Our patients touch our own lives.
"As a nurse, when I first came to work for the Blende Dental Group, I was interested in the mission of the practice and excited about the new opportunity. However, I had previously worked in Cardiac Intensive Care, where I had been responsible for changing peoples’ lives. I wasn’t sure that I was going to get a similar sense of fulfillment working for a dental practice. But shortly after I began working at the BDG, I met Mandy. Mandy’s story is available on our website – her mother shares how the BDG changed Mandy’s life. But Mandy changed my life too.At the time we treated her in 2004, Mandy was 21 years old. She has profound autism, and was not able to cooperate with a dentist in order to receive care. Her dental condition was further complicated by Amelogenesis Imperfecta, a condition in which enamel does not form correctly on the teeth.
As I talked to her mother in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I heard frustration and perhaps a bit of sadness in her voice when she described to me that she and Mandy’s father had spent several years trying to locate a dentist who was willing and able to treat Mandy. Even though her father is a well-respected doctor, and her mother is very active in the special needs community, they could not find her a dentist. She described how they had eventually been referred to Dr. Ray Lyons, the Past President of the Special Care Dentistry Association. He told Mandy’s family that there was only one place that he knew of that she could go to receive definitive full-mouth restoration under general anesthesia – the Blende Dental Group. As we discussed our services, I began to hear hope come into her voice.
Mandy’s mother and I talked about how long her treatment would take to complete, as people with autism thrive on routine, so we were concerned that traveling for her care would take her away from her usual routine. Mandy’s father and I spoke about her medical history, including her history of seizures, and the complexity of the dental treatment she would require to restore her mouth to health.
For her safety as well as to ensure that we could complete her extensive treatment, we agreed that her dental work would be done under general anesthesia. In order to save her teeth, we would need to place crowns on all 28 of her teeth, and we would need to bring in specialists to perform 3 root canals, gum surgery in several areas of her mouth, and extract her wisdom teeth. The only alternative for Mandy would have been to extract all of her teeth, and her parent’s did not want to do that. Mandy would not be compliant with dentures, and at her age, she has a life-time in front of her to enjoy food and interact with others, and a nice smile certainly contributes to positive self-esteem.
Mandy had so much work to be done, that even if she had the ability to cooperate with the dentist, she would have needed at least 7-8 appointments that would have averaged 3-4 hours each over the course of several weeks. Using general anesthesia, however, we could coordinate all the specialists, and complete all of Mandy’s work in just 2 appointments - within one week, while she slept, and with no pain.
Helping Mandy’s family made me feel good. Her parents were an absolute delight as we spoke on the phone to coordinate her treatment and their travel. And when they arrived at the office for the first time on a Wednesday afternoon, Mandy’s sweet spirit was immediately obvious, despite the difficult situation she was placed in, being out of her routine, and in a strange environment with strange people.
Mandy went to the hospital on Thursday morning, and our team did all of her surgery. Then over the weekend, her family enjoyed vacationing in San Francisco while our laboratory fabricated all of her crowns. On Monday, we returned to the hospital to place all of her crowns. On Tuesday, we saw Mandy one last time to double-check her crown placement while she was awake, and to see how well she was healing. Then I touched base with Dr. Lyons to arrange for him to see Mandy for her cleanings twice a year, and to keep an eye on all the dentistry we’d done.
I stayed in touch with Mandy’s mother for the next few weeks. She told me about the impact Mandy’s dental treatment had had on her life. Because she no longer had pain, she was eating better. Her acne had cleared up. She seemed happier. She was brushing her teeth once again. And, she smiled at people just to show them her new teeth. The joy in her mother’s voice was evident. She was so grateful that she wrote about the experience, and submitted the article to the local Autism support group newsletter.
I see Dr. Lyons every year at the Special Care Dentistry Association’s annual conference. He always updates me on Mandy’s progress – she continues to do great!
As the Practice Manager here at the Blende Dental Group, I deal primarily with the business issues, which means I don’t often have the privilege of meeting many of our patients. But I know a lot about them, through their charts, their thank-you letters, and through the stories of my staff, who hold the patients they care for as near and dear to their hearts as I hold Mandy to mine."
Amanda White, R.N., B.S.N.
Practice Manager
The Blende Dental Group
Back to Mandy's Story