Wear Referrals dentists at work in theatre
Wear Referrals Launches £150k Specialist Dentistry Service In County Durham
4 days ago 
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Wear Referrals, a multidisciplinary referral and emergency hospital in Bradbury, has launched a new dentistry and oral surgery service after referring practices highlighted growing demand for advanced dental treatment in the region.
More than £150,000 has been invested in converting a former administrative office into a purpose-built dental procedure suite and additional consultation room, equipped with technology from veterinary dentistry equipment provider iM3.
The new service is supported by Wear Referrals’ specialist-led anaesthesia and analgesia team, helping the hospital care for older and medically complex patients.
Patients can be referred for routine and advanced extractions, endodontic and orthodontic treatment, and restorative dentistry for conditions such as amelogenesis imperfecta or enamel defects.
Wear Referrals recruited Becky Key, an RCVS-recognised Advanced Practitioner in Dentistry, to lead the new service. She is supported by nurse team leader Rachel Dove and lead nurse Samantha Parkhouse. Becky graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2011, completed a dentistry-specific internship and a postgraduate certificate in dentistry and oral surgery, and gained advanced practitioner status in 2024.
Becky Key said: “It’s incredibly exciting to be involved from the outset and to shape a service that will support referring practices and their patients, particularly older or medically complex animals. We were also seeing dental problems in patients being treated by our other services and previously had to refer those cases elsewhere. Now, they can receive their dental treatment with the same focus on safety and comfort, while remaining under the care of one multidisciplinary team.”
Dentistry will work particularly closely with the hospital’s oncology and soft tissue surgery teams where cases require input from more than one discipline. Wear Referrals accepts patients from across the UK and also provides services including diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, orthopaedics and emergency and critical care.
The team hopes to expand appointment availability during 2027 as demand develops. Referrals to the dentistry service are now being accepted.
The investment was supported by Linnaeus and Mars Veterinary Health. Wear Referrals is part of Linnaeus’ network of veterinary practices and specialist referral centres.
Founded in 2014, Linnaeus has grown to become one of the most highly-respected veterinary groups in the UK and Ireland offering specialist referral services as well as primary care across more than 180 locations.
For more information, visit: www.wear-referrals.co.uk/services/dentistry
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