Team Members

The Team

We have an experienced team, all committed to providing the best care possible.

We frequently attend training courses, and scour the dental press and internet to uncover the latest advances. An example of this is the introduction of HealOzone, where we were one of the first wave of practices in the world to use this technology.

We have weekly team meetings to discuss and improve our service to you.We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of cross-infection control, and health and safety compliance. We have a checking protocol and timetable to ensure all the equipment being used is maintained and operating safely and effectively. We use the protocols designed and agreed by the British Dental Association.

Ray Steggles BDS, MBA, MSc (Distinction)

Ray Steggles is the principal and practice owner, qualifying BDS in 1976 at the University of London. He is registered (No 50614) with the General Dental Council, the regulatory body for dentistry in the UK, and is a member of the British Dental Association and Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He is Honorary Dental Surgeon for Worcestershire County Cricket Club. He has a wealth of further experience and training.

Qualifications

BDS Bachelor of Dental Surgery (1976) University of London. This is his dental qualification, entitling registration on the dental register.

MBA Master of Business Administration (1989) Aston University. Specializing in information management.

MSc Master of Science with Distinction(2006) Open University. Frontiers of Medical Science specializing in the molecular medical aspects of human bacterial infections .

Experience

  • Following dental qualification he gained experience in the Community Service treating children and people with special needs. This experience has been invaluable in developing the skills to help very nervous people.
  • He worked in General Dental Practice as an associate before starting his own practice. Initially his practice was totally NHS, then after further training in cosmetic dentistry and endodontics he gradually changed the balance of his practice from NHS, becoming mixed NHS and private, and since 2002 totally private. This allows him to make full use of his skills, which would be impossible within the NHS.
  • He trained in forensic odontology as a clinical assistant in the Department of Forensic Medicine at The Royal London Hospital , attending courses and meetings in Europe and North America. He lectured to the British Association for Forensic Odontology, and at the National Police College, Bramshill. He was a member of the British Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the Forensic Medicine Society. He assisted in 200 suspicious deaths, including 40 of murder, involving dental identification or bite mark evidence.
  • He has undertaken further training in medical and dental hypnosis.
  • He has undertaken further study of, and has a particular interests in, Aesthetic Dentistry and Endodontics. He currently spends about 50% of treatment time carrying out these types of treatment. These equip him well to treat people with the effects of dental trauma.

Interests relating to dental treatment

  • These revolve around the control of human diseases of bacterial origin, particularly dental diseases of the crown (dental caries) and root system of teeth and the supporting bone (endodontic and periodontal infections). To understand these processes detailed knowledge of effects of nutrition, human immune responses, and bacterial adaptation is required.
  • He is developing a model of bacterial interactions, the MEASORG (Micro-Environmentally Adapting Slime ORGanism) to identify novel ways for us to intervene and control disease before damage is caused. Disease control may be highly complex requiring considerable scientific advances, extensive research facilities and expensive drugs,  or simple home-care measures such as brushing and dietary control.
  • The model highlights some procedures, not yet incorporated into treatment methods elsewhere, which are of significant advantage for controlling disease.
  • These interests bridge academic science with clinical care, where possible bringing ground-breaking and world-leading advances to his patients.
  • He has developed a unique mixture of antibiotic and quorum sensing inhibitor. This is the first example of using quorum sensing inhibitors to treat human disease. He is making efforts to set up clinical trials, but this is proving more time-consuming and difficult than first imagined. The current hold up is the refusal of a company providing one of the ingredients to cooperate to gain MHRA(Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency) approval for its use in trials. To overcome this Ray is growing the plant involved and will then attempt to extract the active ingredients. If successful he will then seek MHRA approval and proceed with securing funding for the trial.

Other team members

Graham

Graham is the practice manager, and has been so for thirteen years. He is responsible for the running of the practice, administrative arrangements, and staff.

He joined us following twenty years as a manager for Thomas Cook. His management , customer service experience and day to day running of the practice has been invaluable in the development of the practice from an NHS to a mixed NHS and private practice, and now to a fully private practice.

He has been on numerous dental courses to augment his management abilities, and is knowledgeable about all the dental procedures we undertake, and able to give advice on dental care.

We hope you don't need to, but should you have any reason for complaint, Graham is your first point of contact.

Nina

Nina has been nursing with us for eleven years. She is a dental nurse registered with the General Dental Council.

She comes with a background in retail management and customer care. She has great empathy for patients, having had extensive orthodontic, endodontic and restorative treatment. She will often remind us of what the patient's viewpoint is likely to be, should we be considering extensive courses of treatment.

If you are apprehensive about anything she is a good person to talk to, and she will look after your interests.

Liz

Liz is a registered dental hygienist, having qualified at Leeds Dental School in 1980. She works with us on a part-time basis.

In addition to routine hygienist duties she is a mine of information about dry mouth problems and aids to oral hygiene.

When Nina is away you will often see her helping the dentist in surgery. Prior to undertaking the hygienist training Liz qualified as a dental nurse.