Doing the 'Impossible' is Sometimes Possible

I was working on a large case Friday morning when one of Dr. Banchs staff members called to ask me to see a 19 year old patient who was kicked in the mouth by a horse. He wanted me to see what we would be up against so that we could determine if we could treat or refer the patient for an extraction and an implant.

 When I examined our young patient my initial reaction was that the tooth had been hopelessly damaged and needed removal. On the other hand, if this was my daughter, the absolute gold standard of treatment, I would want someone to do their very best to preserve this tooth even if it was only for 10 years.

Dr. Banchs called me and informed me that he would do the root canal for this patient at 4 PM and that I would then 'step up' and restore and restore the tooth at 5 PM..."Are you kidding" was my first response but, hey, maybe Dr. Banchs thinks that I am more skilled than I think I am.

This sequence of photos shows the incredible damage to the tooth, following root canal treatment and my final restoration of the tooth. We completed treatment at 7 PM and we all left knowing that we had done the very best that we could do to permit this young lady to keep her tooth.

Education, skill, talent, passion and the relentless pursuit of excellence enabled Dr. Banchs and I to pull off this miracle.

I encourage all of you to find people to take care of you that possess all of the above qualities. Sometimes more than just the survival of a tooth is at stake.