Congratulations to Brook-lyn Magee of Springfield who is our 2007 Springfield Smile Makeover Winner! Brook was selected out of 200+ entries. Work has already begun on her new smile. Visit our website soon for before and after photos of Brook-lyn!
Thank you for the tremendous response to our first smile makeover contest! From the nearly 100 entries we received, we narrowed the field down to five semi-finalists. After meeting with each semi-finalist, we selected Diane Benkso of Pleasant Plaines as our finalist and Richard Mitts of Springfield as our first runner-up. Please read below for further details on what each makeover entailed. A very special thanks to Chuck Louthan of Louthan Labs who provided the laboratory services. of Pleasant Plains as our winner and Richard Mitts of Springfield as our first runner-up. Please read below for further details on what each makeover entailed. A very special thanks to Chuck Louthan of Louthan Labs who provided the laboratory services.
To meet Diane today, you'd never guess this vibrant woman with the gorgeous smile ever lacked self-confidence. But she was continually hiding behind the barrier of her crumbling smile. She went to great lengths to avoid showing her "Tennessee teeth" as she called them. "My teeth looked so bad, I was very concerned when I met new people, and I always hoped that my teeth didn't offend them. I'd go to great lengths to hide them, talking with my hands in front of my mouth and smiling with my mouth closed."
After years of bruxism (teeth grinding) many of her teeth had been worn to virtual stubs. "I couldn't bite for fear of breaking my teeth." Diane had resigned herself to simply living with them, a tremendously frustrating concession for the science teacher who felt that the oral health message she was sending to her students ran counter to what she should be conveying in the classroom. "My teeth looked so unhealthy that on the first day of school every year, I felt like I had to apologize to my students and explain that I'm a grinder and that's why my teeth look so bad. I felt my smile was representing poor health."
Diane's $28,000 smile makeover was completed over the course of several months. "Diane's smile makeover was more involved in that we placed crowns on several of her teeth and needed to correct her bite. In addition, we had to address the bruxism (teeth grinding), so we fitted her with a dental appliance, similar to a mouth guard, that she wears to bed to protect her new smiles," explained Dr. Renken.
Richard Mitts was also embarrassed by the appearance of his teeth, which had large spaces between them. As a sales person, he wanted his smile to convey the confidence of his personality. After $800 in free dentistry, Mitts says it's made a significant difference. "Now I smile more and that has helped me on the job."
Richard's smile was corrected using a resin composite bonding material and Zoom! whitening, and was completed in just a few appointments.
