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What Would You Do If You Won the Lottery?

Winterset dentist and patient inside the clinic
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One of my patients DID win a large amount, and called our office to say, “I’m implanting everything”. In her late-fifties, Sandra had lost much of her hearing in one ear, so she’d scheduled a cochlear implant. She also had a hiatal hernia so was having surgical mesh implanted. One knee was painful and she was in the process of figuring out what could be implanted to solve this. She wanted breast implants. The objective of her call to our office was to proceed with our recommendation for several dental implants.

Isn’t this a unique way to celebrate a windfall of cash? Instead of buying new cars and houses, or taking a cruise each month, she thought about improving her physical structure for the years ahead. I asked for the names of her doctors so I could discuss the sequencing of dental implants with all the other “body additions”.

When it came time to plan Sandra’s dental implants, I asked her to come in for a consultation. Immediately after entering our treatment area, she announced that she wanted “very large, very white front teeth” for a youthful appearance, in addition to the implants that she needed. She also wanted to get it “over and done” in one appointment. I’ve actually heard this request many times before. The color of one’s teeth is generalized as “white” but many are actually slightly gray or lighter yellow. If one changes the color dramatically, teeth appear “fake”. You may have noticed this when someone gets a new set of dentures or wears an old set well into their sixties. Our computerized system allowed me to show different color and shape options to Sandra, using her skin tone as the foundation of the screen. She’d never realized that dedicated dental care is actually an “art”, making replacement teeth fit in with the color and shape of natural teeth.

On the first appointment following our treatment planning session, Sandra came in wearing contemporary clothing and shoes. On the second one, her hair had been cut to chin-length, highlighted, and styled. She had beautiful nails. She seemed to have lost a little weight and we found out that she’d joined a gym.

I am thrilled that Sandra made an investment in her health and physical appearance. Her priorities are in the right place, in my humble opinion.

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