Posted February 2, 2020
You may recall Judy, who had been nominated by her daughter, to receive new dentures as part of a competition run by The Edge radio station. Judy didn’t win the competition but luckily for her, Deb, who is one of Duchenne’s technicians, was listening to The Edge on the way in to work, and suggested that we help her out instead.
Judy came down to Christchurch for three days last year so we could make her new dentures. An Auckland dentist (who had also been listening to the programme and offered to help), did the initial extractions and also put her dentures straight in for her when she was back in Auckland. This worked out really well for Judy but meant that none of us at Duchenne had the opportunity to see Judy with her new dentures in person. So we were just as excited to see Judy’s new look for ourselves last week as she was to come and see us.
As often happens with new dentures after a while, Judy’s were getting a bit loose on the top so we relined them for her. She says; “They weren’t going to do the bottom ones but Tristan decided to tweak them while I was here. Both sets really only needed minor changes as they have been marvellous ever since I first got them. But it was lovely to be able to see all the people at Duchenne who have been such a great help to me, and show them what a good job they had done.”
Judy came down just for the day and needed to be at the clinic at 8am, which meant she was up at 3.30 in the morning and didn’t get back to Auckland until 10pm at night. She says; “The people at Duchenne looked after me so well, picking me up from the airport dropping me into town during the day and taking me back to the airport at night. They couldn’t have done more for me which, to be honest didn’t surprise me as they have been fantastic all the way through. It was a long day but worth it!”
Judy was only too happy to talk to us about the difference her new dentures have made in her life. “I can eat properly for the first time in years, but just as importantly, they’ve really changed how I feel about myself. I have had lots of comments and compliments and feel much more confident now. I don’t stand around with my hand over my mouth when out in public like I used to. “In the past, if I had photos taken I always had them taken with my mouth closed. I’m happy to smile now!”