction Services.

What did we do ... in brief , new roof,loft conversion to full working office,staff toilets and showers,first floor patient lounge, two lovely new surgeries,a photographic studio,a facial spa for Botox etc,new staircase,air conditioning,childrens play room, new branding with furniture, carpets and redecorate. All adding up to an a stunning facility and a pennyless owner !

The winter was an exciting time for the team as we have won recognition on a National level. In January the team were proud win the Best of the Best Award for Extreme Patient Services in London . Challenging for the award were some stunning teams from around the country and so were we pleased , you bet !

Breaking news on the award front is that twelve of our team have just returned from the Probe Dental Awards in London having been highly commended by the judging committee - WOW ! One of the most prestigious awards in dentistry and we are highly commended, one proud dental studio let me tell you !

We now feel we can offer the people of Sunderland, Durham and Newcastle dentistry in a stunning facility. We have eight dentists offering all aspects of cosmetic dentistry form tooth whitening, porcelain smile makeovers and implants and wide ranging family dentistry with hygienist back up. We are a centre for facial aesthetics including Botox, dermal fillers and acid peels.

We always welcome new patients http://www.oliverdental.com

Call us on 0191 5282340

or be our friend on FaceBook at Olivers Dental Studio

or Twitter @sunderlandsmile

Spring is in the air !!

At the end of three fairly stressful months for myself and the team things are looking up...

1. The big expansion at Olivers Dental Studio is nearing completion as the carpets go down and the tradesmen jump ship.

2. Spring has finally shown its face after the longest winter I can remember

3. The team, all thirty of us, have been nominated for team of the year at the Probe National Dental Awards in London.

4. We won the Best of the Best Award at the MOPD National Conference in London in January.Reflecting excellence in marketing and extreme patient care, we were suitably proud to win this outstanding award.

5. I managed to get a four day ski break to France.Good news for me and particularly good news for the staff at Olivers who probably enjoyed the rest themselves !

France in the mountains in the spring - heavenly

Its been a pretty busy month as you can imagine but three of our dentists managed to attend a Face Peel course in Manchester. We are finding facial treatments are becoming more and more in demand as patients seek high quality facilities and clinical expertise for their Botox and facial filler therapy. Our face team have responded to the growing demand for the highly successful acid peel treatments now available for skin rejuvenation, by attending the highly respected CODE Acid Peel course.

As part of the Studio enhancement we now have a purpose built spa room for our facial treatments and tooth whitening therapy.Patients can enjoy relaxing music in a non dental environment with aromatherapy and skin care products at hand.Drs Crothers,Oliver and Bastey are highly qualified in the safe and painless administration of these "ten years younger " facial treatments.As the Face Team at Olivers Dental Studio, they will provide you with the very latest treatment procedures

Give our reception team a call on 0191 5282340 for more information on our feel good about yourself face treatments.

http://www.oliverdental.com

Our next blog will look back over the big expansion project with a before and after photographic tour - watch this space.

To finish, we would just like to pay tribute to the genius of Darren Bent at Sunderland FC. Not only a top bloke but a must for the England team in South Africa Mr Capello.

Botox at Olivers Dental Studio Sunderland

The Face Team - Olivers Dental Studio - Sunderland

Two years ago three of our team of dentists decided to respond to the growing backstreet provision of Botox t.m. and facial filler treatments in the North East of England. As dental professionals their knowledge of facial anatomy placed them in a position to be confident in the provision of some of today's more popular facial aesthetic therapies.

Dentists Michael Oliver,Claire Crothers and Gareth Bastey attended a highly respected course in Harley Street London to educate themselves in the skills required to expertly administer Botox and the Juvederm range of facial fillers.Dental degrees already offered them a great depth of knowledge of facial anatomy, particularly of the nerves and muscles of facial expression. Adding to that the expert guidance they received in London on Botox administration, prospective patients can be confident they are in very safe hands with the Face Team at Olivers Dental Studio.

In this video link Face Team member Michael Oliver demonstrates gentle Botox administration. Patients can rest assured that the needle skills of our highly trained team pretty much guarantee a pain free experience.

Botox is a safe and very effective way to reduce the lines of ageing that many of us would like to diminish to leave us with a more youthful appearance. A good friend of ours,Carol Stonnock,has kindly agreed to let us demonstrate the impressive reduction in skin lining she experiences with Botox therapy. In the photographs below our smile enhancement treatments are also clearly evident, Carol having had her smile enhanced with porcelain veneers.

