Shirley’s case study. Confidence restored in her teeth
Keen gardener Shirley says life is now in full bloom
She laughs easily, smiles a lot and loves company, with this 70-something-year-old enjoying fresh confidence in her day-to-day living.
Fun-loving Shirley Foster, a passionate gardener and keen modern sequence dancer can’t wait for some sunshine and watch her collection of blooms spring into life.
“I love my collection of poppies. They look stunning with their large colourful flower heads and gardening is a real therapy,” she says.
Admitting she “is very privileged to be so fit”, Shirley walks wherever she can – she doesn’t drive – and for the first time in years is living life with spontaneity she has not known for years. Not that she has ever failed to embrace the chance to wring every last drop of living out of life, but troublesome teeth and ill-fitting dentures were forever eroding confidence.
A life dogged with dental issues
Her problems began when she was at school and a life dogged with dental issues followed.
“My two front teeth went bad and had to have crowns fitted on posts. It was the days of the school dentist and I had to go – everyone dreaded it. I had never been in so much pain with the treatment.
“I religiously attended the dentists every six months to try and keep out of trouble, but as the years went by I seemed to pick up more problems and gradually started to lose my teeth with one abscess after another.
“For 30 years or more, I’ve had a partial top plate, but it kept breaking. The bottom plate was worse as it seemed to have a mind of its own.”
Refusing to be beaten by her ill-fitting dentures, Shirley, a former employee at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital, carried an essential denture rescue package wherever she went.
“I’d go nowhere without a tube of fixative in my handbag – no matter what I was doing,” she recalls.
“I was always putting my hand in front of my mouth and raising a finger to my top denture to make sure it was in place. Unable to do anything more for me, my dentist referred me to see someone in Birmingham, but it was too far for me to travel from Wednesbury,” she adds.
It was then Shirley discovered the Denture Clinic at North Street after reading an article in her local free paper.
Hoping for a solution, she booked a free consultation. Steven Burchell Dip CDT RCS(Eng) GDC108353, principal at the Denture Clinic, says: “She came to our clinic and it was clear she had stabilisation problems with her dentures. A guaranteed solution for her bottom prescription was for over-dentures to be secured by a couple of implants. We made a high-quality top denture, and the combined effect of using both therapies is excellent. Not only do Shirley’s teeth look great, but they are also functional.”
Confidence
Adds Shirley: “It’s lovely to have the freedom now of not having to worry about whether my teeth would pop out if I coughed or sneezed. I love to talk to people, but now I can smile as well.
“I feel confident that my teeth are secure, my bottom denture being firmly on the implant ‘press studs’.”
In recent years Shirley has found love second time around. “I lost my long-term partner a few years ago, but now I have a very special friend. I met him at a tea dance. Ironically, he’d just been to his dentists and heard the music and decided to pop in.
I’m very privileged and my daughter helps keep my outlook young especially when I’m shopping for clothes,” adds Shirley.
“I can’t fault the treatment I received and I’m very pleased with my teeth. Steven was lovely and so were all the staff at the Denture Clinic.”
Shirley after her treatment at North Street Dental
