DANISH dentist Sven Sorensen was so fed up with seeing rows of gleaming white Scandinavian teeth that he moved abroad to look for a new challenge.

Now Sven is busy getting his teeth into treating the less pristine dental work of people in Sussex.

And unlike many dentists his practice in Haywards Heath is out to attract new NHS patients.

Sven, 32, who was trained in Copenhagen, says poor dental education in the past has left rich pickings in the UK for aspiring dentists from overseas.

He said: "There's definitely a difference in the approach taken to dental care in the two countries, but you also find there's a difference between the generations over here.

"The workload in Scandinavia is much, much smaller than it is in the UK. When my colleagues come over they are surprised by the number of people coming in who haven't been to the dentist for years and years.

"The education programme for teaching people the importance of dental hygiene started about a generation earlier in Scandinavia, but I find that youngsters are getting better at looking after their teeth now in Britain.

"In the old days you used to see photos of football players with half their front teeth missing, butthat's not normal now. How many people do you know with dentures these days? But ask your parents how many they know, and when they got them, and you'd be shocked."

Sven trained as a dentist at the Royal London Hospital and now practises alone at the Haywards Heath Dental Clinic, Perrymount Road.

He says he finds it odd that the British are still so frightened of dentists.

He said: "About a third of my patients, when I see them for the first time, say to me, 'I hate dentists', before I've even had a chance to introduce myself.

"There's such a fear of pain, which is why a lot of people I see haven't seen a dentist for ten years or more. But technology has moved on so much that there's no reason why going to the dentist should be such a painful experience any more.

"Most dental work can be done without any pain, and nowadays we can even smear surface anaesthesia onto the gums rather than having to inject people."

Despite people's fears Sven says he has been inundated with patients from across the county since opening his new practice three weeks ago.

He said: "I strongly believe in the NHS, and we have something similar to it in Denmark, although there people pay about 25 per cent of their dental costs, rather than 20 per cent like they do here."

Dentist Sven plugs

a gap in the market

CHALLENGE: Sven Sorensen was fed up of pristine Danish gnashers

Practice is out to attract NHS patients

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