Carol before her Botox

and smile enhancement

Looking good Carol, Botox and porcelain veneer smile enhancement. One happy patient.

If you would like more information on our excellent Botox and facial filler treatments or Olivers Dental Studio smile enhancements, please call us on 0191 5282340 or visit us on http://oliverdental.com.

What a week that was !

Most weeks at work are enjoyable but it needs to be said that the last week has been particularly special at Olivers Dental Studio.

Why you ask ?

Well let me tell you last thursday myself and our marketing team headed for London for our first ever visit to the famous Tony Gedge Marketing Pirates of Dentistry Extravaganza at the Russell Hotel . Courtesy of a neighbour we enjoyed discounted first class rail travel to make us feel special . Dental teams from all round the country, most of them big hitters in the dental world of this country, met up for a two day conference.Lectures throughout the two days were of the highest quality from some cutting edge guests including t.v. dentists,American marketing gurus and web star Guy Levine.

Socially it was a buzz as we met some of the dental twitter world and the friendliest most interactive group I have had the pleasure of meeting up with.

A brilliantly energising conference,anybody who hasn't been would be advised to make the effort for next year in Brum.Check Tony Gedge out on twitter @tonygedge and have a bit look at this fella @guylevine and also @LauraHorton1 another star of the show

Cream on the cake time for us - Olivers Dental Studio were voted Best of the Best 2010 by conference goers for our marketing push this year. An honour indeed in such company. Perhaps the only silverware to head Sunderlands way this year as our footy team seem to have lost the plot !

Returning to the studio with an award is just plain great. Particularly when we found the builders were off site and the decorator,well done Tony, was well on his way with a cracking job of our paintwork. The first floor landing here gives you a sneak preview of our new colour scheme,boys blue being dismissed out of hand. Gotta say the girls and Tony have got it right don't you think ?

The next two weeks will see us complete the decoration with a complete re brand of the ground floor and then the new carpets arrive to complete our biggest ever face lift. We are trying our best to get Britain out of recession all by ourselves. In the words of Tony Gedge,vanilla ain't good enough for us we are going knickerbockerglory with hot toffee sauce.

New patients help us keep growing, if you would like to join us as a patient at one of the country's leading centres of dentistry give us a call 0191 5282340. You would be made very welcome !

www.oliverdental.com

Nearly there - exciting times

So this is it folks, the starting gun in December 2009 at the beginning of the most exciting development in 25 years in the life of Olivers Dental Studio - Sunderland.

Our project ....

To provide a dental studio to the people of Sunderland and the surrounding areas as good as any in the country. The expansion will further enhance a multi surgery facility which if I'm honest, is already a source of pride to our team.

Our friend in the digger started an interesting four months with an expansion of the on site parking to allow our patients a more convenient parking experience.

A new roof added to the fun in mid winter with scaffolding and stress for staff and visitors. What is it they say , no pain no gain , glad its done though.

Onwards and upwards, the builders moved inside with the second and third floor revamp progressing at a pace. Two new surgeries, a photographic studio, Botox spa room and lovely patient lounge,all blossoming before our eyes. The loft space was totally revamped and now houses a lovely office space , easing all of our storage problems.

As boss, its clear that the most important decisions of decoration and carpet colour have been stripped from my list of responsibilities by a team of dental nurses whom I suspect, quite rightly, think they know better ! Rumour has it Burgundy carpets are heading my way , should look stunning. Watch this space.

The finishing deadline is rapidly approaching as we await the arrival of a stunning new addition to the dental team in mid February. Lyndsey Adams will be a fantastic addition to our team of dentists, having an award winning track record, we are delighted to have been able to attract her to Olivers.

Lyndsey will be offering all aspects of dental care but has particular interests in replacing lost teeth with implants and high end smile improvement treatments. A Scottish lassie, Lyndsey is married to fellow Scot Neil, a talented veterinary surgeon. She has a lovely nature and will be a great addition to a team focused on making a day at the studio as much fun as possible.

So there you have it, a little taster of the exciting changes nearing completion at Olivers Dental Studio.

It has been a challenge for patients and staff alike but the rewards for our patients should be significant, we are certainly proud of our achievements.

To cap a very exciting time for us our team have just returned from the prestigious Marketing Pirates of Dentistry Conference in London with an award to be proud of. Olivers Dental Studio marketing project was voted Best of the Best 2010 by some of the country's leading dental teams. We met some very talented dental teams and are very grateful of their support.

Keep an eye out for next months blog when a whole new dental facility will be on show. Thank you.