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Without the 'team' we are lost, remembering the adage T.E.A.M., Together Each Achieves More.

I must, however, pick up on something with which I don't agree and hope you will take this in the spirit in which it is delivered.

Here we are in only your second edition saying ‘My training and experience is being used to the full here... I am appreciated and respected and because you have so much more responsibility than in the UK, you are valued more’.

We have a shortage of good dental nurses here in the UK. Not only are things changing (albeit slowly) regarding expanding the duties of nurses, but I value my nurses here as much, if not more than those I had practising in Canada, for more than 20 years.

Our patients here have in many instances simply not had the ‘choices’ of our North American cousins, and I'll be the first to admit that this culture has damaged the public's perception of UK dentistry and, therefore, their expectations. This is the challenge. The challenge is to change all that; and that we can only do as a cohesive team.

We've got boundless beauty here in the British Isles and whilst I saw beauty and majesty in my home in British Columbia, I am proud and determined now I'm home.

There's a story of a man in South Africa who longed to hunt for diamonds and would set off from his farm for weeks on end. He sold his farm eventually to search further afield, only to discover that the new owner had discovered, what turned out to be, a seam of diamonds in the river running through the property. The moral of the story is, don't overlook those things you have now, remember the grass is always greener...

My partner, team and I are working to raise the awareness locally by developing a truly outstanding practice providing the latest technology and greatest care available. We believe we can bloom where we're planted and I believe others can too.

Thank you for an excellent journal.

Vital responds

Hear! Hear! We applaud your comments and totally agree! We shall be taking your point and hope to have a feature shortly based in a beautiful place in the UK.