April 2008
Case Study: Mandy
Mandy William’s life was turned upside in 2005
when a rare medical disorder left her in a coma and
completely paralysed from head to toe. As she
bravely battled back to health there was one thing
that affected her self-confidence more than anything
else – paralysis to her facial muscles, which
lead to dental problems and caused her to hide her
smile and talk behind the safety of her hand for more
than two years.
Over the past seven months Mandy has undergone extensive
dental treatment courtesy of Cleveland Cosmetic and
Dental Implant Clinic and 1st Dental which has massively
helped her back on the road to recovery and to regaining
her self-esteem.
This is Mandy’s remarkable story:
With a successful career as a sales executive, her
own home to run and a busy social life, Mandy Williams,
41, thought nothing of it when a bout of the flu left
her feeling tired and drained. It was only when
she began experiencing pins and needles in her toes,
face and hips that she began to worry. By the following
day Mandy was unable to use her legs and within 48
hours she was paralysed from head to toe and slipped
into a coma.
She was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with a severe
case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which
the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral
nervous system, causing paralysis.
Mandy remained in a coma for seven weeks, during
which time her condition became so critical that she
had to be resuscitated on six separate occasions. Fighting
the condition, she gradually regained consciousness
but was only able to move her eyes in response to
family and friends.
Over the following months Mandy began the courageous
battle to regain her strength, embarking on a rehabilitation
programme to learn to walk and use her limbs again
and get back to her own home.
With her strength of character and determination
Mandy made remarkable progress, adapting the downstairs
of her house to accommodate living alone and making
huge steps towards rebuilding her life.
However, one of the main areas of concern for Mandy
throughout her rehabilitation was the paralysis of
her facial muscles, making it difficult to completely
close her eyes or mouth. In addition to this
she began to notice wide gaps opening up between her
upper front teeth, causing her to feel very self-conscious
when talking or smiling.
Mandy comments: “After everything that I’d
been through and the major steps I’d made towards
recovery my dental problems caused my confidence to
plummet. I covered my mouth with my hand when talking
to hide my teeth or I would simply avoid socialising
all together. It was affecting my ultimate goal to
get back to my old self and carrying on life where
I’d left off before my illness.”
It was in October last year that Mandy’s case
came to the attention of David Bird Laboratories a
member of the 1st Dental Laboratories network and
The Cleveland Cosmetic and Dental Implant Clinic,
who were so inspired by her courage that they teamed
up to offer the work and products needed to resolve
her existing dentistry problems and give her her confidence
back.
Mike Heads, practice principal of The Cleveland Cosmetic
and Dental Implant Clinic, assessed Mandy and found
that her upper front teeth were moving forwards and
apart due to loss of bone support, potentially as
a result of having no dental hygiene work on her teeth
whilst she was in a coma. She also had abscesses under
two of her back molar teeth and over crowding of her
lower incisors.
An extensive programme of work was recommended for
Mandy based over a 12 month period to sort out her
existing dental problems and restore her teeth and
gums back to full health. This included:
