Rui's Story

“Don't just put a band aid on it." - Rui

Rui’s dental history (We all have one, don’t we?) is sparse. She grew up in Japan, where dentistry was a service you sought out only if you had a cavity. She did not grow up getting annual exams or regular cleanings every six months. In fact, she didn’t know you were supposed to go twice a year for preventive care! Dental care is a habit just like anything else, and we tend to accept what we learn growing up as the norm. Dentistry just wasn’t a big part of that picture for Rui. When she moved to New York City from Japan with a dream to be a designer, Rui saw a lot of people who had great teeth, and she began to feel self-conscious about her own. It became her new dream to get her smile styled in New York City. She did have some dental work done in the past, including a bad crown on a central incisor. It wasn’t particularly skilled work, and she wanted to find a doctor who could make her smile look great! She started to do research online and followed a slew of cosmetic dentists on Instagram. It seemed to her that some of those feeds were “a little bit too much about themselves”; Rui wanted to know what her future dentist could do for her! She “interviewed” several of the dentists she found online by having initial consultations with them, and just one stood out of the crowd. Looking for someone with a holistic approach, Rui felt Dr. Tabib was the right fit. Her old root canals needed to be looked at; at least one crown needed fixing; a comprehensive effort was in order. She did not want a strictly cosmetics-focused dentist to slap some veneers on and send her along, rather she wanted someone she could trust to care for the health of her teeth. As she puts it: “Don’t just put a band aid on it.”

The first thing Dr. Tabib did was to align Rui’s teeth properly to upright the back molars, which were leaning inward. Through the whole process, the relationship with Tabib’s office felt like a partnership to her. She felt that they had listened well to her needs and understood them. The next phase of her makeover was to place porcelain veneers and replace some old crowns so they would match the veneers. Each step of the way, Rui and Dr. Tabib decided together what to do, with him providing input and making recommendations based on his expertise. The final phase of Rui’s smile restoration was to place an implant to replace a failing tooth. And voila! Finally, this kind, fun-loving human could radiate her joy outward without reservation. Rui reports becoming a “more smiley” person. Beyond that, she’s more confident, no longer covering her mouth with her hand each time she smiles or laughs. This is the power of great cosmetic dentistry to change lives!entire room!