Norma’s case study. Strictly stunning
Dance enthusiasts confidence restored
A picture snapped at a dance group’s farewell party to mark a friend’s departure to Jamaica showed more than what vivacious Norma Aston was expecting.
As the well-wishes were made and memorable dancing stories exchanged amongst members of the Uksalsafeet classes at Willenhall’s Chart Centre, the cameras and smartphones did their work.
But a single profile shot of Norma captured a different story to all the other photographs taken at that event.
“My teeth had been troublesome for years, but when I saw the photo and realised just how far forward my top teeth had moved I knew I had to get something done. It was a turning point for me,” recalls Norma of Willenhall.
The youthful 60-something-year-old salsa enthusiast, who attends classes every Saturday to help perfect her technique in this pastime made popular by programmes like Strictly Come Dancing, adds: “There were a number of things that came together which encouraged me to get things sorted.
“I had seen an article in my local paper about a woman who attends the same gym as myself at the centre. I was impressed how problems with her teeth were resolved.“
A patient of Denture Clinic principal Steven Burchell Dip CDT RCS(Eng), she suffered from an ill-fitting, lower denture and a long-standing issue was fixed with an implant-retained prosthetic.
Adds Norma: “I knew what I wanted and was already in my mind going down the implant denture route.
“At the same time, my step-daughter was encouraging me to see her implant dentist, the well-respected Dr Owain Rees.”
Referral
“I asked my regular dentist to refer me to Steven and a consultation was arranged. Dental work is such a visual thing, and unlike hospital surgical work we get to choose who undertakes it.
“It was so important for me that I made the correct choice.”
Husband Don, a former design engineer and dance band frontman, who met Norma 32 years ago while playing at the Corpus Christi Centre, Wednesfield, takes up the story:
“We’d done some research, but websites can really say anything, and it’s not the same as getting an impression face to face. When we saw Steven, he was so enthusiastic about his work and instilled confidence in us that his clinic would be able to do the job well. But I had one searching question that was really important to me. I told him ‘I know my wife’ and then asked: ‘Will she still be the same after the work is completed?’
“Steven was very reassuring and told me she would look the same, but with better teeth. We were never pressured and told to go away and think things through before making a decision.”
With referrals in-house, Norma was seen by North Street Dental surgeon Dr Owain Rees BDS, DGDP (UK) DIP IMP DENT (UCL). Under one roof, with four modern surgeries, the clinical discipline of high-quality denture provision sits side by side with general, cosmetic and implant dentistry.
Norma’s treatment plan included intravenous sedation, the placing of six lower implants to support a removable overdenture and a traditional upper denture prescription. The former City Hospital accounts manager, says: “Knowing that Owain was going to do the surgery was great.
“He explained everything, and I embraced the treatment plan.
“I’d always cared for my teeth, but I have a family history of gum problems, and for more than 20 years I’d had a partial denture. I never realised it didn’t fit properly until I saw Steven. I’d just grown into it.
“I’m amazed at the difference.”
“My new teeth . . . I couldn’t ask for more, and I’m amazed at the difference. They look so natural,“ she adds. Don agrees her new smile is “stunning.”
Norma enjoys a hectic lifestyle juggling dancing with personal commitments and volunteer stints at the Locksmith’s House, Willenhall, a well-preserved piece of living Victorian history.
“I love working there, and Don helps too. I used to be self-conscious of my smile when meeting people and was always careful about how I smiled. Now I have all my confidence back, and my only regret is that I didn’t get my teeth sorted out three years ago”.
Norma after her treatment at North Street Dental
