Loretta Spivey, actual patient of Dr. Noie.
By Xander Thomas
Some people are blessed with perfect teeth from birth,some require minimal work or braces, and others get stuck with problems their whole life. Loretta Spivey was not one of the more fortunate ones.
“I’ve always had problems with them,” Loretta said.
“One dentist told me I had my mom’s top jaw and my dad’s bottom, so they never sat together.”
Because her teeth were basically mismatched due to an overbite, she had always had difficulty chewing and eating. Loretta tried, without much luck, to get the offset fixed.
“I even had braces put on which I probably shouldn’t have done. They helped but when they were taken off my teeth went back, so I still didn’t have a good bite,” she said.
While her situation was troublesome enough, a few years back she developed gingivitis, which would go untreated for a while. Because she didn’t like or trust many dentists, the problem worsened until she had to find someone to fix it for her.
“They were starting to become loose. I had some gum and bone loss,” she said. “They were pretty bad so I know I needed to see someone before they started falling out.”
Loretta had a dentist that she had been seeing, but even he didn’t do much to fix everything that she needed, only pulling a tooth and putting in a partial. Then, before she could get more corrections, he quit and she needed to find someone else to help her. She began asking around to see who other people were going to. One of her coworkers highly recommended Dr. Noie, of Unicare – Center for Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry, and she figured she would give him a shot.
“Dr. Noie said he didn’t even know how I ate all these years,” she said.
He took a look at her mouth and he knew exactly what to do to help her. They scheduled a few surgeries, and he would take care of the teeth she was losing, along with the overbite that kept her self-conscious most of her life.
“I didn’t wanna smile, I always put my hand over my mouth when I talked or smiled,” Loretta said. “That’s one thing my husband noticed when I got my new teeth, I didn’t do that anymore.”
After two or three surgeries she would be good to go. During the first round, Dr. Noie took out the whole bottom row of teeth out at one time. While it sounds severe, she maintains that it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.
Her lifetime ailment was finally getting resolved, and she could chew food like a normal person. Lorettea wasn’t really in pain from it all. After healing, she was able to consume regular food.
Dr. Noie and his expert staff were not the only ones that were there to help her the whole way. Loretta says that she has
an amazing husband who drove her to and from appointments, stayed with her during every one, and took care of her when she needed it.
“My husband said I went through more than most men could bear,” she said with a laugh.
After everything life had thrown at her, the Unicare staff did everything they could, and never made her feel conscious about her teeth, they were just there to help.
“I’ve never been to a hygienist that’s as good as Laurie is! Usually you dread going cause they’re about to drown you,” she said, “She is wonderful.”
She says that she would highly recommend Dr. Noie, and his whole staff, to anyone needing corrections in their mouth.
Dr. Noie
has been in private practice in the Bay Area since 1996. He is a Diplomate of Int’l Congress of Oral Implantologists, Fellow of Academy of General Dentistry, and Assoc. Fellow of American Academy of Implant Dentistry. He has completed his surgical training at New York University as well as Medical University of South Carolina, Temple University, and Wright State University School of Medicine. He completed his oral Anesthesiology training at University of Alabama in Birmingham. He is a member of American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.
