As you thumb through this smile notebook, you may be dreaming of a beautiful smile. Your teeth may be stained by coffee, tea, tetracycline or cigarettes. Your smile may include chipped teeth, missing teeth or large gaps between teeth. You may be concerned about mercury fillings. You see the transformations in these pages and wonder, could I, should I do it? For two years, every time I came to this waiting room, I wondered the same thing. Finally I did something about my smile. Here’s my story.

For the first seven years of my life, I had pretty teeth. My baby teeth were like little pearls. But when I was eight, tetracycline caused my permanent teeth to come in pitted and yellowish. My front right tooth had a prominent yellow stain. Kids, being kids, immediately began making fun of my teeth – setting the stage for years of teasing and torment. “You need to go home and brush your teeth,” I was told on the bus and at school. I brushed hard twice a day, hoping to somehow transform my ugly teeth into the pretty white teeth everyone else had.  Instead, I caused more damage by over brushing. My tormenters branched out into other topics, but they always came back to my teeth. That was my vulnerable spot. I couldn’t deny the truth – my teeth were ugly and I knew it. No matter how cute my figure, no matter how pretty my hair and makeup, my teeth looked terrible. Even one dentist called that front tooth Old Yeller. All my school pictures showed an uncertain smile, that and Old Yeller. I came home in tears so many days. I was shoved, robbed of lunch money and beaten up several times. Once, my nose was broken.

I was probably one of the very few teenagers who was glad to get braces. During those three years in orthodontics, my yellow, misshapen teeth were covered up and I felt like all my other classmates. I began to develop self-confidence, although it wasn’t easy because I was still surrounded by those kids who had tormented me.

When I went to college and began working on my own, I started over with a new set of peers. I finally had the self- assurance I needed to succeed. My inner vision of myself was beautiful and I projected that outward. I didn’t need perfect teeth to feel pretty and poised. At that point, I was at the right place for cosmetic improvements. Why? Because I wasn’t expecting that an improved appearance would work a miracle on my social life.

With my previous dentist, I tried teeth whitening and saw some results. I also got a plastic veneer over Old Yeller. But the plastic veneer didn’t last, my teeth were still oddly shaped and pitted, and the whitening could make my teeth only a few shades lighter – not the beautiful white I wanted. Plus, I had mercury fillings that were starting to leak and could contribute to gum disease. I knew many people were concerned about the health risks of mercury. To top it off, I clenched my teeth at night and thus, was wearing away the enamel.

Then I met Dr. Oglesby. He told me about full mouth restoration, which would restore my jaw to its optimal position, correcting my bite to help eliminate the nighttime clenching. His plan also included removing the mercury fillings. Finally, he would put in porcelain veneers to both reshape and recolor my teeth.

Like most of you, I was cautious. This was to be a big investment. I thought about the project for at least two years.

I talked it through many times with Dr. Oglesby and his staff. Before creating a beautiful smile, we also wanted to make sure I had a healthy smile. Pockets had begun to form between my teeth and gums – the beginning of gum disease. My previous dentist hadn’t seemed concerned, but Dr. Oglesby and his knowledgeable hygienists said the pockets would continue to get worse if we didn’t do something. I didn’t love my teeth, but I didn’t want them to fall out. Dr. Oglesby’s hygienist did a root scaling and planning and treated my gums with antibiotics. The pockets began to shrink. Finally, my smile was healthy. Now I was ready for it to be dazzling.

In late summer of 2006, I consulted with Dr. Oglesby and his team to pick out a shape and color for my restorations. He assured me that my teeth would be both beautiful and natural looking, the teeth I was meant to have. That fall, Dr. Oglesby and his staff devoted a full morning to putting on the temporary plastic veneers. Although I’m not phobic about going to the dentist, especially to Dr. Oglesby and his staff, I did take advantage of sedation dentistry since this was a long appointment. I felt aware yet completely relaxed.

Even these temporary veneers represented a huge improvement over my teeth. A month later, I got my porcelain veneers and fillings, again with a full morning of VIP treatment and sedation dentistry. Finally. I had the smile I’d always dreamed of. Old Yeller and his buddies could rest in peace. Speaking of dreaming, I started treatment to correct my bite and stop the nighttime clenching and began waking up with fewer clenching-related headaches.

Even though I wasn’t counting on an appealing smile to change my life, it did. For the first few weeks, I kept sneaking into the bathroom to check out my beautiful white teeth in the mirror. I developed more self-confidence in my work. I asked for, and got, raises from my clients. I didn’t cover my mouth when I laughed. I made a better impression on people because I smiled more to show off my dazzling teeth. I thought back to that sad eight-year-old trying to scrub the yellow off her teeth and wanted to reach back through the years with a comforting hug. Finally, I had the healthy, strong, beautiful teeth that tetracycline had robbed from me, the smile that God and Nature and intended for me to have all along. And yes, I still slow down at mirrors to check it out.

 - Karen Q.

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This testimony relates to the procedure that Dr. Oglesby did on my teeth.  My situation regarding my teeth was “very bad.”  I had two partials that hit into the adjoining teeth and my gums were not in good shape.  Dr. Oglesby came up with a plan; which I readily accepted – 5 implants, crown and bridge, and 1 root canal resulting in a Full Mouth Reconstruction.

Since this fix on my teeth, I now can chew properly and not get strangled as I did many times.  Also, by chewing my food correctly the resulting enzymes help with my digestion and blood sugar.  This work on my teeth was totally satisfactory and resulted in a new lifestyle.  I would recommend this type fix on anyone that Dr. Oglesby recommends can be successfully repaired.  I give this testimony unsolicited and without any doubt of success of corrective action recommended by Dr. Oglesby. 

Some people said to me, “Is it costly?”  If you have to ask this question, just pull them all and get dentures!

 - Owen G.