Dr. Williams'
Kenya
Dental Mission
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Suwanee
Dental Care
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – AUGUST 19, 2003
CONTACT – DUSTIN BIXBY – 770-497-5100 The Gwinnett Gladiators announced today that Dr. Bill Williams of Suwanee Dental Care has been named the director of the Gladiators dental team. The Gladiators dental team will consist of Dr. Williams, Dr. David Hayward of Suwanee Dental Care and Dr. Frank Clayton of Clayton Family Dentistry. “I think almost everyone knows of the standard hockey player image,” said Gladiators General Manager Steve Chapman. “The sharp looking young man who smiles to reveal a missing tooth. The truth of the matter, however, is that with a good dental program, hockey players today don’t have to fit this age-old image. It is important that we engage in prevention programs as well as the treatment of any on-ice injuries. Having met with Bill Williams about the type of program that we want for the team, I feel extremely confident in his ability to guide us in this area. He not only has the experience, but he is well-versed in the latest advances in dental care.” Dr. Williams and Suwanee Dental Care will provide general, preventive and cosmetic dentistry for the Gladiators. “I'm looking forward to working with the Gladiators,” said Dr, Bill Williams of Suwanee Dental Care. “I know how important properly made custom mouth guards are in protecting the teeth and preventing concussion in heavy contact sports like ice hockey.” With 28 years experience in general dentistry including cosmetic, sedation, oral surgery, orthodontics, dental implants, endodontics, periodontics, TMJ and restorative dentistry, Dr Williams is a member of twelve dental organizations including the International Academy for Sports Dentistry. He holds Mastership status in the International College of Craniomandibular Orthopedics and Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry. Dr. Frank Clayton will provide a vital support role for the organization in the teams’ general, preventive and cosmetic dentistry efforts. “I’m excited to be part of a local hockey team,” said Dr. Frank Clayton. “I believe in supporting local businesses and being a part of the Gladiators allows me to not only assist with the teams’ medical and dental needs, but also promote the team as a fan and as a provider.” Both Georgia natives, Dr. Clayton received his D.D.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999 and Dr. Williams received his D.M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia in 1975. “Everyone expects a hockey player to have missing teeth and a gap in their smile,” said Chapman, “but with Dr. Williams and Dr. Clayton, we are expecting our players to be unrecognizable by their smiles because their teeth will be in great shape.” The Gwinnett Gladiators open their inaugural season on October 24th vs. the Augusta Lynx. Season tickets are on sale for all 36 home games by calling the Gladiators ticket office at (770)-497-5100.
Hockey's Gap-Toothed
Grin Fades Into the Past Martin Brodeur, the Devils' goalie, recalls vividly what happened next. "He just spit out like three or four teeth," Brodeur said. "And he was so mad, he just threw his teeth on the ice and skated away. And the blood started down. And I'm like: `Wow! It's amazing.' " Disdain for the dental consequences of hard collisions on the ice has long been the norm in the National Hockey League. For decades, the image of hockey players, especially to those unfamiliar with the sport, involved men with large gaps in their smiles. It was, and still is, an easy stereotype for wisecracks and quips, even among the athletes. Some players refer to dental damage as "spittin' Chiclets." But players' attitudes toward their teeth are evolving, as is hockey dentistry. In amateur hockey, players must wear either mouth guards or face masks or both, and so most players now reach the N.H.L. with most of their teeth intact. Once there, an increasing number of players are wearing custom-made mouth guards, which, dentists say, reduce injuries. And those who have broken teeth are having them fixed sooner than in the past and with better techniques and materials. Players who have lost teeth are now more conscious of appearance. Before television interviews, they put in their dental pieces to avoid displaying their fangs, as some did in the past. Dr. Bill Henry, the dentist for the Ottawa Senators, referred to famous old photographs when he said, "It's not that Bobby Hull/Bobby Clarke era anymore." Dr. Rick Lawson, dentist for the Phoenix Coyotes, said it had been "a macho thing" in the past to be proud of missing teeth. "They received a lot of positive