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Z Good ThingsWHEN

B Y G I N G E R TA F OYA

Good PeoplePhlorene Pheigh was exhausted, broke and spiritually battered, but this care-

giving angel gets a miracle of her own when a team of Las Vegas

medical and exercise professionals agreed to transform her at no charge

r. James Wright hadhis first meeting withPhlorene and foundher to be a kind andexceptional person. “Iknew that I wanted tobe on her team ofexperts for her com-

plete makeover,” says Wright. X-rays and acomprehensive exam were performed.Phlorene said it had been 10 years sinceshe had seen a dentist for routine dentalcare, but she had no symptoms of anyproblems. He took impressions for studymodels and set up a consultation with her.

On that consultation day Phlorene’s X-rays were placed up on a 42-inchplasma screen, and Wright explained toher that if they were to properly treather, the cost would be approximately$60,000, which was far beyond any costthat Nevada Woman or Phlorene hadimagined. It was thought that the workwould be minimal.

Step 1: Cleaning

As it turned out, Phlorene neededmuch more than a cleaning and

bleach. She had periodontal disease.“The difference between a routinecleaning and the type of cleaning thatPhlorene needed is that by definition acleaning is preventive in nature and isperformed when there is no disease.Phlorene had scaling and root planing

HAPPEN TO

Part 1: Dr. James Wright, Dentist

Dr. Wright begins Phlorene’s restoration by first performing a cleaning, and treating periodontal disease and an infection

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will need to open her bite and the wax upallows me to see what the patient’s teethare going to look like prior to any prepa-ration,” says Wright. “I also had Perfor-mance fabricate a surgical stent for thesurgeons (a surgical stent is an appliancethat is used as a guide for implant place-ment). This will give us the ideal locationand angulation for implant placement.

“I met again with Drs. Drongowskiand Degan to show them the wax up and share my thoughts and listened totheir concerns,” continues Wright.“Theywere pleased with the wax up and stent.We agreed that we needed to get startedwith the oral surgery component of hertreatment as her mouth is going to takesome time to heal. I can then finish the restoration and beautification of hermouth. Phlorene will need regularcheck-ups and cleanings throughout the rest of her life, the same as we allneed to do,” advises Wright.

which is therapeutic and performedwhen there is periodontal disease,” saysWright. This was Phlorene’s first step,which was undertaken immediately.

Step 2: Whitening

“I wanted to keep Phlorene motivatedabout her oral health so her next

step after scaling and root planing wasZoom whitening. Phlorene was shadeA3.5 which is quite yellow. She selecteda movie from our DVD collection. Atwhitening completion, her teeth hadlightened to shade A2. Her teeth becameseven shades lighter with Zoom and thisis a typical result. She also received re-evaluation on her gums and surround-ing tissue,” explains Wright.

Step 3: Treat Infected Nerve

Wright’s next step was to take care ofthe infected nerve on Phlorene’s

canine (eye tooth) and performed rootcanal therapy. “This tooth was infected,but had never caused Phlorene any dis-comfort,” says Wright. “She had a large

bump (abscess) on her gum that shenever realized was there until I pointedit out. I also had to clean this infectedtissue as well but it is worth it. The ca-nines are the cornerstone of the mouth,they also have the longest root, and wealways try to save them,” says Wright.

Step 4: Oral Surgery

Phlorene also needed an oral surgeryconsult because she would be having

her broken-down teeth removed andreplaced with beautiful, but very expen-sive, implants. plus a sinus lift and bonegrafting in the areas that will be receiving the dental implants. Wright enlisted thehelp of Drs. Drongowski and Degan, whoreadily agreed to come on board to reha-bilitate Phlorene’s mouth.

Step 5: Performance Dental Lab

T he next step was to have PerformanceDental Lab make a “wax up” or model

of what Phlorene’s teeth could look like.Many of her back teeth are missing orbroken, and she has an unusual bite. “I

Above: The current condition of Phlorene’s teeth shows the infected canine on the upper left; Above right: After bleaching,Phlorene’s teeth were brightened by seven shades, from A3.5 to A2; Below right: A computer model of Phlorene’s smile afterthe restoration is complete; Below left: A plaster impression called a “wax up” shows examples of the final restorations.

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