Here is a true story that happened to me soon after I qualified.
An elderly lady came into my
surgery wanting new false teeth, which I agreed to provide as her old ones were
badly stained and worn down. We went through the usual impression and bite
recording stages and came to the day when the teeth were set up on wax gums to
try in. The lady looked at them in the mirror and said that she would like
lighter teeth on them. The dentures were sent away to the laboratory to be
altered with one shade lighter tooth and a week later we tried them in again.
She looked at them again and said, " I'd like to
go back to the old colour but try a smaller tooth". This was arranged with
one size smaller tooth. Another week later they were tried in again when she
said the teeth looked too small and she would like them the same size as last
week but set longer in the gum.
Sixteen weeks and sixteen try ins later the teeth were back as they were set up originally
and the patient accepted the appearance. Finally the day arrived when the
patient would get her finished denture. She came in to have them fitted, a few
minor adjustments were made and she accepted them. She then proceeded to take
them out and put them in her bag and placed her old, grotty pair in her mouth.
I told her that she should put her
new pair in so that they would bed in and she could get used to them. Her reply
stunned me. " I have terminal cancer," she
said, " and I only have a few more weeks to live, I just wanted nice teeth
to be buried in".