Esther’s case study
My smile was stolen in a road crash, but restored by cosmetic dentistry.
She loves fashion – particularly shoes, is the manager of a thriving internet sales company and a working mum with “two full-time boys.”
For Esther Nash, life is forever gaining momentum as she juggles relationships with musician husband Adam, and her lads, Noah, aged six and four-year-old Hudson.
The 28-year-old admits life is a whirlwind full of unforeseen challenges in both business and motherhood. and her coping mechanism is focussing on the good things and “to keep smiling.”
But the gleaming smile and infectious laughter that so defines this ‘supermum’ was stolen in a moment after a head-on smash with a bus.
Car accident
“It was just another day. I’m always busy, but fortunately I hadn’t got the boys with me,” she recalls.
“Like all accidents it all happened so quickly. I was in a road where suddenly the lanes become very narrow. On that day a delivery van as parked at the narrowest point. The road in front of me appeared clear, but as soon as I’d begun the manoeuvre a bus was coming right towards me.
“I thought I’d have enough room to continue and miss it, but I didn’t,” she adds.
Trapped and hysterical in her mangled Nissan she was aware a number of pedestrians shouting ‘get out, get out.’
“The airbag had gone off and there was this haze in the car that looked like smoke. I think they thought it was on fire, but I was more concerned with the strange crunching in my mouth.
“In the middle of this chaos – by now the ambulance and police had arrived – I looked in the mirror and my mouth was full of blood. My smile was ruined with one of my upper front teeth sheered.
“I was mortified, hurt everywhere as I’d bounced back and forth off the bus and the parked van, but it was my damaged smile that bothered me most,” she recalls.
Monitored by paramedics at the scene in a neighbour’s home for two hours, she was eventually taken to hospital by the ambulance crew.
“My foot was damaged and I had bruises all over, but I was devastated by my shattered front tooth. How can a single tooth cause so much grief?
“I was wearing a large flower ring – costume jewellery – and it was broken in two. They think the impact threw my hand off the steering wheel and my tooth connected with the ring.
“Looking back it had a huge impact on me. I needed it fixed, like yesterday, and vowed not to go out until it was repaired. My confidence just evaporated and I didn’t want to leave the house,” she adds.
Emergency treatment
Following emergency treatment on her tooth, Esther sought help from North Street Dental in Dudley.
“I just wanted things to be normal, but I had so much sensitivity with the tooth I had to wait a fortnight for things to calm down. Everyone was so supportive and set about fitting a porcelain veneer, but it meant my tooth initially looked worse after the prep work. I just broke down in the waiting room on the way out.
“Everyone was so kind,” she says.
Practice principal Steven Burchell Dip CDT RCS(Eng) GDC108353 adds: “The psychological and emotional association with our teeth is very strong and Esther’s response was a common one. She was distraught and we pulled out all the stops to complete the dental work within ten days.
“The lab people were amazing, with Esther having an appointment to see them to ensure an excellent colour match.”
Adds Esther: “I couldn’t have asked for more. My teeth have at least three gradients of colour and the match is perfect. I can’t thank the team enough.”
Esther after her treatment at North Street Dental
Esther before her treatment at North Street Dental