I feel a true keyboard warrior this morning, somewhat enraged after watching a clip from Good Morning Britain, a popular free to view tv show.  One of the hosts shared his interpretation of a private dentist’s views on NHS dentists.   He said: "I was talking to a private dentist only last week, who was … Continue reading ‘NHS Dentists are not capable of doing extractions any more’- The Harm of Hearsay.

I was inspired to write by a few things, firstly NZ Paralympian Sophie Pascoe and her Tokyo 2020 swims, her rollercoaster of emotions from bronze medal in her backstroke, to collapsing from exhaustion on the poolside after her 200 IM gold, to finishing a finalist in the 100m Fly. A phenomenal swimmer, a beautiful person … Continue reading Disappointment, Expectations, and Results

“Meaning is not necessarily something enormous that will save the world, it is often the little things in every day that connect us to ourselves and our past, present and future.”  The Langley Group. Suddenly being home all the time can make you realise how much of your identity and purpose is tied up in … Continue reading Finding Meaning and Purpose in Lockdown

Anxiety gets tough and mixed press: A ‘bad’ emotion, a ‘negative’ label, only a stone’s throw from a mental health diagnosis and the stigma that comes with it.  Or has it become a fashionable excuse, a ‘snow flake’ statement, an over-used phrase so diluted as to have lost meaning at all?  Well, it’s non of … Continue reading Anxiety – The ‘Bad’ Guy?

Resilience, a term that’s been banded around a lot this year, of all years, but what does it mean? There are plenty of definitions out there, depending on the context but the one I’m going to borrow is Togade and Fredrickson’s description that they used for their research (1). “Resilience is characterised by the ability … Continue reading Resilient Reading

Fang Farrier : Dentist; see also *gnasher basher, *toothwright and top gum Life behind and beyond the mask. Discussing tough topics like depression, burnout and suicide alongside nutrition, movement and recovery.Working on everyday resilience, personal and professional development.The context is dentistry but applicable to all walks of life. There's a certain level of anxiety that … Continue reading Fang Farrier Podcast

The greatest gifts are probably those that you feel a bit guilty or even fearful of wanting, that you really need but aren’t expecting. It might sound crazy to say that I’m starting to see this lockdown as a gift, but in a world where so many things are beyond our control, we can still … Continue reading The Gift

Dentistry can be a lonely profession, they don’t put it in the brochures, they don’t even mention it at dental school but we are trained to operate alone, independent and accountable for our work and those who work with us.  We often go straight from the collaborative, supportive, close knit community of dental school to … Continue reading A Lonely Place of Dying

Only a fortnight ago I was writing about the inevitability of self isolation. Well, here we are March 2020, along with most of the world, New Zealand is in lock down to slow spread of COVID-19.  Enforced self isolation with social distancing thrown in for good measure.  Like most things COVID-19 related it’s all unfolded … Continue reading Keep Calm and Carry on Differently

Self Isolation, sounds a bit like a voluntary rite of passage, of self-exploration.  Like taking yourself off into the wilderness to find yourself or to test your survival skills.  But no, it's just a new fancy term for quarantine, a concept first introduced to me on a school trip to the Derbyshire village of Eyam.  … Continue reading Self Isolation, are you prepared?