Before we dive into the Same Day New Smile™ FAQs, let’s give you a quick rundown of what this service is:
This revolutionary dental service consists of Dr. Shawn Keller placing four dental implants in the upper or lower jaw and then placing a gorgeous bridge to mimic the look and feel of your natural teeth. It performs all the functions your teeth had before, including chewing, speaking, supporting the jaw, keeping your airway open – and having a beautiful smile.
The best part? All of this can all be done within 24 hours!
Combining his 20 years of training, extreme levels of technology, and his dynamite, highly-trained team, Dr. Keller has invented this technique to deliver the results patients have always wanted – in a fraction of the time.
This means:
- You can eat your favorite foods without pain.
- You will never feel embarrassed to laugh or smile again.
- You will never have to deal with failing dentures again.
- You will have a newfound confidence.
- You will look 10-15 years younger.
Now, let’s get started!
Same Day New Smile™ FAQs
- Who is a candidate?
- What are the options for denture wearers?
- What are the options for people with bad oral health?
- Is there more to learn about implants?
- Do a lot of people wear or need dentures?
- Why isn’t everyone doing this?
- How is it life-changing?
- Does it cost more to go to Dr. Keller?
- Are smiles that important?
- How does COVID-19 come into play?
1. Who is the typical dental implant patient that you see?
I don’t really have a typical patient, but they do fall into three major categories.
The first category is people that have been told elsewhere that their only option is a denture.
These people have bleeding gums, bad breath, loose teeth, teeth that are shifting, and the teeth are cracking or falling out. They’ve been told that they’re headed for a denture; they are going to lose their teeth.
They come to us because, in literally one afternoon, they can walk in with no teeth or with teeth we extract, and give them a brand new set of teeth in one day.
The second group is people that I’d love to help the most, but it’s tough to get them in – the denture wearers.
It could be somebody in dentures for just five years, ten years, or 30 years – and they’ve been told that they don’t have enough bone.
We love this procedure for those people because they can literally walk in wearing a denture and walk out with a brand new full arch of teeth that don’t come out, supported on only four implants. And the upper is fantastic because the pallet is no longer covered.
They can eat things that they couldn’t with a denture – like apples or steaks!
The third category is people who need a full mouth reconstruction.
Now, these are in-between people. They are not quite ready to have all their teeth removed and a brand-new set of teeth.
We clean up those gums and give them a brand new clean slate. We get rid of the bacterial infection these people have, leaving them with the freshest breath of their lives.
2. Let’s start with a denture wearer or a person who needs a full mouth and extractions – what’s the process like? What are the options in your practice for the denture wearer when it comes to implants?
There are a variety of options.
We can make something extremely popular with all the dentists who are just breaking into doing implants – a denture that snaps in and snaps out. The problem is they still have a denture: lots of maintenance, lots of money out of the pocket.
If you are going to a center, you need to make sure you find someone who’s experienced with a full arch of teeth that’s fixed – that don’t come in and out. That’s what people want anyway!
So for the lower, literally four implants, full-arch of teeth, locked in. The upper is what these dentures LOVE even more because their pallet is no longer covered. And again maybe 4 to 6 implants and they have fixed teeth that don’t come out.
And here’s how we do it:
We make them a temporary set of teeth that builds out their face, so they actually get to see what they’re going to look like in advance.
Once we get the smile right and the way that comes together right (I could bore you out of your mind on the bite), then literally, if it’s Monday on Wednesday, they have their brand new final set of teeth.
They look in that mirror, and you can just see it in their faces. For these people, it’s like the first day of the rest of their lives.
Here’s a preview of the process:
3. Now, what about people that have bad gums, like bleeding gums and periodontal disease? Can they do this, or do implants not work with that?
For the people that come in with bad gums – we have to see how bad it really is.
Sometimes the gums are so bad, and the teeth are already loose, and they can’t be saved. We like to avoid putting any more money into those teeth when they’re just going to fail in five to ten years anyway.
For those people, we can have the teeth out, put in the four implants, and two days later, you can live with your full set of permanent teeth.
Then there are other people where the teeth aren’t actually that bad. Maybe they came in thinking they want their teeth out, but the teeth are in better shape than they thought. Maybe they just have some bad restorations.
For those people, we can take out the one, two, or three hopeless teeth and put a single non-metal implant in there. Then we can restore the rest of the teeth in two visits.