reinforcement from guys in the locker room and other people saying, `This guy must be tough because he's missing so many teeth,' " Dr. Lawson said. One person aware of the trends in teeth is the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Dr. René Fasel of Switzerland. He is also a dentist. During the world championships in 1994, when Joe Sakic of Canada lost several teeth in a game in Italy, the Canadian team called for Dr. Fasel to repair the damage. "People laugh about that," Dr. Fasel said. "But when you can help people, it is good." The loss of a tooth is a serious event for anyone, at any age, even the baby teeth of childhood that are put under pillows for the tooth fairy and saved in scrapbooks by parents. Bobby Holik of the Rangers said he does not like it when television sports highlights shows present these hockey accidents for laughs. "People go, `Wow-wow-wow!' " Holik said. "I'll tell you what: if you are on the receiving end of it, it's no wow-wow. It's a tough part of the game and it's no fun. Unfortunately, media outlets love glamorizing that. Only people who have never had anything like that happen to them enjoy watching it." Holik said he knows this from observation but not experience; he still has all his teeth after 14 seasons in the league. "Knock on wood," he said, rapping his knuckles against a shelf in his locker at Madison Square Garden. About 60 percent of N.H.L. players wear mouth guards, compared with 48 percent only two years ago, according to the N.H.L.'s Injury Analysis Panel, whose chairman is the former goalie Dave Dryden. The league recognizes a Team Dentists Association which meets annually at the All-Star Game. The agenda often includes discussions on techniques for making better mouth guards, Dr. Henry, the Ottawa dentist, said. The dentists also discuss dental chairs, which are becoming more common in first-aid rooms, particularly in newer arenas. "We talk about interesting cases and troubleshooting on different pathology and trauma," Dr. Henry said, "and we go out to dinner." Dryden said the league has only recently begun to compile reliable data about dental injuries and to correlate them with the use of mouth guards. "Players don't miss many games based on dental injuries," he said. "And, on that basis, players tend to take more risks in that area." Should the statistics prove a relationship between mouth guards and dental safety, Dryden said the league's general managers could consider making mouth guards mandatory. All of this comes too late for Ken Daneyko, who retired last summer after 20 seasons as a Devils defenseman. Because of high sticks, flying pucks and punches in the mouth, Daneyko lost 12 front teeth during his career: 7 lower and 5 upper. That makes him, unofficially, the league champion. Daneyko said he planned to capitalize on his condition. A video crew will make a documentary as an oral surgeon fills Daneyko's gums with implants and permanent bridges. When finished, Daneyko said, he will become a smiling commercial spokesman for cosmetic dentistry. "I'm taking advantage of 20 years of getting my teeth destroyed," he said. "I'm going to get them done nice. I'm going to get porcelain, the whole nine yards. I was one of the worst cases. But if that's the worst that can happen, I'm all right." When he played, Daneyko used false teeth on dental bridges, which he took out during games. Sometimes he would pull pranks in restaurants by slipping his teeth into his teammates' soup. Other times, he would inconvenience himself by leaving his teeth in lockers or in hotel rooms on road trips. He was photographed so often in uniform without his teeth that fans would do double takes when they saw him away from the arena. "When I would walk on the street, people would say to me, `You've got teeth!' " Daneyko said. When Gordie Howe broke in with the Detroit Red Wings in 1946, he scored a goal and lost four teeth in his first game. But he did not lose another tooth in a career that ended 34 years later. "I learned to play religious hockey," Howe liked to say. "It's better to give than to receive." Players' interest in their dental well-being is expressed in a variety of ways. They sometimes joke about the damage, to emphasize their toughness. For instance, players call Dr. Irwin Miller, the veteran Rangers dentist, Miller the Driller. When Danny Markov of the Carolina Hurricanes lost three teeth this season after being hit by an opponent's stick, his teammate Rod Brind'Amour decided to help out. He stickhandled two of the teeth back to the bench. Before the Stanley Cup finals last spring, Jean-Sébastien Giguère of Anaheim visited Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show." "You don't look like a