Robert Porter enjoys smiling now.
Robert Porter, 31, of Belmont has always been a bit of a daredevil. He even had to leave the military seven years ago because of an injury. Over the last few years, he’s had broken bones, torn knee muscles and head injuries; now he’s living with the consequences. The head injuries he suffered led to a seizure disorder, sometimes as many as 60 seizures in three days. During those seizures, he was prone to grind his teeth.
Many of his teeth were badly damaged and he has suffered with 17 abscesses during those five years. The pain was so intense that he drained many of the abscesses himself and pulled out a couple of teeth.
Porter says he couldn’t find anyone to help him. The insurance he had with his disability coverage wouldn’t pay to fix his teeth. Other dentists he checked with weren’t willing to put him under general anesthesia to remove what remained of his teeth because of his seizures.
Several other times, he says he was looked at like he was a drug user because of the state of his teeth. When he did find a dentist willing to work with him, he couldn’t afford the cost.
Meanwhile, nobody would hire him for a job he could do because of how bad his teeth were.
Three years ago, he got engaged but maintained he wasn’t going to get married until he could smile in his wedding pictures.
He was assisted locally by his primary care provider, Paul Mazur MD, who recommended he contact Waldo County Dental Care at Waldo County Healthcare. Then he met Mandy Hood and Michelle Gallant, members of the dental team, who connected him to their network of area voluntary dental providers.
This unique partnership allowed Porter to receive help from local dentist John Lewis DDS and Bruce Spaulding of Coastal Prosthetics Dental Lab. They were also able to connect with Phillip Higgins DMD, who extracted Porter’s remaining 22 teeth at Eastern Maine Medical Center.
While Spaulding was making the dentures, Porter spent several hours in the lab with him and he remembers Spaulding saying he was going to make the dentures out of the strongest material available for dentures. While Porter is still getting used to his new dentures, he is quick to add, “It’s a better pain than feeling sick from the infections.”
Porter is hopeful with his new smile that he might be able to get a job where he doesn’t have to do heavy lifting but rather gets to interact with people.
His fiancé is thrilled with the new smile and after three years, they have set a wedding date.
“Honestly,” Porter says, “these guys, Mandy, Michelle, the dentists, his doctor and Spaulding, have been great. I can’t thank them enough for how much they’re done. They are very good people and I would recommend them to anyone.”