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A DENTIST who has worked in NHS all his career has opened a private clinic - because he wants to give patients greater choice.

Ian Gordon has established the Vitality Dental Practice, in High Street, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, with his wife Jayne, who is also a dentist.

They have spent £150,000 sympathetically converting a Georgian house in the heart of the market town into a clinic that offers not just dentistry, but a complete range of care treatments, including oral hygiene and facial aesthetics.

Local MP William Hague officially opened Vitality during a brief ceremony witnessed by many of the couple’s longstanding patients and local business colleagues.

Mr Gordon, 49, has either worked in or owned NHS dental practices for 24 years - but insists that far from turning his back on the NHS, he continues to play a major role supporting NHS contract colleagues. He recently set up Alpha Dental Studio with colleague David Birkin, in Catterick - a practice formerly owned by Lawrence Dobson - offering NHS and private treatment (www.alphadental.co.uk)

“Stokesley already has two NHS practices, so a third NHS practice was not needed - even if the local primary care trust would have allowed it,” says Mr Gordon, who previously owned NHS practices in Middlesbrough, Guisborough and Eaglescliffe.

“What we are offering is something completely different to what people are perhaps used to - we are increasing their choice of the way their dental treatment is delivered.”

Mr Gordon is chairman of the Tees Local Dental Committee, a statutory body elected from local dental practitioners, which works closely with the primary care organisations in Middlesbrough, North Tees, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland to administer local NHS dental services.

He also continues to meet and raise concerns with the Chief Dental Officer as a representative of Challenge, a pressure group he helped establish in November 2006 to support dentists concerned about the impact of the Government’s NHS contracts in April of that year.

Vitality (www.vitalitydental.com) has two surgeries, each equipped with advanced x-ray, digital photography and health monitoring equipment, and two waiting rooms - a quiet room, with refreshments, and a media room, with television, internet access and a PlayStation.

A team comprising a hygienist, a practice manager, dental nurses and reception staff backs Mr Gordon and his wife, who has been a dentist for 17 years. Vitality will also offer the services of dental implant specialist Andy Burns.

Mr Gordon says: “Of course, every dentist does everything he or she can to create a pleasant experience for patients but, after working in the NHS for nearly 25 years, I know only too well the pace at which NHS dentists have to work.

“We have set out to create a calmer, more relaxed environment, a slower pace, where we find the time to talk to patients and for them to have the chance to tell us what they want from their dentist.”

Mr Gordon was brought up in Stokesley and now lives with his wife and three children in Osmotherley, North Yorkshire.

Vitality aims to be very much part of the local community and is already sponsoring the Stokesley under-10s football team, for which the couples youngest son, Jake, plays.

For further information contact Ian Gordon at Vitality on 01642 712519.

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