Dentist Oksana Molodyka, who practises with Brighter Dental in Saltash, recently completed a challenging Post Graduate Diploma in Endodontics with Eastman Institute, London. She is now one of the few clinicians in Devon and Cornwall to hold this qualification, recognising her advanced skills in this area.
An endodontist is a dentist who specialises or has a special interest in saving patients’ teeth, with a view to avoiding extraction, through specialist care such as root canal treatments. An expert endodontist is also recommended for teeth with more than one canal, such as molars.
Whilst general dentists can perform root canal treatment along with other dental procedures, they often refer patients needing endodontic treatment to someone with special skills, such as Oksana, who then works in collaboration with that dentist on behalf of the patient.
Complex endodontic treatment options generally do take longer, another reason why general dentists prefer to refer their patients to dentists specialising in endodontics.
Oksana explains: “Brighter Dental only opened its practice in Saltash in 2017, but I was very pleased to join. Not only has this enabled me to develop my advanced endodontic skills but, as a community interest company with practices based in the very heart of Cornish communities that need us most, I have time for my patients. This means I can thoroughly explain their treatment options at every stage and thus reduce the anxiety that naturally comes with the prospect of root canal treatment”.
General dentists from across Cornwall and Devon are now referring their patients to Oksana for her specialist endodontic skills.
However, Oksana also applies further specialist dental skills that literally transform her patients’ smiles and confidence. These cosmetic dental treatments range from repairing malformed, broken or worn teeth to aesthetic fillings on previously unsightly front teeth or replacing old fillings. In fact, Oksana so enjoys this area of dentistry alongside her endodontic work that she is embarking on a level 7 qualification in facial aesthetics as recommended by Health Education England.
Brighter Dental is part of the Smile Together Group and in Saltash is located just behind the Saltash Health Centre on Callington Road, in what was formerly the community centre. Open every day except Friday, with a convenient 7pm finish on Thursdays and alternate Tuesdays, Oksana and her friendly team provide private dentistry and direct access hygienist appointments, with some unscheduled and emergency NHS provision.
49% of adults and 42% of children do not have an NHS dentist in England so Brighter Dental was established to provide accessible private dentistry from its practices across the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Oksana continues: “Since opening in Saltash, we are already providing regular private dental care to over 350 patients, and with us, children go free. As a social enterprise, our profits are reinvested back into the community, so by becoming a Brighter Dental patient, not only are you receiving excellent dental care but you are contributing back to your local community”.
