KELLY K'S NEW GRILL, BY DR.
SANTO LAFOCA, PITTSTON

BLOG ENTRY #6

Smilin on TV

I made my television debut on Saturday night, something I promised myself I’d do if I went with the smile design. How’d it go? Well, Lyndall Stout has nothing to worry about… Put it this way, my new beautiful smile probably saved my butt. I hosted two segments of the WVIA Travel Auction. I’ve never been on TV before, it was quite an experience! Next time you watch the news, see if you notice the earpiece the anchor is wearing. I had to wear one of those, too! And I could hear the guys in the control room talking to me, giving me instructions while I was talking on camera. It was like VOICES IN MY HEAD MAKE THEM STOP!!! I was distracted, so I missed my cue to go to tape a couple of times, and the camera stayed on me after I’d finished what I had to say. So I smiled. Big. Bright. Showing off ALL those beautiful porcelain veneer restorations that look so natural no one would ever know I wasn’t born with perfect teeth. And the guys in the control room got the point and rolled tape. After a while, we had a system going. After I stopped talking I’d smile, and they’d roll tape. By the way, I got those porcelain restorations on FRIDAY AFTERNOON. It took about 3 hours. I took some Advil for minor discomfort Friday night but I didn’t need anything Saturday morning. And I was in front of a TV camera that night. So, what’s different now that the temporaries are off and the permanent porcelain veneers are in? The temporaries looked great, but they were made of acrylic. The porcelain crowns are very similar to the bone and enamel of my real teeth, which are all still there by the way. The veneers and my real teeth have become one. It’s impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. And they’re not coming off, unless my teeth get knocked out. Because they’re part of my real teeth, the porcelain restorations look natural, with the same color and shine. I need to brush and floss them every day. They bite and chew as normal teeth do. I just need to go a little easy on them for a couple of weeks while they’re a little sensitive. Not very sensitive; like I said I haven’t even needed an Advil since Friday night right after the procedure. I have to go back for a minor adjustment. Dr. LaFoca wants my bite to be perfect, and it takes a day or two of wearing the veneers to know for sure. Then after Thanksgiving I get my molars prepped. Dr. LaFoca actually lengthened my front teeth when he did the smile design, so he has to build up my molars to match them. Then I’ll be set. For life. So my next blog will be after Thanksgiving. I’ll let you know how my family reacted to my new sensational smile! Kelly K 11/19/07

Dr. Santo T. Lafoca