42 Y/o Married Mother of Two, Wanting to Look Young Again - O Fallon, IL

Since childhood, I have had yellow teeth because of Fluoride pills that I was regularly given as a child. My parents thought they were doing the best for me then, but that was before studies showed that these pills not only made your teeth strong, but also had the ability to irreversibly stain teeth in children like me. When my parents gave me these pills as a child, they had no idea that this would cause me to still have deep yellow stains on my teeth nearly 40 years later. I have always been embarrassed to smile, covering my mouth whenever someone told a joke that was too funny to not laugh, or whenever I was happy about something. I never smiled in pictures and I couldn't stand selfies. I shared this with my husband many times over the years and I've always been happy to know that he loves me no matter how my teeth look. My kids only knew me one way and their love was unconditional as well. But the problem was that I did not like my teeth, and I always wanted to look better, to feel attractive, to feel good about the way my face looked.

After years of looking for the right dentist, I found Dr. Sarah Thompson. I went to at least 9 other dentists and listened to what they had to say about what they would do for me. The offices ranged from the very nice to the very average. The years of experience of the doctors ranged from about 5 years to 30 years. One think always stuck out to me though. Of all the office that I went to, Dr. Thompson was the only dentist that could show me proof of what she was capable of. For example, one dentist claimed to have 25 years of experience, but he couldn't show me a single before and after pic of an actual patient of his. He could describe what he planned to do, but could not show me anyone's teeth that he had done. He showed me one model of a past patient's teeth that had the date on it of 1998. Needless to say, I did not select him. A couple of other dentists at other places that I went showed me beautiful pictures of patients with veneers, but when I questioned them more deeply, they admitted that these pictures were of models and not actual patients of theirs. I found two other dentist that had a couple before and after pictures, but I didn't feel that the afters really looked that good.
So that brings me to Dr. Thompson. From the moment I called her office, I felt like something was right here. The young lady that answered the phone seemed so nice and considerate. I made it clear that I just wanted a consultation and she was fine with that. I went in for an exam to get Dr. Thompson's opinion on what she would do with my teeth. She examined them for about 10 minutes, and checked them with her instruments. She then asked me what my goals were. I told her that I wanted to look beautiful for my husband and I wanted to not be so embarrassed to smile. (This was the first time that a dentist actually asked me what "I" wanted). She grabbed my hand and smiled at me. She then reached for her computer mouse with her other hand and started to click through some of her many veneer cases that she had done. In these pictures were several patients that had started with fluoride stained yellow teeth, as well. There before and after photos looked astonishing. I was blown away. This was the first time that I actually saw before and after pictures that looked this good. The photos looked so good, I asked her if these were her real patients. She replied, "of course." Then asked her assistant to retrieve her iphone from her office. Her assistant returned to the room with her phone and Dr. Sarah proceeded to scroll through her pictures and found some of those patients on her phone. The pictures on her phone showed more before and afters and I could tell that the pictures were taken at the same office that I was sitting in. This was by far the best experience that I had had.
So I scheduled to return to the office in 3 weeks to start the process. When I returned 3 weeks later, I ended up choosing to get 20 teeth done. She did all of my teeth in one appointment and placed temporaries on them at the end of that appointment. I returned about 10 days later to have all my permanents cemented on. She cemented my permanents on and they looked just like my temporaries, but they were whiter and better. So, after the initial consult, I was done in 2 appointments. My teeth looked like night and day. When my husband saw my teeth, he was afraid to kiss me. He thought that he may mess them up or something. (His fear didn't last very long though). My teenage children, who I thought didn't even think anything of my teeth, were nearly in tears because of how good they looked. I was in tears when I saw their reactions. I loved my experience at this office. Sorry this was so long, but I am not the reviewing type, so I didn't know how to say all of that in a few words. :)