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As you know, we’re really pleased that Dr Jonathan Sproson has joined the Evolve team in Portishead and brings with him a wealth of experience. Carol and Jon have known each other for many years and here she explains how they first met:

“It was a week before Christmas and I was 16 years old when I first met Jon. I had gone ice skating with my two older brothers and two of their friends. My Mum was away as a very good friend of hers was ill and needed some help with her children.

As we skated around the busy ice rink, a younger child was skating in the wrong direction and crashed straight into me, as a result I fell. I have a phobia of putting my hands on ice in case someone runs over my fingers, so I fell flat on my face! I knew something bad had happened when I saw my whole front tooth sitting in a puddle of blood but, interestingly, had no pain at all.

With the dental knowledge I have now, I would have known to put the tooth straight back in the socket as it was intact and landed on ice. If you’re ever in this situation follow this advice or keep the tooth in your cheek or wrapped in clingfilm and get to a dentist or hospital as quickly as possible!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and sadly this is not what happened to me; if it had my whole life may have been different. I went home with my tooth in my hand and a very swollen upper lip but no other damage to any other teeth or my face. My Dad was naturally very upset and I was very embarrassed; what 16-year-old girl wants to be missing their front tooth?

We had recently moved to Shropshire and hadn’t yet found a dentist, so my Dad called some friends in the area and they highly recommended Jon Sproson. We called his practice and he immediately made space to see me as quickly as possible. When I saw Jon, he assessed the situation and told me he couldn’t re-implant the tooth, the only option would be a false tooth but before anything permanent could be made, the area had to heal and I would need a small denture for about 3-6 months.

This was a week before Christmas and most dental laboratories close down for two weeks at this time, however, Jon realised that I needed to have something sorted quickly and moved heaven and earth to get me a denture within a couple of days. Not only did he get this made in record time, it also looked great and he gave me back my smile in time for Christmas.

As a result of this experience, I became interested in dentistry and the change it could make to people’s lives and subsequently, I did work experience with Jon. Now, many years later, we are working together at Evolve and I could not be happier he has joined the team. Jon’s empathy, kindness and skill are still qualities he has today with the benefit of many years of practising dentistry at the highest level. I hope you get to experience this wonderful dentist.”