We prep your teeth and get you in your temporaries, and a few days later, we’ll put in your new set of final teeth! They’re like a bullet-proof layer porcelain on top of your teeth.
4. You’ve been doing implants for a long time, but you still travel literally all over the world to learn more about dental implants. Is there really that much to it?
We’ve got great guys here in the USA that teach this and have been doing it forever, but I want to go to the top – and learn from the people at the top of the game. This is why I travel all over the world to learn more.
I did a residency in Australia. There’s a guy there who’s teaching his version of what we’re doing here – teeth in the exact same day. I did another residency in Barcelona, Spain to learn about zygomas, which are specialized implants for people that don’t have enough bone. I completed another implant residency in Mykonos, Greece.
I learn whatever I can from the very best. I learn everything I can about a digital workflow – which is what really allows us to have somebody come in, get extractions and everything, and leave with a brand-new set of teeth within 24 hours.
The more I get to learn about this, the more I find that there are so many subtle nuances to creating a beautiful smile and making their bite exactly right and the materials.
The materials we are using today are better than ever, and they are lighter, more natural. Some of the older materials being used are heavy and bulky. That’s one of the reasons it takes other clinics 10 months to do this – they send you on your way with temporary teeth.
We give our patients a final, permanent set of teeth in just three days, including the beginning of collecting records to a final set of fixed teeth. Our out-of-town guests only need to be here for just a couple of days.
I am always researching and finding the guys that are doing this faster and better than anybody else in the world, and those are the people that I’m going to their courses and learning from. And in my practice, we do it all right here, with one doctor and one fee – with my own lab directly in-house.
5. So you talked about people in dentures. Are there a lot of people in Seattle who are even wearing dentures?
You could take the Seahawks stadium, and I could fill that thing at least once or 10 times over with people headed to dentures. I could fill it halfway with people that are missing nine or more teeth. And within an hour of my practice, there are 10s of thousands of people wearing an upper or lower denture.
6. If implants are so good, why aren’t they all doing it? What’s your take?
Well, #1, if you are wearing a denture or false teeth, you don’t go to the dentist, so you don’t know your options.
#2, if you are wearing a denture, let me tell you about your life before you got there. You’ve had root canal after failed root canal and endodontists and periodontists and gum surgery, you’ve had bridges and partials, and failed this and failed that, and one day they took out all your teeth…
So the challenge is with these patients, it’s hard to get them in because of everything they’ve been through in the past! What they don’t realize is, they come in on a Monday, and they could have a brand-new set of teeth on Tuesday.
#3 is that they think well I’m 70 or 80 – they think they’re too old. I’ve given a 101-year-old their teeth, so you’re not too old!
When people plan their retirement with their investment advisor or CPA, they don’t design it based on eating food and going on cruises in dentures. It’s not part of the plan.
Nobody should be wearing dentures. It’s over. At least in my office.
7. Come on, you said it’s life-changing?
Take someone with no teeth – they can’t eat, they can’t chew, they can’t laugh, they can’t smile, they can’t even hang out with their grandkids without smiling with their mouth closed. You give them a brand new set of teeth – their self-confidence comes back.
You take someone with no teeth, and now they can smile again – that’s a big deal!
Every single week, we see transformations. We see people that look in the mirror and break down. We see family members that say, “You changed my husband’s life. I have my husband back!”
If you don’t like something about yourself, it holds you back. If you don’t like your ears, nose, waistline, or hairline, it holds you back. If you don’t like your teeth, that holds you back.
Ninety percent of who we are is covered by clothing – and then there’s our face with our smile. If you can’t smile, that’s big!
If you have a bacterial infection, this is like any other infection in your body. When we clean that up, it’s one less thing your body has to fight – so now it can spend more time on coronavirus prevention or fighting it.
There’s an immune response going on during an oral infection – so when we clear it up, you have a stronger immune system. Not only does your breath get better, but you have more energy.
8. Yeah, but does it cost more to go to a guy like you who’s been training all over the world?
The truth of the matter is that it doesn’t when you compare apples to apples.
Very few people are doing this at our level. It’s not more. In fact, getting it done right the first time is less.
The brand-name chains that do this, these high-volume mills, it takes them 10 months – we do it in just a couple of days. Because we do it all under one roof – I’ve got my own milling machine, lab technician, dental designer, and lab.
