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Volume 3 Issue 5
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S
upporting
Y
our
P
ractice
Dr. John O’Keefe, CDA director of knowledge networks, spoke with
a dental colleague who had recently retired and they were reminiscing
about denture patients they had seen over the years. Some of these clinical
experiences brought back a smile when remembering them with the
privilege of hindsight! Here are a few short vignettes that they recounted.
THE MASKED
DENTIST
Anonymous by choice,
the “Masked Dentist”
will provide his/her
personal experiences
about practising dentistry
in Canada from time to
time.
The Masked Dentist
This interviewhasbeencondensedand
edited.
Theviewsexpressedarethoseoftheauthor
anddonotnecessarilyreflecttheopinions
orofficialpoliciesoftheCanadianDental
Association.
Denture Patients’ Stories
x4
“I did an externship in the late 70s between my 3rd and 4th year in dental
school. It was with a dentist (let’s call him Bob for this story) who is to this day
a real hero of mine. It was an amazing experience that allowed me to do so
much dentistry, that I found my 4th year in dental school to be a breeze!
He had a patient arrivewith no teethwhowanted a set of dentures. I never got
to see the patient. Bob explained that it would take several visits, the patient
told him he was only coming back one more time and that was to pick up his
dentures. Bob took a set of alginate impressions and estimated the bite, etc.
The patient had hard ridges that showed little bone loss because the patient
had all his teeth removed and never had dentures, but claimed he could
eat everything—except Brazilian nuts.
When the patient came back for the denture fit
appointment, he put the teeth in and Bob did
a few adjustments. Then, the patient put the
dentures inhis pocket. WhenBob askedwhy hewas
getting dentures, the patient responded that he
was going to wear them at his eldest daughter’s
wedding and that he had four daughters and
planned to wear them only 4 times! ”