Most of what patients really want to know never makes it onto a treatment page. So we sat down with Jack between appointments at Gosforth and Great Park and asked him the questions we hear most often at the front desk, plus a few from Instagram. Here's the conversation, written the way he'd explain it in the chair.
Getting to know Jack
Let's start simple. How did you end up practising in Newcastle?
I trained at the University of Bristol and graduated in 2019, then came up to the North East for Dental Core Training at Newcastle Dental Hospital. That was two years of hospital dentistry alongside general practice, and by the end of it the region had well and truly got its hooks into me. I joined Acorn Dental in Gosforth in 2021, started working with the team at Great Park in 2023, and I've been here ever since. It helps that St James' Park is twenty minutes away.
Patients keep using the word "perfectionist" about you. Fair?
Guilty. I'd rather take an extra appointment and get something right than rush it and live with "nearly". One of my favourite cases was a molar that had rejected four filling attempts elsewhere. We rebuilt it slowly, in careful layers, and it's still going strong. That's the job for me: the last five per cent that most people would never notice, but you would.
What does "Invisalign Level 2" actually mean?
It's advanced certification in aligner orthodontics. In practice it means I can plan and treat more complex tooth movements with aligners myself, where a lot of dentists would refer the case on or default to fixed braces. I also work with two aligner systems rather than one, so I can pick the one that suits your teeth instead of squeezing your teeth into the system I happen to sell.
The questions everyone asks
Honestly, does teeth straightening hurt?
Honestly? You're aware of it, but I wouldn't call it painful. The first few days of a new aligner feel tight, which is just your teeth being told to move. Most people describe pressure, and it settles within a couple of days. If anything ever feels genuinely sore, that's what the check-ins are for.
How long will my treatment take?
The unsatisfying but true answer: it depends on your teeth, and anyone who quotes you a time before looking at them is guessing. Mild crowding can be a matter of months; bigger movements take longer. What I can promise is a realistic timeline at your consultation, based on a scan rather than the best-case number that gets you to sign up.
Can I eat and drink with aligners in?
Water, yes. Everything else, out they come. It sounds like a chore, but most patients tell me it becomes automatic within a fortnight. A surprising number say it's quietly cut their snacking too, which they're weirdly grateful for.
I'm embarrassed about my teeth and nervous about being judged. Be straight with me: what happens at a first appointment?
Nothing scary, and absolutely no judgement. I've seen everything, and I mean everything. You will not surprise me. The first conversation is a free 15-minute phone or video call, so you don't even have to get in a chair to find out your options. If you come in after that, it's a look around, a scan, and an honest chat about what's possible. Some of my favourite patients arrived terrified. They tend to leave as the people writing the nice reviews.
Is whitening from a shop or a salon actually that bad?
Shop products are capped at a fraction of the strength a dentist can legally use, so they mostly disappoint rather than harm. Salons are a different story. Tooth whitening is legally dentistry in the UK, so a beautician offering it is breaking the law, and there's no dental assessment behind it. Whitening through a dentist is checked against healthy teeth first, and it works. That's the one I'd let my family do.
A tooth got chipped or knocked in an accident. Can that actually be fixed invisibly?
Very often, yes. Front tooth trauma repair is some of my favourite work: rebuilding a broken tooth in composite, matched to its neighbours so closely that the repair is hard to spot even when you know it's there. There's a case like that in the gallery. Come in promptly though, because the sooner we see it, the more options we have.
Beyond dentistry
CrossFit and dentistry. Is there a connection, or do we just let you have this one?
There's genuinely a connection: both reward turning up consistently and caring about technique when nobody's watching. Same precision, different setting. Also, after a day of tiny, careful movements with a mirror, throwing a barbell about is excellent therapy.
Newcastle United. How's the mood?
Depends entirely on the weekend, like every Newcastle fan since the dawn of time. You'll find me at St James' whenever the fixture list and the diary cooperate. Howay the lads.
More questions for Jack (answers coming soon)
We've sent Jack a few more of your questions. He's promised proper answers rather than press-release ones, and we'll update this page as they come in.
What made you choose dentistry in the first place? Was there a moment it clicked?
Answer coming soon
What was it like being runner-up in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh national Dental Clinical Skills Competition?
Answer coming soon
What's the transformation you're most proud of, the case you still think about?
Answer coming soon
What's one thing you wish every patient did at home?
Answer coming soon
What's the biggest myth about dentists you'd like to bust?
Answer coming soon
You're still adding qualifications. What are you studying at the moment, and why?
Answer coming soon
If you weren't a dentist, what would you be doing?
Answer coming soon
Got a question we didn't cover? Ask it at your free 15-minute consultation, by phone or video, without going near a chair. Jack will personally talk you through your options at Gosforth or Great Park, and if you decide it's not for you, that's fine too.
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