Johnny needed a new smile, and Dane was just the right guy to help him. After they met at a martial arts tournament Dane dedicated time and resources to make sure Johnny had a new smile. Here's a short video clip of what this gift meant to Johnny.
John and Dane met at a Jiu Jitsu tournament where they competed. As Goforth explains they became "fast friends" and it has continued to be a mutually beneficial relationship for both of them. This January, Dane and a few of his colleges were able to finish up a two and a half year project. Goforth was receiving a new smile. Goforth explains the journey in a thoughtful post to social media the day he returned home to Oregon.
"I met Dane in 2012 competing in Jiu Jitsu. We became fast friends and found we were pretty like minded. Very early on he noticed that I wore a partial denture and would ask me occasionally about why I had it, etc. I thought he was just being kind and interested in me.( Which he was.) Never in a million years did I think about what he was planning to do for me. I have a tooth disorder called dentinogenesis imperfecta. Its a disorder of tooth development, that causes the tooth to be discolored, and translucent. The teeth are often weaker than normal and are prone to rapid wear, breakage, and loss. It's affects baby teeth and permanent teeth. The long and short of it is, my sisters, most of my cousins, and myself have this disorder and grew up with small brown teeth. I never really felt that I was affected much by it, there was the usual questions growing up. "What's wrong with your teeth? Don't you brush?" Of course I did. I just didn't have any enamel on my teeth. You learn to accept that some things won't change and you do the best you can.
Wrong!!! I had total mouth re construction in 2005 by a local dentist and was so excited, only to have the work fall apart, teeth breaking off, and needing a denture essentially. Back to acceptance....
Since about 2005 I have worn a partial denture. Allow me to paint a picture. It's difficult to eat, it would break, I would super glue teeth back on so I had no gaps. Just crazy!!! I didn't know this at the time, but I would restrict my smile because of the way my teeth looked. I didn't like that. I wanted to smile but still struggled. I would even smile crooked to hide teeth.
In 2013 Dane called me and started chatting with me about my teeth. I was working for tips only at my parents restaurant and was in school and an internship to get into the counseling field I am in today. I was in a place of struggle, but loved what I was heading towards, so I didn't see the struggle. I felt fulfilled. Dane asked me about what needs to happen for my teeth. I explained some of what I knew needed to happen. Then it all started. He said," I took over this smile design business and I'm going to make all your teeth, and there is a dentist( Dr. Huff) who is going to place the implants for cost." I almost dropped the phone. I did start crying cause I felt so happy, and loved that he would want to do this for me. I could hear in his voice how important this was to him.
So December of 2013 I made my first trip to Boise to get a cone beam scan done at Dr. Tim Huffs office to locate implants and where my good bone and tissue was located. My second trip was in February 2014. On this trip they pulled all my upper teeth except for my 2 centrals, and placed 4 implants. Then Mounted a temporary piece from existing implants to central teeth while the implants heal. The healing time is 4-6 months to allow the bone to fully integrate around the implants. So we waited and went back in August of 2014 for our third trip. This trip we uncovered the 4 new implants and placed 3 more. Placed another temporary set of teeth and allowed the new implants to heal. Huff said they sunk in tight so the healing should be quick, but life happens and I needed to wait to make the next trip.
Trip number 4 December of 2015. We uncover the last three implants on my upper. Everything looks good and we place another set of temps, and set our next appointment for Jan 8th-11th.
Trip number 5 I fly into Boise Friday morning and head to Danes office. His associate Beau Murphy is there to help with some of the process. I head to Huffs office and we take off the temp and start the process of getting impressions, and locating exactly where the implants are and angles and specifics to make the teeth perfect. We get that done and Huff begins milling the abutments that the teeth will be cemented to, and Dane and Beau begin waxing up the models to then press the glass, then stain and contour to make the teeth look as real as they possibly can.
As you can now probably tell this process from start to finish took dedication, consistency, and a lot of time, talent and treasure.
Here's the best part...
I witnessed Dane and Beau, who I just met, work tirelessly to get this done and perfect. I mean I think they slept 5 hrs the whole weekend. They lost sleep for me??? I couldn't believe it. I was in awe as I watched them labor in love for me. They were doing something that I couldn't do for myself. They were making me a new smile. They were making something for me that I had never experienced. White, straight, big, strong beautiful teeth!!! They sacrificed time away from their families for me. Why would anybody do that? Here's why...
People ask Dane what he does, and he responds, "I change people lives." You may ask how can a smile change people's lives? I'll reduce it to the ridiculous... You ever have a bad day, and somebody smiles at you and your day changes for the better? What if that person wouldn't have felt confident in their smile? The ripple effect is HUGE. The smile you see today has no restriction. It's not crooked. It's just me being joyful, happy, confident, loving, and willing to affect change in your life. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Dane, Beau, and Dr. Huff and his staff at the Center for Contemporary Dentistry. Thank you for investing your time, talent and treasure into me. Thank you for thinking it worth your while to do this for me. I am blessed beyond measure, and yes happy is an inside job, but today I gladly and with confidence bring it to the outside through my smile. Cheers to the agents of change in my life, and may this change affect others and echo throughout eternity.
#blessed "
-Johnny Goforth