Dana L. Yeoman, DDS

Dentures and Implants

The Power of a Smile to Change Lives:  Denny’s Story Part 3




This was no ordinary dining room table.  It was the one that the family sat around to share family feasts, spar competitively over board games, and debate all major family decisions.  Denny naturally found himself there with Paula, his wife, after a very exhausting day.  He had fought his wife the whole way to the dentist, but in the end he knew she cared about him so much that she was willing to put up with his bad attitude to help him.  She may well be an incurable chatterbox, but she was a good woman.  Their multi-decade marriage was testimony to that.

Together they reviewed the information he had got from his trip to Second Smile Denture Care.

“That x-ray showed that you have lost a lot of bone in your jaw since you first started wearing dentures," Paula said. "I’m no dentist, but I could see exactly what Dr. Yeoman was talking about.  Your jawbone is only about as thick as your little finger now.  That’s scary!”

Denny didn’t like the thought of it, but it was true.  It explained so much about why his dentures hadn’t fit in years.  The bone that used to support his lower denture had melted away, and now the edges of the plastic dug into his jaw when he chewed.  He had tried to ignore it, but he realized more and more how many of his favorite foods he had to pass up because they were too painful to eat.  “I never knew there was an ‘expiration date’ on dentures.  I figured once I got them, I was good forever.  Guess that wasn’t so smart.”

“I knew there was a connection to how the shape of your face has changed over the years.”  Paula thought back to when they had first met.  Denny’s face had been more confident and kindly.  He didn’t have a permanent scowl.  She fished out a worn box from the buffet drawer and found pictures from their senior year.  Their daughter used to tease him, saying he looked like “The Fonz” with his greased pompadour.  He’d fire back that he used to be the fastest drag racer in the concrete LA riverbed before the cops busted them all.  

“Babe, you used to have an oval face.  You were never meant to be so square-jawed and caved in.”

Paula then pulled out a candid snapshot taken of Denny only a couple months ago at Christmastime to compare with his high school days.  “Dr. Yeoman showed us photos of other people with a mouth like yours.  See how when you smile, your teeth don’t show in front.  Only the back ones show.  And these creases from the corners of your mouth down to your chin... that’s not you.”


Denny couldn’t deny it.  Looking at his photos then and now, he realized he had aged way beyond his years.  His appearance was making him feel older inside, too.  It began making sense why his buddy Sharky knew that he wore dentures.  Sharky had called him “classic”.  Now Denny could see exactly what he was talking about.  That bugged him.  A lot.

Studying the recent snap shot, Denny noticed that though he was smiling, his face did not look happy.  There was no reason at Christmas not to be joyful, but from looking at his photo no one would be able to tell that he wasn’t a miserable ol’ grump.  People treated him that way.  He began to wonder what came first, the bad attitude or the disfigured smile?  Something had to change.

“Yeah, Paula.  Let’s do this.”

Denny’s Story Part 2 Denny’s Story Part 4