“With my story I want to inspire people who are in an abyss because of their teeth. I looked for help from the Denture Clinic and it’s been a journey full of professionalism, kindness and thanks go to everyone who played their part in restoring my smile and ability to enjoy life again.”
Jacky Standish
Attractive, bubbly, confident and with a contagious laugh – there are simply not enough descriptive words to capture in a single sentence the experience of meeting professional chef, Jacky Standish.
Looking younger than her 57 years, Jacky has engaged on an unusual “bucket list”, though she’s quick to point out: “I’m definitely not dying. Quite the opposite!”
For the dog-lover, who confesses “she doesn’t know who to smile at first,” the list is all about making up for lost time.
It’s hard to imagine, this woman who laughs easily and is generous with her smiles would ever want for anything, but reflecting on recent years she admits “there’s plenty of catching up to be done.”
Relaxing over a coffee, the former chef and house manager to Hagley Hall’s Lord and Lady Cobham, explains that enduring decades of teeth troubles left her battling with some very dark days before receiving implant treatment at North Street Dental in Dudley.
“I was deeply ashamed of my teeth. I could cook fabulous meals for the rich and famous who regularly visited the hall. But for my own pleasure with food, it was becoming a nightmare as I found it more and more difficult to eat the meals I prepared.
“My bucket list . . . All the places I want to eat out,” she muses, “and I just might cook at home and throw a dinner party . . . That sounds terribly old fashioned, doesn’t it,” she adds.
“I always used to find meals out with family and friends quite daunting and felt my presence compromised those with whom I was out.
Of course, they’d have to find a restaurant with a menu offering something I could chew,” Jacky says.
Jacky suffered from periodontal (gum) disease for decades. “I was informed by my family dentist I would experience dental issues throughout my life.
“At one point I was attending the dentists every three months to try and control the problems. No matter how I tried, as the years passed I lost more and more teeth,” she recalls.
Jacky’s confidence plummeted so badly she would walk her dog at 5 am to avoid meeting people. “By my mid-50s the erosion on my confidence was as severe as the erosion on my gums,” she says,
Now, with four implants retaining an upper overdenture and a partial lower traditional prosthetic, she’s thrilled with her new smile.
“No-one would ever know they are not my natural teeth. Out with my dog, I can now speak to people and ask ‘what sort of dog have you got on your lead?’”
Jacky, who recently renovated her newly-purchased bungalow, adds: “Everything was finished except a makeover of the front garden. I could have paid to have it done but decided to invest in my teeth. It was no good having a front garden when you have no front teeth.”
The surgery was carried out by North Street Dental’s implant dentist Owain Rees BDS DGDP (UK) Dip Imp Dent (UCL) GDC 61576.
Summing up her experience Jacky concluded: “I wake up feeling remarkably good, my jaw sore from all the smiling. I came for an initial consultation with Steven [practice principal Steven Burchell Dip CDT RCS Eng GDC 108353], and I could hardly lift my head up.
“Now look at me!”
Jacky after her treatment at North Street Dental
Jacky before her treatment
