Smiling Without Thinking: Troy’s Story
By: Britely
Meet Troy
Ever since his high school football days, you’d never see Troy without his hand covering his mouth on the rare occasions that he smiled. He’d had his front teeth knocked out during a game, and from that moment forward Troy hid his smile. He refused to have his photo taken, would skip events with family and friends in embarrassment, and grew into adulthood feeling insecure and depressed.
“People take for granted their ability to smile, when you’re embarrassed by your smile it affects your mood and professional life, and I wouldn’t go on outings out of shame.”
His first bridge held out for 5 or 6 years, until the teeth that held it broke and he ended up with several more missing teeth. Despite the care he took of his teeth, Troy found himself with lots of issues; broken bridges, root canals and crowns. He’d use flippers to hide it, knowing he needed a more permanent solution: dental implants. He watched and waited for the price of dental implants to go down so that he could finally smile again with the confidence he hadn’t felt in decades.
After years of putting it off and another broken bridge, his wife encouraged him to schedule an appointment with Britely. After meeting Dr. Barrett and discussing his specific needs, he was presented with the pricing he had been dreading, but was met with a pleasant surprise; Britely was nearly half the cost of other places he’d looked into. “I was a little nervous that it was so affordable; what was the quality going to be? I went several years without smiling because I had broken and missing teeth and every other organization wanted twice as much as Dr. Barrett to give me a smile. But his work is top quality and his staff is extremely friendly, responsive, open and honest.”
Troy’s procedure was completed in two steps, he describes it as relatively easy, fast and painless. “I was able to manage any pain with Ibuprofen, but after three days I had no pain at all. In fact, I was able to eat a hamburger two days !”later
After the process was complete, smiling made him nervous at first. He’d still instinctively raise his hand to cover his mouth, until it finally sank in that he didn’t need to anymore. Today, Troy doesn’t hesitate to show you his big toothy grin.
“I don’t understand why it’s called a cosmetic procedure when it’s so much more than that. It’s changed my mood, lifted my depression and has helped me feel confident in front of customers and colleagues at work. For the first time, I can smile without thinking about it.”
