Dentist Gives Dad Embarrassed by Teeth Brand New Smile, Dad Cries When He Looks in Mirror
When most of us think about changing the world, I’d bet we imagine doing things such as curing cancer or eliminating hunger or rooting out corruption. You know, the big, grand things that get a lot of attention.
I’m not sure that’s the best way to conceptualize it, though. After all, so few of us have the determination or opportunity to do such works.
But we all can reach out in small ways to those around us. And you know what? Sometimes those small things seem really big to those receiving them.
Dr. Kenny Wilstead of Marshall Family Dental in Marshall, Texas, understands that. This dentist on the Lone Star State’s eastern edge has turned his for-profit business into charity for the least of these.
According to the Houston Chronicle, a local woman named Kyleigha Scott came into Wilstead’s practice to get a wisdom tooth removed. While he was performing the procedure, Wilstead noticed that she had a chipped front tooth.
So he asked Scott what had happened, and she explained that her ex-boyfriend had broken it when he headbutted her as she lay in bed. The domestic-abuse victim said that she planned to get it fixed when she got her tax refund.
But Wilstead wouldn’t have that and offered to fix the tooth for free. “It took 10 minutes to do the whole thing; it’s a composite bond,” he said, downplaying his generosity.
And Wilstead gave a man named Dillon Moore something more than just his life back. He returned to him his smile.
The dentist ran across pictures of Moore on Facebook and noticed that the father of two never smiled in any of his snaps. The reason why? Most of his top canines looked rotted through, barely connected to his gums.
Wilstead initially offered to pull a single tooth for Moore for free, but Moore said he couldn’t take time off of work. Then a year later, he decided to take the dentist up on it.
“He completely forgot about me while an entire year went by, and then he got a tooth ache,” Wilstead told the Daily Mail. “His boss chose to send him to my office to get his tooth pulled and gave him a day off to do it.”
When the time of the appointment rolled around, Moore came in and sat in the chair. And sat. And sat some more. Thirty minutes turned into an hour, which turned into two hours.
Eventually Wilstead told Moore that he was all done and handed him a mirror. Moore looked into it — and beheld a mouth full of brand-new teeth.
The dentist had fixed all of his teeth without him knowing. Even better, he had done so for free.
“I was wondering what was taking so long,” Moore said, crying. “I haven’t smiled since I was a kid without my hand over my face.”
According to a Facebook post from Wilstead, Moore later sent the kind dentist a photo of himself and his kids, finally smiling wide for the world to see.
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