A smile can brighten your day. To give or receive one is a joy. It's hard to resist a smile. Try remaining po-faced when confronted with a genuine, loving smile. Lips parted with a row of pearly white teeth showing. But sometimes the pearly whites are anything but. Discolouration can be a little off putting. We aren't all blessed with flawless teeth, just the right size for our mouth. They come in all shapes and sizes. As we get older some get loose and fall out, some discolour and some even take on funny shapes of their own. Years take a toll on our teeth. Smoking affects their colour, and neglect shows up, too, with gaps and bad teeth on display. We need them until the day we die so they have to be kept in good repair. And that's not cheap.
So I was disappointed to read where great grandfather and pensioner Henry Coe from Pahiatua who, after shelling out $2213 in April 2013 for partial upper and lower dentures, has had nothing but misery with them. They still don't fit properly and dig into his gums, causing painful, pus-filled ulcers, he says. After all this time he has got no relief from his pain and nobody seems interested in trying to help the poor man. He's tried to get a refund with no luck, been to the hospital, ACC have turned down his claim for costs and he exists on soft foods and noodles. He says he's dying for a steak after all this time. Die he may well do before anyone does anything to help him.
I had to take matters into my own hands some years back when Theo needed to have both his upper and lower teeth pulled. They weren't bad just worn down. He couldn't enjoy his meals anymore. Years of chewing on bones, which he absolutely loved, can do that. On the advice of a friend who owned a small rest home we went to a dentist/dental technician she knew in a nearby city. Apparently he specialised in dentures for seniors and they received a good discounted price.
I went along with Theo as I always did to his important health appointments. He was never very happy with that because I always asked lots of questions. Theo was inclined to go with the flow. The first thing that struck me was the dentist's indifference to Theo. He was a surly bugger and could barely say good morning. True to form, I asked lots of questions that he really wasn't interested in answering. In the end, to get shot of me, he suggested I might be more comfortable waiting in the reception area. In no time Theo's teeth were pulled and the whole procedure was quite painless. Ten days later, Theo was fitted with dentures that looked just the part. They appeared to fit well although he did say the top denture slipped a little. A bit loose. After a week the top denture still didn't fit securely like the bottom one. I rang the dentist and relayed Theo's concern. He wasn't going to talk to me. "I'll only speak to Mr. Tait".
I heard Theo say "Right I'll persevere then". Well he would say that wouldn't he. He did persevere for another fortnight. In the meantime the account arrived and I sat on it. Eventually I rang the dentist saying Theo wanted to come back and have another fitting for his top denture. The guy was not happy. "Send both the upper and lower set back then, your old man's a bloody nuisance" he shouted down the phone. "No, I want you to do the job we asked for" I shouted back.
