My Beautiful New Tooth – A Post from a Client

This was originally posted on our client’s blog. When we read it, we were brought to tears, and just wanted to share it here. Thank you Nancy!

I could not let this monumental occasion pass without shouting to everyone I know that I love my new tooth!

Those of you who know me in person are well aware of my tooth situation, but those who only know me on-line are probably not aware that I have been missing a tooth since July 3, 2011.  Yes, I had an implant started on July 3.  The process has been long and drawn out with a dentist change in the middle.  For those of you wondering, there is little pain with this process.  As a matter of fact, at the beginning I was entirely able to manage it with ibuprofen.  I didn’t even fill the prescription of vic adan (sp?).  The absolute worst part of my implant has been this gaping hole in the front of my mouth (lower front tooth).  You see, after they drill the screw into your jaw, you have to wait at least 3 months for things to heal before they can put a crown on.  Yes, I had a little temporary retainer sort of thing to fill in the space, but it was so cumbersome.

With age, it is so nice to be able to process these types of situations with logic, but I have to admit that having that hole did a number on my self-esteem.  Every time I looked in the mirror there was at least a small level of deflation and sometimes it was a large level.  Since my work puts me in front of a lot of people, I had to deal with my own issues around that as well.  Sometimes I explained it, sometimes I forgot to explain it.  Almost always, I would forget to leave the house with my temporary filler.  My husband affectionately referred to me as his little hillbilly.  We laughed and joked about it a lot too.

After two failed re-visits with the dentist (an hour from my house) who put the implant in, I was miraculously put in one of those situations that became divine intervention.  I was attending one of my networking groups (Camp Connections, part of Camp Experience – a not to miss annual outing for women but that will be another post) and a woman with the most beautiful teeth introduced herself as a Dentist – Dr. Lee Weisbard (can you hear the angels singing in the background).  I checked Dr. Lee out for a few months, met her office manager Dana and observed at these monthly meetings.  I finally took the plunge and scheduled an appointment to discuss my mouth.

I think it’s important to mention that for the last 10 years, I had been going to the same dental practice network.  I wasn’t entirely dissatisfied with them, but I did have some recurring issues with my mouth, small nuisances that never seemed to get fixed.  I really didn’t think anything of it and truthfully, I even referred some people there.

When I entered Dr. Lee’s offices, I immediately sensed a difference.  I wasn’t sure if it was just Dana’s sunny personality at the front desk, but I did start to get the feeling that I was going to be taken care of.    Dr. Lee spent over an hour with me.  She looked in my mouth, she asked me questions, she explained things, she took pictures.  She mapped out a rough plan for me.  I learned a ton about my dental health that day.  I learned things that were going on in my mouth that had never been explained to me, things that were going to effect me in the near term and long term.  Things that if taken care of soon, would cost me less now than a correction or implant or crown later on.  This plan made sense, this plan could be broken into manageable chunks so that I could make consistent progress and not break the bank all at once.  This plan had an end too.  You see, Dr. Lee’s goal was to fix me up with what was essential and necessary and then put me on a regular cleaning program and made it clear that her goal was to not have to do a ton more work on me.  I had never approached dental care in this way.  I’ve had some major work done and it always seems to be done in a reactionary mode.  I feel pain, I get it fixed.  My tooth breaks, I get an implant.  I felt Dr. Lee was predicting problems where we could prevent the pain and be proactive.  There is nothing like chronic mouth/tooth pain.  She convinced me that I do not have to live my life that way.  It never even occurred to me that it could be different.

I switched my dental care to Dr. Lee.  In my first visit, she did what she needed to do to get my crown made and made some minor adjustments in my mouth that entirely changed my bite and immediately made a difference in the way my mouth felt.  She changed out a silver filling that was loose, cleaned out the resulting “bad stuff” and replaced it with something better.  No one ever told me that the tooth could even become a problem.  My crown turned out to be a particular challenge for Dr. Lee and one she took on with enthusiasm.  She truly loves what she does.  You see, the original dentist drilled my implant in crooked, on an angle.  Dr. Lee had to work with the labs and sent back a pretty good tooth before she even fit me because my situation was unique.  She wanted it right.  She didn’t complain, she explained the delay and I knew she had my best interest at heart.  I asked (she would not have brought it up otherwise) if it would cost more money and she firmly stated that it was not my problem.

I had my new tooth put in yesterday and I couldn’t be happier.  Once again, the service and attention to detail from Dr. Lee and her staff were impressive.  All I can say is that she gets it.  She is a master and I truly believe that what I am paying to have done now is saving me measures in the long term.  It’s saving me money, it’s saving me time, it’s saving me health-wise, it’s saving me.  She also armed me with the information I needed to make a choice about my dental care.  There are things I don’t need to worry about immediately and there are things I never knew about that could effect me in the short term.  Thank you Dr. Lee.  Thank you for offering service in addition to dental work.

I have my tooth!  and a new dentist!