Nightclub attack that shattered my smile

ASTRA Taylor struggles to smile any more. The once confident, bubbly nurse from Conisborough now worries about going out.

The 20-year-old had seven of her teeth smashed out when she was hit in the face by a bottle meant for someone else. Her lip was badly cut in the incident just before Christmas.

“It was such a frightening thing to happen. I just went into the nightclub and this bottle came flying at me and hit me in the face. I have no idea who did it, but I know it wasn’t meant for me. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” recalls Astra.

“I am still scared now. I have gone back to work and I am trying to get my life back together, but I feel like a completely different person. I am struggling to get any motivation and don’t really like to go out any more.”

Astra’s problem was made worse when she learnt that the NHS would not cover the cost of the treatment she would need to replace her lost and shattered teeth.

Despite receiving medical attention, including several stitches in her face, Astra was told that she would be left without teeth as the treatment required was unavailable on the NHS as it was considered to be for cosmetic, as opposed to medical, reasons.

“It really upset me. I work for the NHS and if I had wanted a boob job or a nose job I would probably have been able to get one, but because it was my teeth they said it didn’t cover it,” she said.

“The work was going to cost thousands. I don’t even work full-time so there was no way I could ever have paid for the work to be done privately.”

Instead she had to cope with false teeth, which did nothing to help her dented confidence.

However, Astra has just started £15,000 worth of treatment which will restore her smile and hopefully her confidence, after Dr David Veige of The Courtyard Cosmetic Dentist practice in Huddersfield heard about her situation and offered to do the work free of charge.

“I just cannot thank David enough. The treatment started last month and I have had three implants so far. It is quite uncomfortable as I have to spend two to three hours with my mouth open.

“But David has already worked on my bottom teeth which were chipped. I felt a lot better as soon as he had done that. He has become a good friend and I am so grateful to him,” says Astra.

The work is expected to take at least four months and has to be carried out in the number of phases.

Dr Veige explains: “When I heard about Astra I wanted to do something to help her. She was so sweet and I had the skills to help her.

“Without the implants that I am giving her she would have had to wear denture which can be uncomfortable and do nothing for your confidence, especially at such a young age.” Dr Veige is doing the work on Astra in his spare time at weekends and estimated it will take a total of ten hours of his time.

“I hope that the end result will be that you cannot tell she has had the work done,” says Dr Veige. “And that it restores some of Astra’s confidence.”

As for Astra she just hopes that as well as restoring her smile it will restore some of her old confidence.

She also wants to warn people about the dangers of throwing bottles.

“I don’t now what I would say if I ever met the person who did this. I am not a confrontational type of person or someone who holds grudges.

“I just want people to think twice before they do something so stupid and to think about the consequences of what they are doing.

RESTORING TEETH AND CONFIDENCE

ASTRA Taylor lost a total of seven teeth in the bottling incident – five on the top and two on the bottom.

Dr David Viege of the Courtyard Cosmetic Dental Practice in Huddersfield has put three titanium implants in her upper jaw which will act like the roots of a tooth.

He will then apply porcelain teeth, by way of a bridge, to the implants.

The process will be repeated on Astra’s lower jaw over the next few months.

Dr Veige has already done some work on two of Astra’s other teeth which were fractured in the incident just before Christmas last year.

The treatment would have cost Astra in the region of £15,000, but Dr Viege is doing it for free.

www.courtyarddental.co.uk

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