Be The Life And Sole Of Your Practice

Chantelle Leflaive from Toffeln discusses their scientific approach to design, introduces the new AktivFlex trainer and shares her top tips for choosing shoes for the dental practice.

At Toffeln, we think you deserve to be loved. Since 1978, we’ve dedicated our lives to enhancing foot well-being. Helping professionals to have healthier, supremely well supported feet. Because we know what a lifetime of wearing ill-prepared and poorly designed footwear can do to your tender toes and hard-pressed arches. That’s why we devote our time to creating an advanced range of fully compliant, lovely looking footwear in collaboration with leading biomechanics researchers. Combining the functional and the fashionable to create ergonomically designed, super lightweight footwear that will make every minute of those periods of standing seem shorter for dental staff.

The Toffeln ComfortTech principle improves the lives of hardworking healthcare professionals by harnessing the science of biomechanics (the way your body works) and material science (the way stuff works).

Our partnership with the University of Salford helps us stay at the forefront of global innovation in our field. Experts at the University help us with our research and provide exclusive access to advanced scientific knowledge in shoe design and foot support. Every feature of every Toffeln shoe goes through a cycle of design, refinement, testing and improvement. We call this continuous process the ComfortTech innovation Loop. This five-stage development cycle drives our research and development programme and enables us to build our understanding of advanced ergonomics, so we can continue to manufacture shoes that provide comfort and support for our hardworking customers. So whenever you see the ComfortTech seal of innovation, you’ll know we’ve been thinking on your feet.

AKTIVFLEX TRAINER

Toffeln AktivFlex – the UK’s first EVA enclosed trainer is designed to deliver all of the wear with none of the tear. It’s a super durable, ultra-lightweight shoe, complete with a Grip-Safe sole and removable insole. Ergonomically designed with input from the University of Salford, it delivers an impressive performance. It comes in a range of colours – white, metallic blue, metallic fuchsia and black.

The AktivFlex is part of the new Aktiv range. We’ve spent hours surveying the challenges you face every day, and this is the result. The new generation of Toffeln shoes that are designed to transform comfort, enhance posture and lessen end-of-day fatigue. By studying movement over longer periods and continually refining our designs, we’ve created a range of shoes with even more ergonomic features. And of course, they all carry it off in inimitable Toffeln style

The AktivFlex has many features which make it such a unique shoe:

-Elasticated Gusset - so you can slip the shoe on with ease and enjoy a secure fit.

-Side Ventilation – allows your feet to breathe naturally, keeping them cool throughout the day.

-Insole Included – walk with even greater comfort with the specially designed ComfortTech insole that cushions your feet when walking on hard surfaces.

-Stylish Rubber laces – enjoy the laced-up look without having any time-consuming laces to tie.

-Grip-Safe Sole – this unique sole not only gives excellent slip resistance, but also offers a much greater penetration resistance than other lightweight footwear available.

-Good arch support that helps to maintain the natural alignment of your feet. It also helps to protect them from developing chronic conditions such as plantar fasciitis

12 MONTH GUARANTEE

True to our mission, we rigorously check the quality of every pair of shoes that we dispatch, and guarantee them for 12 months - something unheard of in the footwear industry.

TOP TIPS FOR CHOOSING SHOES

- Check out the rules. Many dental employers will have requirements or guidelines about the shoes that staff should be wearing in the practice. These may include the colour and amount of the foot that should be covered or the protective qualities of the shoe. If you don’t know what the rules are, take a moment to ask before you start looking for the right shoe.

-Choose the best fit. Don’t compromise when it comes to choosing the shoe that’s a perfect fit for your foot. All those hours of standing and walking can quickly become agony if your shoes are either too loose or too tight. Finding the best fit isn’t always only down to choosing the right size; it’s also down to good design, the materials used in the shoe and the quality of its construction.

-Don’t let your shoes weigh you down. Every time you lift your foot, you’re raising the weight of your shoe, so you want it to be as light as possible. But light doesn’t have to mean flimsy. Many shoes, designed specifically for an active healthcare environment, are made from modern, high-tech materials that are both lightweight and strong.

-More grip, less slip. It almost goes without saying that dental professionals should wear shoes with high slip resistance, but when you’re presented with shoes that look and feel great, it can be easy to forget the basics. Try and select shoes with a TPU sole, a form of plastic commonly used in footwear because it’s strong, durable and can be moulded for high slip resistance.

-Don’t be shocked! A shock runs through your body every time your foot makes contact with the ground. The harder the surface, and the firmer the contact, the more damage that shock can cause to your knees, your other joints and your spine. As a dental professional on your feet all day, you’re looking for shoes that cushion against this impact. Choose footwear that’s specifically designed to “include shock absorbent technologies, such as air cushioning.

-Do you have inner sole? However good a shoe might be, you may still need to insert an inner sole for extra comfort or to provide orthopaedic support. Inner soles can also absorb moisture and help reduce odour. Some shoes come with replaceable inner soles from new.

-Hard working and good looking. Twenty-first century footwear technology means that dental nurses looking for comfortable, hard-wearing shoes shouldn’t need to compromise when it comes to style. It is possible to enjoy attractive shoes that also do a great job of protecting your feet, and indeed your entire body, against the wear and tear that comes with working a long shift.

To view the full range at Dental Sky click here.