Cosmetic Dentistry
Serving St. Paul, Minneapolis, Woodbury and the surrounding areas
Tooth Fairy Restore-A-Child's Smile Project
The Tooth Fairy and Dr. Nippoldt Would Like to Thank the Children of Woodbury for helping to Restore A Child's Smile. The donations of baby teeth and colored pictures of the Tooth Fairy from the children of Woodbury helped to raise $2103 of donated dental services to restore the smile of an abused child in the Washington County/Woodbury community. For every baby tooth or picture of the Tooth Fairy that was submitted to the Tooth Fairy of the Centre for Distinctive Dentistry, Dr. Nippoldt donated $1 worth of dental services to help an abused child smile again. Thank you for your very generous support.
Local dentists restore battered teen's broken smile
LAKE ELMO - A vicious assault left one Washington County teenager without two front teeth or proper medical care to restore a broken smile.
October is domestic violence awareness month. And Woodbury dentist Dr. Ned Nippoldt, DDS, and Dr. Paul Petrungaro, DDS, of Lake Elmo recently donated their time and effort to restore the smile of an area teenager whose teeth were knocked out because of the assault.
"When you do it for a patient, especially someone who has had such a hard period in their life -- that's something you can't put into words," Petrungaro said this morning. "There's no dollar sign you can put on it.
It's that warm feeling in your heart."
The dentists worked with Washington County through the state's "Give Kids a Smile" program, in which dentists perform free dental work for children whose families cannot afford dental insurance. Nippoldt also participates in "Give Back a Smile," a similar program for adults affected by domestic violence.
"Working with Dr. Nippoldt, we were able to take 'Give Kids a Smile' a step further and provide a new smile for a patient," said Kristy Ballard, a coordinator in the Lake Elmo Dental office. "That's just wonderful."
Through dental work that would normally cost between $8,000 and $10,000, the dentists transplanted toots and created a crown in the patient's mouth, creating new teeth for the battered teen - all at no cost.
"If you're a teenager, that has a big impact in your life," said Ned's wife Jill Nippoldt, who also works as the guest relations manager at the Woodbury clinic.
Originally, employees at the Nippoldt's Centre for Distinctive Dentistry aimed to start a new program as part of February's Dental Health Month. Many dentists offer "Dentistry for a Day" programs, when those in need receive free dental consultations.
But the Woodbury dentist saw that more intensive services were still lacking.
"I thought: We'd like to do something a little more helpful," Ned Nippoldt said. "Provide a way they could get services they needed. A little idea just got bigger and bigger."
Jill Nippoldt called Washington County to set up a plan - and the couple also enlisted the help of area children. They asked the young kids to mail in either a colored picture of the tooth fairy or send their baby teeth to the office. For every colored picture and baby tooth received, the dentist office donated $1 toward the cost of restoring the smile.
"I guess that's my personality," Ned Nippoldt said of enlisting the children's help. "I always like somebody to work with me."
And that mantra proved true once the dentist met his client. The victim's two front teeth were severely damaged - one was completely gone as a result of the assault.
"It pulls at your heat strings," Jill Nippoldt said.
Needing a dental surgeon to implant roots into the victims's gums, Dr. Nippoldt called a surgeon to whom he usually refers clients: Lake Elmo's Dr. Pentrungaro.
"It's always nice to help someone that can't receive help in the fri st place," Petrungaro said.
"But to take someone and turn them around in a day, it's a very rewarding experience."
While the victim received several thousand dollars of pro-bono dental work, the dentists involved said they received the true reward.
"I think our whole staff benefited from this," Jill Nippoldt said. "It's fun to be able to do something for another person. It's very satisfying."
Woodbury dental assistant Michelle Dahl called the experience "wonderful."
"I thought it was great helping out somebody that was in unfortunate trauma," Dahl said. "It was nice to give back to someone."
The victim will return for a follow-up visit in a few months, when the dentists will monitor the victim's progress and perform the finishing touches on the victim's two front teeth.
