What Our Patients Say

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.

  - K.Q.

  

  

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!

  - O.G.

  

  

My problems started in September 2004 when I started experiencing excruciating headaches every single day. If I sneezed, it brought me to tears. I was taking Tylenol, which didn't do much, and Advil like crazy. Most of the time, I was trying not to take anything, just trying to grin and bear it. I saw numerous physicians and specialists and underwent a variety of tests with neither answers nor relief. My research finally led me to Dr. Oglesby. Dr. Oglesby hooked me up to his diagnostic computer and we discovered my jaw had been in the wrong place all my life. It had taken all this time to grind away part of my jaw bone and all the cartilage was gone. Dr. Oglesby immediately fitted me for a prosthetic device that I wore in my mouth 24 hours a day to pull my jaw forward and hold it in the right place. Within two weeks, I did not have a headache. Once my jaw was corrected to the right place, my teeth no longer fit together as they had and Dr. Oglesby then did full mouth restorations to properly align my teeth. My teeth look beautiful and I have not had a headache since September 2005. The whole crew, Dr. Oglesby, Sandy, are wonderful people. He's my hero. Anytime I hear anybody complain about having headaches I immediately tell them they need to go to Dr. Oglesby.

  - J.T.

  

  

I have had yellow teeth all my life and been very self-conscious of them. The older I got the worse my teeth looked. I was a single mother and only went to the Dentist when I absolutely had to. I eventually got Periodontal Disease and had to have scalings of the teeth and gums which was very painful. I also started having abscessed teeth which had to be pulled and the teeth I had left starting shifting leaving a pretty good sized gap right in the front of my top teeth. I also had a baby tooth fall out when I was in my early 40's and the permanent tooth was lodged up in the gum never to come down. So not only did I have yellow teeth and a gap in the front of my teeth, I had a tooth missing in the front which was extremely embarrassing. I love to laugh but found myself putting my hand over my mouth to hide all of these imperfections. I truly wanted to do something about it but hated the Dentist Office. I couldn't stand the sounds of the drill or the pain every time I had a tooth pulled or filled or having to hold my mouth open for a root canal. I have a high tolerance for pain but didn't even want to consider what I would have to endure to have a beautiful smile. I had heard about Sedation Dentistry but was very leery of it. I found Dr. Oglesby in the phone book and called his office. I made an appointment and told the receptionist that I had a train wreck in my mouth. I met with Dr. Oglesby and his staff and after they X-rayed my mouth he came up with a plan to do a Full Mouth Reconstruction which he went over in great detail with me and my husband. I was anxious to get started but Dr. Oglesby said he had to get my mouth cleaned and ready for surgery as I had periodontal disease issues again. I thought, “Oh no, here we go, more scalings, more pain!!” but he introduced me to Perio Protect, a new procedure to help combat this disease. They made a mold of my mouth and I would wear these trays 3 times a day for 15 minutes for several weeks and then we were ready to start restoring my mouth. Guess what ~ no pain, and best of all NO scaling. These trays were actually whitening my ugly yellow teeth as well as minimizing the periodontal issues. I had my first sedation dentistry appointment around the end of June 2009. I told Dr. Oglesby that my grandson's 1st birthday party was going to be 7-11-09 and that all of my family was coming and I would love to have beautiful white teeth by then. I knew that was a lot to ask because I thought this would all take a long time. Dr. Oglesby said he would have temporaries on my teeth before the party. He said they would not be as pretty as the real ones but they would be white and if I smiled from a distance no one would know the difference. When I awoke from my first surgery and they gave me a mirror a tear trickled down my face. I was amazed at how beautiful my mouth looked. Needless to say everyone at the party could not stop talking about my mouth. I thought if the temporaries looked that good I absolutely couldn't wait for the real deal!! I have now had several surgeries which consisted of implants, bridges, crowns, and veneers and it hasn't even been a year. They were all pain free, fast and effective. I have a beautiful smile and more confidence in myself than I have ever had. I can't stop looking in mirrors because I still can't believe it's me I'm looking at. This has been an amazing experience. I used to look at people with white, straight beautiful teeth and smiles and envy them. Not anymore because I am one of those people. I couldn't be more pleased with my smile. Thank You Dr. Oglesby and staff for making my dream come true. I actually look forward to coming to your office and will refer anyone I know that wants a beautiful smile. Sedation Dentistry is definitely the way to go.

  - P.W. 

  

 

As a person with a greater-than-average aversion to anything that might be called "aesthetic" or "cosmetic," I have spent most of my adult life trying not to worry about my teeth. They were in my head, and that "had to be good enough." Admittedly, they were blunt, darkened and badly foreshortened by tooth-grinding - and of course, all but one was drilled and filled. By my early 30s, I had long since forgotten what it was like to go to a regular check-up and not have the pick "stick" in a cavity. Without much conscious effort, I had learned not to smile too big for pictures - notably at weddings or family pictures of others, because I did not want the darkness in my mouth to show. I came here to your office only on the strength of your fine reputation, expecting a few more years of cleanings, fillings, and root canals before going on to another town, another dentist. Well, it has been said that devout cynics make the best converts! I now have a remarkably normal, pleasant-looking mouth, made up of all new porcelain teeth. My bite is vastly improved; I no longer feel fatigue after chewing. My profile has subtly changed - and for the better my wife tells me. I smile from ear to ear at weddings now, and it is as if these teeth have always been mine. Recently a dentist with a 41 year career was incredulous at a casual glance that the crowns were not in fact my real teeth. Needless to say, I continue to find a great many reasons to smile. Please accept my sincerest thanks and also my highest commendation for your many, many hours of work on my behalf. I did not, at first, understand what you were offering me. But I learned along the way, and traded in my frown for a grin.

  - D.R.