To Whom It May Concern:

It is with absolute delight that I share with others my experience with Dr. Michael Fisher and his talented team of dental professionals. First, how I came to Dr. Fisher and why.

As a young woman, I had a pretty smile…not a “cover girl” smile, but one that evoked the occasional compliment. In my family, however, putting food on the table for six children took priority over dental care. My first visit to a dentist, at age 16, resulted in the extraction of a half dozen permanent teeth, at $8.0 apiece, in lieu of suggested orthodontics, to “make room” for molars that could not find space to erupt and were causing pain. Needless to say – my parent’s financially expedient decision would negatively affect my future dental well-being.

In adulthood, maintaining, as well as retaining, my remaining teeth had become a top priority, and it took many years and thousands of dollars in remedial measures to stabilize them. Unfortunately, until recently I never understood a fundamental truth…that the spectrum of available dental technology at a given point in time is very broad, and the degree of skill among dental professionals in employing that technology varies wildly. Just because the technology exists, does not mean a dentist will educate himself in its use…once established in a practice, precious few lack the initiative required to make the time and financial commitment to keep up.

As a result of my ignorance, I made some bad choices in dentists. I foolishly believed that a license on the wall and a fancy office ensured a competent practitioner, and that there was little qualitative difference among them. The more work that was done, the more my smile aged, and after many years the teeth lacked the size and uniformity they once had. Still, the mish-mash of dental “patchwork” was largely hidden in the back of my mouth, and because my smile continued to be reasonably attractive for a “woman my age,” I was not really unhappy.

A few years ago, I was jolted out of my complacency by an experience that would forever change my perception of the dental industry. An incredibly inept dentist made an error of judgment while replacing restorations in two of my front teeth. In a single, careless blunder, he robbed me of my “pretty smile”. To add insult to injury, except for a perfunctory attempt at damage control, he was seemingly unfazed by what he’d done. I fled his office that day in shock, my front teeth disfigured and my occlusion destroyed. I was unable to close my jaws without biting my tongue, which no longer had a place to rest within my mouth. For the first time in my life, I lisped, my words often frustratingly unintelligible. I could not chew food; when I tried, the unevenness of the occlusion caused repeated, painful biting of the insides of my cheeks and lips. Consequently, I swallowed most food nearly whole. Eating corn-on-the-cob, one of my favorite treats, was not possible…I was lucky to manage the cream-style. I snored loudly when I slept, unable to comfortably close my mouth, keeping my husband, and even the dog, awake at night.

Believe it or not, I endured this untenable state for the next three years, holding my grief inside, utterly hopeless that anything could be done to help me. By this time, my facial countenance had begun to reflect the structural damage to my teeth. My mouth was slowly imploding, creating unsightly purse lines on my upper lip, and drooping at its outer corners. I rarely smiled. I often cried myself to sleep at night, wishing I’d never allowed anyone so incompetent and so uncaring, to touch my teeth. I refused to pose for pictures, and any that included me were destroyed before anyone could see them…my grandkids joked about the scarcity of Grandma in family photos.

Finally, my wonderful husband gently suggested I look for a way to reverse my situation (I think he was tired of sleepless nights listening to me snore). I began to search the Sunday newspapers and the internet for a dentist, clipping out and comparing ads, and printing out photos from their websites. I interviewed a number of dentists, and reviewed their work and testimonials…I was very thorough. I narrowed my search to one when I found Dr. Fisher.

I walked into Dr. Fisher’s office without an appointment, my mouth a patchwork quilt of outdated, mix-and-match dentistry, ashamed of my obvious malocclusion, and reluctant to speak of my problem. Those fears evaporated with my very first exposure to a member of Dr. Fisher’s staff, Teri. She greeted me warmly, speaking openly and honestly, effusive in her praise of Dr. Fisher’s work. She shared her own experience with me. In the considerable time we talked, she told me enough about Dr. Fisher and his commitment to offering superior dental care to give me confidence I had found a true dental professional…one I could trust. Teri set me up with an appointment for a comprehensive consultation, which not only confirmed every claim she had made, but revealed the extraordinary educational and financial commitment Dr. Fisher had made to his practice, and to his staff of dental professionals, in order to make the latest technological advances available to his patients. Our consultation was of considerable length and depth, and included an exam, evaluation and assessment of the work I would need to rectify my dental woes.

For the first time, I was filled with caution hope. If what was represented was only half true, I was in heaven. I wanted Dr. Fisher to make everything better…now! I shared my rather unrealistic hope of having the work completed I less than two months, so that I could smile on my 60th birthday. Instead of laughing at the suggestion, Diana said it could conceivably be done much earlier, depending, of course, on what else Dr. Fisher found in his own examination.

The rest is history. I am the proud owner of a smile my husband can’t stop looking at…prettier than the one I enjoyed as a young woman. Each and every person in Dr. Fisher’s office was warm and professional at every encounter. The work Dr. Fisher performed was nothing less than miraculous! The entire experience, from start to finish, was virtually painless, and took only a couple of appointments. Dr. Fisher and Anne Marie, the assistant assigned to my case, worked tirelessly, efficiently, and with the rhythm and self-confidence of a highly-skilled surgical team, to complete my work. The night of the preparatory work…the night of my very first appointment with Dr. Fisher…I returned home and slept with my mouth closed, for the first time in three years.

My experience with Dr. Fisher was different from any other experience I’d had before, in any dental office. With Dr. Fisher and his staff, the emphasis was on me, and only me, while any work was being performed. With every other dentist, there were long periods of waiting while they and their assistants shuttled back and forth from room to room, patient to patient, trying to remember where they were I the process and on whom they used which rubber gloves. The absolute opposite was true with Dr. Fisher’s office… there, it was all about me and my teeth, as had been promised in my consultation. Everything went precisely as advertised at every juncture.

You are probably wondering, as I first did, about the cost. For me the financial commitment was not insignificant…my husband, who loves me, thought it a small price to see me smile again. It’s impossible to put a price tag on the happiness Dr. Fisher has given back to me. I am convinced I will enjoy a longer, happier, healthier life as a result, and to me and my family, that is truly priceless. Putting it further into perspective or financial commitment was only a tiny fraction of Dr. Fisher’s when he chose the more difficult route that sets his practice, technologically, so far beyond others in his field. I would, and shall, recommend Dr. Fisher to everyone I know, and especially to those I care about.

Penny Kindt