They didn't mean any harm by it — kids say what they see.
For years, his grandkids had a nickname for what was in his mouth.
"Granddad, you've got steel in your mouth."
They didn't mean any harm by it — kids say what they see. But that one little phrase hit harder than they could have known. He'd been wearing a cobalt denture, smiling carefully, deciding day by day exactly how much of a smile he could let out before someone would notice. He'd been single for six years. He'd lost the confidence to feel like himself in front of a partner, never mind a stranger.
The cobalt denture was getting close to needing replaced. Another £1,000 just to keep things as they were. He didn't want as they were. He wanted his face back.
His biggest fear walking in wasn't the surgery it was being told no. Bone density. Age. Something he hadn't thought of. He'd convinced himself it might not be possible.
At his first consultation with Dr. Jimmy, the answer was the one he'd been hoping for.
"Your bone density is perfect. You'll not have any problem."
"That was such a huge relief. I said, 'Come on then. Let's get it done ASAP.'"
From his first call with Amanda in August through to the day his permanent teeth went in, the whole journey took just four months. He talks about Dr. Jimmy and his assistant Abdul the way you'd talk about a great double act – "proper Morecambe and Wise" – serious when it counts, with enough warmth and humour to keep him laughing through the long days.
"That man's a genius. Dr. Jimmy — he is the goat. The whole team was brilliant."
"For the price, well, it's priceless. Win-win."
The day his permanent teeth went in was 8th December — a date he says will be ingrained in his head forever.
The change in him is impossible to miss. The man who used to calculate exactly how wide he could open his mouth before someone clocked the metal, now can't stop smiling.
"I just can't stop smiling. Before, I had to decide how much of a smile I could let out. Now I've got no fear."
His grandkids notice every time he walks in.
"Now they say: 'Show us, granddad, show us.' That hit me right there. I loved it."
The little wins are everywhere:
- Two steaks waiting in the freezer to celebrate, ready for the end of the week
- Confidence sky-high, in his own words
- He's even thinking about getting back out there. "I've been single six years. I might even start dating again."
"Smile is everything. I feel a thousand percent. I'm a new man."
His message to anyone who's been dragging their heels — anyone who's looking at the cost or worrying about the unknown — is straight to the point.
"If Truly Dental's on anybody's mind — go for it. Go for it. If you're not yourself with what you've got, change it. You'll realise it's money well spent. Money well spent."
Or, in his own coining of a phrase:
"I've been Truly dentled."
— Truly Dental patient, treated by Dr. Jimmy and his team
