Team members being presented with their certificate by Kriss Akabusi

The dental team at Ashwater attended a prestigious award dinner in October 2000 hosted by international athlete Kriss Akabusi at the Belfry Hotel as finalists in SMILE 2000, a national competition being run by the British Dental Association, Stafford-Miller and ITV's Year of Promise.

The ever-smiling Akabusi, who wore his Olympic medals and gave an inspiring and motivational talk on the importance of teamwork, presented them with their certificate. For his fans at Ashwater, meeting the athlete was a great prize for being one of only 5 dental practices to make the national finals.

The Competition - called a Smile for the Next Generation - was to identify those practices which have helped to improve the image of dentistry. Ashwater Dental Practice earned its place for its work in promoting oral health awareness amongst children in the community through its Smile week and other campaigns.

Ashwater's promise for ITV's Year of Promise is " We will make dentistry fun from day one so children who smile today, smile tomorrow".

As the team left the dinner Cliff Rush, one of the dentists at Ashwater, organised a game of golf with Kriss Akabusi, who has just taken up the sport - he may not beat Cliff, but he will be quicker round the course!