Sometimes the best moments in dentistry happen when you least expect them.

After more than 30 years of practicing dentistry, there are some moments you simply never forget.

This is one of them.

Several years ago, a woman about my age came into my office. She was absolutely terrified of dental treatment, but what really got to me wasn’t her fear.

It was how embarrassed she was about her teeth.

She was a lovely lady, but she had reached the point where she simply wouldn’t smile anymore. As we sat talking, she actually began crying. She was that embarrassed.

Boy, that got to me.

We spent quite a while talking about what was bothering her and what we might be able to do. No rushing, no lectures. Just a conversation about how to get her comfortable, healthy, and hopefully smiling again.

After examining her, I had some good news and some not-so-good news.

The good news was that I thought we could save her lower teeth. But there was a catch: she had to promise me she’d come in regularly for cleanings and maintenance. We were going to work together to keep those teeth!

The not-so-good news was that her upper teeth were beyond saving.

So we came up with a plan.

We would remove her upper teeth, perform the necessary grafting, and place an immediate upper denture. That simply means we remove the teeth and place the denture during the same appointment. She wouldn’t have to go home without teeth while everything healed.

Because she was so frightened, we also planned to do the surgical treatment with IV sedation.

Everything went beautifully.

When we finished, she was relieved it was over. She walked down the hallway and went into our bathroom to look at her new smile in the mirror.

I went back to my office.

About five minutes later, I heard someone crying in the bathroom.

Oh, crud.

She hates her new teeth.

My heart sank.

I knew this was a huge change for her. After all, we’d removed her upper teeth and replaced them with a denture. That’s a pretty big deal, and I was worried that despite all our planning, she was disappointed.

I remember thinking, Oh boy. What am I going to do now?

Then the bathroom door opened.

She came out with tears running down her face, walked straight over to me, and gave me the biggest hug.

And then she told me something I’ll never forget.

She hadn’t been able to smile in years.

She wasn’t crying because she hated her new teeth.

She was crying because she’d just looked in the mirror and seen herself smile again.

Well, I’ll tell you what. That’ll make your day!

And the story didn’t end there

Something else changed after that appointment.

She started coming in regularly for her cleanings and maintenance. She was taking more pride in her appearance, wearing makeup, and, most importantly, smiling again.

And years later, she was still our patient, with those lower teeth we’d worked so hard to save.

How cool is that?

Sometimes the best answer isn’t the fanciest one

You’ve probably seen advertisements for All-on-4 implant teeth. And don’t get me wrong, implants can be wonderful. We do implant dentistry here, and for the right patient, they’re a terrific option.

But they’re not always the best answer.

In this lady’s case, she had lost quite a bit of the natural gum and tissue support around her upper teeth. Her denture didn’t just replace the teeth. It also replaced some of that missing support, helping give her upper lip and smile a fuller, more natural appearance.

There are implant-supported options that can accomplish that too, but for her, a conventional denture was a very good fit.

Immediate dentures do require follow-up adjustments, and as the gums heal and change, they often need to be relined or replaced. That’s part of the process.

But the point is that good dentistry isn’t always about doing the most expensive or complicated treatment. It’s about figuring out what’s right for the person sitting in your chair.

Why I still love doing this

After all these years, I still get a kick out of helping people.

Sometimes it’s saving a tooth. Sometimes it’s getting somebody through an appointment they were absolutely terrified of.

And sometimes it’s hearing someone crying in the bathroom, thinking you’ve completely blown it, and discovering you’ve just given someone back a smile they thought they’d lost forever.

Those are pretty special days.

If you’ve been hiding your smile or putting off dental treatment because you’re embarrassed or frightened, please don’t feel you have to figure everything out before coming to see us.

We’ll sit down, talk about it, and see what we can do together.

No lectures. No embarrassment. Just a place to start.