hockey guy," Leno said. "You have teeth and everything." Giguère replied: "I'm a goalie. I've got a mask." And when the winners of the Stanley Cup, the Devils, visited President Bush at the White House, he saw defenseman Colin White smiling with a missing tooth. The president smiled back and put his arm around White to pose for a picture. Some players are superstitious about replacing teeth or getting porcelain crowns while they are still playing, some N.H.L. dentists said; they fear this will bring new damage to the same area. Dr. Dan Yustin of the Sabres said this was the case with Zhitnik. "Alex has been hit three or four times," Dr. Yustin said. "When they get hit once, they start getting hit again. I don't know why." That is one of the reasons Michael Peca of the Islanders gets by with a bridge that is cemented in temporarily. "I took a puck in the mouth and I lost four across in the upper," Peca said. "I've had bridges crack and fall out. Postcareer, we'll see what options are there." Dr. Jeffrey Hoy of the Los Angeles Kings said many players lose teeth from what he called friendly fire, a puck shot or a stick swung by a teammate. This happened recently to Ziggy Palffy of the Kings, while he was wearing his helmet on the bench. "The puck drove the visor into his cheek and fractured two teeth," Dr. Hoy said. "Two molars. Those are big, fat teeth. Two back molars. That was really strange." Dr. Jack Spencer of the Pittsburgh Penguins said he urges players to have full repairs, including implants and porcelain crowns, as soon as possible, while they are still playing. He said the old practice of removing teeth and roots and replacing them with dentures had a negative effect, reducing bone in the jaw ridge. This can be prevented, he said. "The implant itself is all imbedded in his jawbone and you screw little abutment heads inside the implant which basically act like roots," Dr. Spencer said. "You make a porcelain crown that cements over the abutment head. You're basically using the implant as the root of the tooth." He said that saves the jaw line. The cost of most dental work is paid by the teams, Frank Brown, an N.H.L. spokesman, said. Both Dr. Spencer and Dr. Yustin spoke of one of their favorite patients, Matthew Barnaby of the Rangers, who used to play for both the Penguins and the Sabres. Dr. Yustin said that Barnaby "is a really good friend of mine, so I can say this: He is absolutely terrified of the chair." Dr. Yustin said that he had replaced one of Barnaby's front teeth with a new one bearing the Sabres' logo and that he had introduced Barnaby to the woman he married. When asked about this, Barnaby smiled a toothy smile and said that Yustin "cost me millions of dollars." Why do players often have their teeth fixed quickly now? "Our wives don't want us to look like idiots for that long," Barnaby said. "The technology has gotten better. It's easier to fix things quicker, get a temporary in your mouth so you don't feel pain." Some players dislike mouth guards because they say they interfere with talking, breathing and chewing gum. Dr. Thomas Long of the Carolina Hurricanes, who also plays recreational hockey, said cage masks or clear shields interfere with vision. "Personally, I would rather take a stick in the mouth than not be able to see my opponent coming by lack of peripheral vision," Dr. Long said. "A lot of players feel this way." Some people even theorize that the loss of teeth in a hockey game affected the course of scientific history. Seventeen years before Wilbur and Orville Wright flew their first airplane, Wilbur lost a few teeth in a game of shinny on ice in his hometown, Dayton, Ohio. According to several biographers, Wright's mouth was clipped by another player's stick. During his recovery, he encountered physical and psychological complications and chose to stay at home instead of attending Yale. His reading included scientific books and journals. Dr. Tom Crouch, the senior curator for aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, said "the hockey accident is absolutely important" in Wright's life. Dawne Dewey, the head of special collections and archives at Wright State University in Dayton, said of Wright: "In photographs you rarely see him smiling. He never has an open mouth." During Wright's recovery, he read extensively. But is it a reach to say that the loss of his teeth in a hockey game led to the invention of the airplane? "He had plenty of time to read and study," Dewey said. "The hockey accident set the stage that led to his intense interest in flight."
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Dr. Williams was named WSB-TV Dental Expert in 2003 |
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