Dentist, 73, hangs up his drill after almost 50 years in practice
BILL HUGHES IS KNOWN TO MANY PATIENTS IN BURTON AND SWADLINCOTE
A BURTON dentist of almost 50 years has hung up his dental gown for the final time – despite originally only intending to stay for six months.
Bill Hughes, from Hughes & Owen Dental Care, in Lichfield Street, spent his last day at the practice on Saturday, March 30.
The Midway-born 73-year-old now plans to spend most of his days either hill-walking or sea sailing in Cornwall.
Mr Hughes, who lives in Barton, after previously living in Rolleston, has recalled the incredible journey the dental industry as a whole has undergone since he first started in 1970.
He said: “When I first arrived, we couldn’t keep up with dental decay.
“We were very busy, doing big silver fillings, fitting dentures. In the months of November and December, between the two practices, we’d fit about 600 sets of full dentures, in those two months.
“Some of them were put in immediately, teeth out, dentures in, but those were the old days .
“Slowly, things have improved a lot due to preventive measures, fluoride in the water supplies, patients are more aware of the importance of dental health.
“Gum disease, for example, has a big connection with heart disease and families bring their children from the year dot, so they get used to the environment.
“There’s not the stigma associated with coming to the dentist that there was 50 years ago.”
The married father-of-three, and grandfather-of-seven was a student at Ashby Grammar School and studied dentistry at Birmingham Dental Hospital.
For the first 40 years at the practice, Mr Hughes worked half his time also at their Swadlincote site, in Belmont Street.
He has worked part-time, for two days a week, since 2012.
Mr Hughes said patients now feel more at ease when visiting, which made his job far easier.
He added: “Nowadays the materials we use are a lot more sophisticated and techniques are a lot more sophisticated. There’s far less blood and thunder related with dentistry.
“I think it’s been a great success story on behalf of the profession to go from the stages of extractions and plastic benches to the young and children’s generation expected to keep all their teeth.
“The equipment looks a little more patient-kind, no more pulley drills and mobile x-ray machines and gas cylinders.
“They’ve certainly gone out the window.”
The practice was set up by Mr Hughes’ father, Eddie, in 1934, which at the time he ran singlehandedly in a smaller site in Burton high street.
After four or five years, Eddie was called up by the RAF for the Second World War.
Shortly after that, the current site opened and he was joined at the dental practice by a former army man, who Mr Hughes only recalls being known as Colonel Morrey.
The pair were in practice together during the late 1940s, including opening a second practice in Swadlincote, which is still open.
When Colonel Morrey died in 1960, Eddie was joined by Peter Owen, giving the practice its name today. There were also three other partners at that time.
Bill Hughes joined the business in 1970 and has stayed ever since, despite intending to leave much earlier.
He said: “I intended to stay for six months, but here I am 50 years later.
“I felt it was a very good practice, good atmosphere, I just felt very comfortable in the practice, I never gave it a second thought after that.”
Reflecting on special memories from his career, he cited the loyalty of his staff and how pleasant most patients were.
He said: “We had one hopeless case where a lady came in on Christmas Eve after her staff party.
“Her denture had dropped out during a dance and everybody stamped on it during the conga.
“She came in, with the denture in powder form, asking if I could repair it.
“We did actually manage to get her a new one, for Christmas Day. That was one I always remember.
Techniques are a lot more sophisticated. There’s far less blood and thunder related with dentistry