We do it much faster and more efficiently.
So when you compare, it’s less to get it done right the first time. It’s because your time is valuable.
9. But obviously, you’re a dentist – of course, you think smiles are one of the most important things.
Honestly, I do, and I believe this with my heart.
I don’t think there’s a medical procedure in the world that you could have done that has as big and as strong and as fast of an effect on you and can turn your life around as much as having your teeth done the right way.
But it’s not just because I’m a dentist!
In just about every survey that asks what you find attractive about another person or what do you remember about a person – a smile is always in the top three.
In fact, when I first got into dentistry, I didn’t know it was going to be that big of a deal for people, especially with what I’m doing today.
We have patients who come in, they’re shy, they barely make eye contact – we give them a brand new set of teeth, and I’m telling you these people come in with a skip in their step!
The older guys are flirting with the front desk – it’s like they’re back, they’re energized!
So it’s not just because I’m a dentist, these are just the facts. And to add to that, you can now eat, chew, and smile – it just changes your whole personality!
Think about Hollywood. Everybody knows that when you want to make somebody look like a bad guy, they give them fake teeth that look crooked and bad and dark. You want to make it look older, give them flat teeth. If you want to make me look dumb, you remove their front tooth.
This shows you that your teeth are really tied to how people perceive you and how you look – people are judged based on their teeth. But we don’t judge you like that in our practice, and that’s why you get a fresh start.
10. With COVID-19 still around, what are you doing now to keep people safe?
People who know me know that I’m into health, I’m into fitness. We have always done everything we can to manage any kind of germs, any aerosols: we always wear gloves and masks; all the instruments are clean.
But because of COVID-19, we have upped our game. So what I mean by this:
We now have one of the biggest reception areas in Seattle – it’s the parking lot!
To keep you safe, when you show up for your appointment, you call us. You are going to be greeted by someone wearing a mask – with a big smile underneath that mask – and then we’re going to give you some hand sanitizer.
We bring you in the door, which has been wiped down since the last patient.
Our office is one of the safest places to be right now! We have UV light sterilization constantly destroying all types of bugs and viruses; we have medical-grade air filters that are ionizing and killing bacteria and viruses all day; we also have a fogger that we use at night with ozone in it that sterilizes the room.
I’m a technology geek – every bit of technology I can find to keep you safe, we have right here.
Once you’re inside, we take your temperature. We want to make sure that the people come in here are clean, safe, and as symptom-free as possible.
But most importantly, the people who come to us so often have widespread bacterial infections in their mouths, so their immune system is really suppressed – working hard to fight their existing infection.
When we clean that up and give them their brand-new teeth – now their immune systems are back. They are stronger than before!
We feel like once you get your infection out, you have a better chance of beating this as anyone.
How to get your new smile in ONE day
Step 1: The Consultation
This visit focuses on your needs and what you’re looking for in a smile.
Once we determine you’re a candidate for Same Day New Smile™, we start gathering your records and take many photos and scans to start planning your new smile.
Step 2: Planning
After your consultation, we start getting to work and spend the time and energy to plan your surgery and new smile.
Dr. Keller and his technicians spend hours planning your new smile because we want to make sure this new smile will last for the rest of your life. We use state-of-the-art technologies to make this happen.
With our advanced technology, we can have your entire treatment planned and ready to go BEFORE you even start surgery.
Step 3: Surgery
The day is finally here! Worried that surgery is going to be painful? We offer many methods to ensure you’re comfortable from start to finish.
Once you’re comfortable, our surgical team will put into action all the planning we’ve done to get your Same Day New Smile™ ready for you.
You’ll wake up to a new, beautiful smile. Many of our patients have let out tears of joy after looking in the mirror. We’re confident you will too!
Step 4: Smile!
Take that first step: Schedule a complimentary consultation today
We invite you to schedule a complimentary consultation – no strings attached!
You can expect one-on-one time with our team, where we’ll talk about your goals and determine if Same Day New Smile™ is right for you.
For out-of-town guests or those who enjoy modern convenience, we now offer virtual consultations – making this first step that much easier!
Request an Office Consultation
Request a Virtual Consultation
Our brand new office is located in Kirkland, WA, near Seattle and Bellevue. However, we see patients from all over the state and country. Our quick turnaround time on your new smile only requires you to visit for a couple of days.