Why suffer with a spoiled smile when Same Day Teeth® can give you a new look?
In 2003, some of Paul Wilson’s friends founded a new manufacturing company in Largo. The company, BlueSky Mast, designs and builds military communication and surveillance platforms, and Paul’s background as a mechanic made him an excellent fit to be the first employee. Paul worked for BlueSky Mast nearly two decades, retiring in 2021.
“I built tripods that were sold to the military for something called point-to-point communication,” describes Paul, 64.
“For every 10 feet you rise above the Earth’s surface, you gain 10 miles of communication distance. So, instead of sending a signal through a satellite in space, which can be intercepted, you raise the tripod 30 or 40 feet above ground and communicate without the threat of being intercepted.
“What’s more, nobody knows where you are. The tripods are mainly used by the US Special Operations Command.”
Shortly before Paul started with BlueSky Mast, he began a new life as a married man, and he reports they have been the best 20 years of his life.
“I’ve got a great wife,” he enthuses. “I had a great job, and my life has just been fantastic, except for my teeth.
“I have asthma, and the inhalers and medications I use for it are very tough on the teeth. They eat away the enamel. My molars slowly deteriorated and came out or had to be pulled. I had only 22 or 23 teeth left in my mouth, and they were failing as well.
“My smile was hideous; I was embarrassed by it. There were spaces between some of my teeth and others overlapped. I had a hard time chewing, and I worried about getting sick from an abscess in one of my bad teeth.”
Paul concluded that life’s too short to suffer with bad teeth and looked into restoring his smile. His wife, a patient at Coastal Jaw Surgery, suggested he schedule a consultation. Paul agreed and met with Nicole Hernandez, DDS, MD, a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
“The teeth look great and feel wonderful. I’m a very happy dental patient.” – Paul
“When Mr. Wilson came to me, he was very frustrated with his teeth,” Dr. Hernandez recalls. “He was unable to eat and was embarrassed to smile. He had a history of smoking and had periodontal disease, so his teeth were terminal. The only option was to extract them.
“To replace the teeth, I recommended a traditional denture for his upper arch and a fixed, implant-supported prosthesis for his lower arch. For that, I recommended our practice’s smile-restoration protocol, Same Day Teeth.”
Beverly Hills Teeth
Developed by Coastal Jaw Surgery’s founder, Michael A. Pikos, DDS, a global leader in dental implants and surgical reconstruction, Same Day Teeth rebuilds smiles through the placement of dental implants and new teeth during the same appointment.
Dental implants are root-shaped, screw-like bodies that are surgically placed into the jawbone. Once in the jawbone, implants become the foundation for an abutment and replacement teeth.
The replacement teeth can be a single crown that is either cemented to or screwed onto the abutment, a partial bridge that can be affixed to one or more implants, or a full-arch implant bridge that can be fastened to a series of implants.
As part of the Same Day Teeth protocol, Dr. Hernandez works alongside Coastal Jaw Surgery’s prosthodontist, Philip J. Hedger, DMD, who designs the patient’s smile.
“Our protocol begins with a design consultation with Dr. Hedger, who determines the patient’s desires as to shape, color and position of the teeth,” Dr. Hernandez describes. “Once that’s determined, a cone beam CT scan is taken to evaluate the anatomy and existing bone mass. If there’s sufficient bone for implant placement, we proceed with the
Same Day Teeth process.
“On the day of Mr. Wilson’s surgery, I extracted his teeth and performed a bone reduction according to a predesigned custom guide created in conjunction with Dr. Hedger. A reduction, in which some of the native bone is removed, is sometimes necessary to assure sufficient room for the prosthesis. I then placed four implants in Mr. Wilson’s lower jaw and fit the initial replacement teeth.”
A digital image of the implants in position was recorded and sent virtually to a dental laboratory in Beverly Hills, California, along with Dr. Hedger’s measurements. The lab fabricated the final teeth and returned them to Coastal Jaw Surgery, which delivered them to Paul.
“Patients undergoing the Same Day Teeth protocol typically receive their permanent teeth postop Day 2 because the teeth come from California,” Dr. Hernandez informs. “Because Mr. Wilson’s surgery was performed on a Friday, his follow-up was on the following Tuesday.”
“New Worlds”
Paul reports that the results of the Same Day Teeth protocol have changed his life.
“It’s opened up new worlds,” he enthuses. “My smile is a lot more presentable, so I’m smiling all the time. I feel much more confident because I’m not trying to cover up the bad teeth in my mouth.”
Paul is extremely pleased with the appearance of his new teeth.
“They look completely natural, with a little color to them,” he reports. “People don’t believe they’re not my natural teeth. If you didn’t know they were implants, you’d never know the teeth were not my own. The teeth look great and feel wonderful. I’m a very happy dental patient.”
He’s just as happy with the oral surgeon and prosthodontist who restored his smile.
“Dr. Hernandez and Dr. Hedger are above and beyond knowledgeable,” Paul raves. “They made me feel very comfortable, and the technology they have is amazing. I recommend them and Coastal Jaw Surgery to everybody I know.”
