Barts and The London Dental Hospital >> Patient stories
Patient stories
Thomas's story
Thomas Davidson is a student and has what most young men take for granted - a full set of teeth, but this hasn’t always been the case. He has a hereditary condition known as hypodontia, which is when a child is born with missing adult teeth. Between 2-10% of the UK population may suffer some degree of this.
Difficulties for Thomas started when he was a small boy. He says; “I was about eight years old and eating a sandwich. I could not chew it properly and swallowed some chunks of bread and started to choke. My dad was with me and helped me sort out the choking so no real harm was done, but he started to really worry about lack of teeth and he decided to ask our dentist for some help.”
The dentist referred Thomas to Barts and The London Dental Hospital where restorative and orthodontic experts diagnosed hypodontia; Thomas had approximately 10 missing teeth – the front ones and the molars at the back. This could be treated, but it would take about eight years and require many trips to the dental hospital.
As he was still young, Thomas still had more growing to do before the treatment could start, but the team set about x-raying his existing teeth and jaw and assessing which teeth could be moved, straightened and if need be, removed and replaced.
At the age of 11, Thomas’s treatment started and he recalls; “During the first few appointments, there were so many dentists looking at me, at first I wondered what was going on, but they soon explained to me that my condition was rare and they needed a team of dental consultants each with different expertise to help me.”
Thomas’s baby teeth were removed - he was too old to have these and they should have fallen out naturally, but they were still in place because the adult teeth were either not there or not strong enough to push through and replace the baby teeth. Thomas was fitted with braces designed to move the good teeth into a better position. The brace also included some dentures to fill in the gaps and help him chew better. Most boys of Thomas’s age may have been worried about this, but Thomas never once faltered. He says “The dental team put me at ease as they explained everything including what to expect over the next few months.”
Once the good teeth were moved to a better position, Thomas had to wear a retainer which included a set of dentures to make sure the teeth stayed in place while his jaw continued to grow. He wore these for about four years and during that time had regular appointments at the hospital every two months. These appointments were to check that the teeth were in the right place, to monitor jaw growth and to start planning the next stage of his treatment – dental implants.
A dental implant is a metal screw, made of titanium, which is surgically inserted into the jaw and may be used to support a false tooth. This treatment is successful in over 90% of cases and provided the implants are cared for, they should last Thomas his lifetime. Thomas was given four dental implants in readiness for his new teeth as well as bridge-work.
Three months after the dental implants were in place and Thomas’s gums had healed, his new teeth were screwed in place. The result is a full set of teeth and Thomas is now able to bite and chew. After his 8 year long treatment and the fantastic end results Thomas says: “I’m a happy and positive person and did my very best not to worry about my teeth as I was growing up, but you know what, I used to be embarrassed and never used to smile. Now I smile much more often, because I’ve got front teeth!”
