Five neighbouring dental practices in Cumbria are celebrating 10 years of supporting their local communities and are putting on some special activities for their patients to mark the occasion.

The Bupa Dental Practices in Workington, Maryport, Whitehaven, Egremont and Kendal, were all opened within months of each other in 2009 and have been providing essential and cosmetic dentistry to NHS and private patients ever since.

Since opening their doors 10 years ago, the five practices have undertaken more than half a million appointments.

The birthday week will start on Monday, with both adult and child patients receiving goody bags and the chance to win a special ‘Bupa Hamper’ as part of a free prize draw. Bupa is also recognising the hard work and commitment of its Cumbrian colleagues from the five practices with a celebratory lunch for all.

There are also a number of colleagues who will be celebrating 10 years’ dedicated service to their local communities, including lead dentist Adriana Garrasini, therapist Rachel Jeff, and dental nurse Samantha Moore from Workington, lead nurse Julie Steadman and receptionist Donella Milburn from Kendal, and dental nurse Hayley Graffin from Egremont.

Judith Simpson, Practice Manager of Bupa Dental Care Workington, another long-serving colleague, is proud of what the practices have achieved in their first decade of business.

She said: “All of us are passionate about supporting our fellow community members and helping them live longer, healthier, happier lives – good oral health goes a long way to achieving that.

“We’re extremely proud of what has been accomplished and the positive contribution we’ve made to our local communities over the past ten years. We’re all looking forward to the birthday week and there’ll even be some cake to share round with patients, but we’ll keep the icing to a minimum otherwise there might be a few more people requiring fillings!”

Adriana Garrasini, Lead Dentist of Bupa Dental Care in Workington, commented on her 10 years at the practice: “It’s amazing to see the progress and improvement in our patient’s oral health over the past 10 years. I find it really rewarding to see how my team and I have helped people in the community, and I am very proud of everything we have achieved.

"We have built strong relationships with our patients and always given them the best quality of treatment, and we look forward to doing so for another 10 years.”