The Smile Daily

“It was a lot of visits, but I knew I had an end in sight. Everything Dr. Johnston told me up front is exactly what happened. It was done nicely and I’d do it all over again.”

When Virginia deCamp (known as Gin to her friends) got the invitation to her 25th high school reunion, she knew it was time to shape up her smile. “My smile was not what I wanted. Over the years, the bonding had cracked and yellowed. It was really starting to bother me. In 2005, I knew it was time to get the work redone. It was an important decision.”

A nurse by profession, Gin took a methodical approach. She headed to the library and researched crowns versus veneers. She asked friends for cosmetic dentistry recommendations. And she scheduled consultations with area dentists to discuss the work.

“I checked on the little things, like how clean their office was, and how long I spent in the waiting room.”

While she was excited to find the right dentist to help design her new smile, she did have some reservations. Her past experience with dental work wasn’t good. She’d had pitting in her permanent teeth that needed bonding at a young age. At 18, she found out she’d never lost her eyeteeth from childhood. She needed them removed, along with additional remedial work.

“It left a bad taste in my mouth. I had to see an oral surgeon to get the teeth out and then have the adult ones pulled down, which was painful. Then I had to get braces, just as I was heading off for college.”

The cosmetic process would need to address the gap where a good tooth had been removed all those years ago. As she met with dentists in 2005, Gin got a lot of suggestions—combinations of crowns, veneers, bridges and bonding.

“It was a long process because it was important that I find the right person to entrust this to. It’s really an art. I knew this was going to be my smile for the rest of my life.”

When Gin visited Dr. Tim Johnston at Norge Dental Center, she was impressed with him and his office. “I loved their office. It was organized, immaculate, and professional.” After sitting down with Dr. Johnston for a consultation, she was even more impressed.

“He even took a picture of me and then showed me a computerized picture of how my smile would look afterward. We talked about his recommendations and he explained each step. For example, ‘To give the best results, I recommend this…’ He put a lot of thought into it.”

Dr. Johnston made sure to address any remedial work she needed from the past as part of the plan for her new smile. Dr. Johnston also gave her references of other people who’d had cosmetic work done in his office, so Gin could call them to ask about the process.

No one she knew had veneers, so she was curious. “I wanted to know how their teeth looked, but mostly, how did they function?  Could they eat an apple?”

Satisfied with what she heard from patients, and ready to get her new smile in time for the reunion, she decided to work with Dr. Johnston and his team.

“Everything Dr. Johnston told me up front is exactly what happened. It was done nicely, and I’d do it all over again.”

Gin was impressed with the NDC team and office, and continues to get her dental care there. She even switched her whole family to Norge Dental Center. She can get all three kids in for a cleaning at the same time, without taking them out of school. After her negative dental experiences, she wants better for her kids. “You want cleanings to be a good experience so if there’s ever a problem, they won’t get too anxious about it.”

Gin gets lots of compliments on her new smile. “Sometimes people say, ‘You look different, but I can’t put my finger on it.’ I don’t think my smile can get any better.”

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