21st December 2015

Wales rugby legend and friend, Graham Price, recently gave a talk at the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny to 25 of the dentists who refer their dental implant patients to Dr Nigel Jones. 

Discussing Graham’s treatment, Nigel said:

“Graham needed help with a filling, but after taking X-Rays of his mouth I saw that he was missing multiple teeth as a result of his glorious sporting career. The X-Ray also showed evidence of the broken jaw he suffered early in the second Test against Australia in 1978 in Sydney, following a punch from behind by Wallabies loose-head Steve Finnane. As a result of that Graham told me that he had to liquidise all his food for six weeks – three, three-course meals a day –  and eat it through a gap in his teeth.

“I discussed dental implants as an option for him. It was the least I could do as I used to win a lot of money thanks to his exploits on the rugby field in the 1970s. He helped partly fund my dental studies!

“Since retiring Graham was relying on dentures just to be able to eat and his smile had gaps where his dentures didn’t quite meet his natural teeth. The dentures also didn’t give him a particularly stable bite. One of the particular problems we faced was that Graham’s jaw bone had shrunk quite a lot following tooth loss, so we were limited in the size of the implants we were able to use. But we gave him enough implants to give him back teeth which he’d been missing.

“Implants in most cases are the best option if you have suffered tooth loss. They give you back your smile, protect the bone and increase your confidence and quality of life. Implants can last a life time and this Christmas Graham can now look forward to tucking into his turkey dinner care free.”

Speaking on his treatment, Graham said:

“I’m really grateful for Nigel’s generosity.”

“It has made such a difference. For the first time in nearly 40 years I don’t have to take my dentures out to brush my teeth. I can enjoy meals without gum pain and I’m able to chew all types of food including hard foods such as carrots and apples. I also don’t have to worry about getting food stuck in my dentures. It’s so much better and I’d recommend anyone with dentures or tooth loss to speak to Nigel.”

You can read more about Graham’s story on the Abergavenny Chronicle website