Peter Hjelm

“Nobody can see the difference!”

“I forget that I have a dental implant as a front tooth,” says Peter Hjelm a pilot for a charter airline. “And I like it that way.”

“My brother and I played a lot of sports on ice when we were teenagers,” explains Peter. “Sometimes the game got a bit rough and on one occasion my brother’s skate managed to hit my front tooth. Needless to say, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. The result was a damaged front tooth with a root canal. It functioned well enough for many years—until I bit into an apple and the entire root broke off! To make matters worse, I no longer had a good base for connecting a new tooth.

Better than temporary solutions

After consulting my dentist, I realized that a dental implant would suit me perfectly. However, before the implant could be installed, the rest of my damaged root had to be extracted and the jawbone required time to heal. I received a temporary solution that I could remove myself. I wasn’t allowed to put any load on the jawbone and so the temporary solution was in effect just for appearances. In fact, when I was off duty I didn’t use it at all. But with it on, I noticed that I really missed my real front tooth. I became more reserved and probably didn’t laugh as much as I used to.
After a few months, it was time for the implant surgery. Everything went well and I didn’t feel much. In fact, I was much more comfortable compared to when I had the root canal. Today, I easily forget that I have a dental implant. It feels and looks just like a natural tooth.”