To whom it may concern:
Dr. Stanley Farnum has been my dentist for 3 or 4 years. I had previously been seeing a dentist who was competent, but who I felt was always looking for procedures that he could do on my teeth in order to make more money. Once I decided to leave his practice and seek a new dentist I spent several months doing research, because I was determined to find a dentist who was open to the use of natural alternatives whenever possible, and willing to forgo the use of mercury in fillings. I finally found Dr. Farnum, and I was happy to join his patient base even though his office was rather far from my home.
Here’s what I like about Dr. Farnum, his office and his staff:
The office, waiting room and facilities are tastefully decorated and spotless.
The staff – as far as I know – consists of Dr. Farnum, his lovely wife Mary Kay, who acts as receptionist, etc.. and Cecilia, the dental assistant. All three are friendly, warm and helpful. I also love the fact that the staff is so small. This is not a “mill” like many of the dental offices I’ve been to, with multiple receptionists, assistant, etc. and a dentist who has several patients in several rooms which he bops in and out of. Dr. Farnum and Cecilia give each patient their full attention for the entire time they are there.
Dr. Farnum believes in doing what’s best for the patient, by which I mean that he doesn’t seek extra work to enrich himself. I believe that his philosophy is: “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
Whenever I’ve had something that needs fixing, Dr. Farnum has explained clearly to me what the problem is, and the various options that are available to him to remedy it. He then gives me the timeand freedom to make my own choice between those options.
Dr. Farnum uses the best materials available. He has many years of experience, and during those years he has learned which materials last longest and are most compatible with gum tissue, etc.
Dr. Farnum is a perfectionist in his craft as a dentist, and will only accept perfection from those who supply his materials, crowns, bridges, etc.
As an example of my experience with him, I’d like to tell you about the big job that he did for me earlier this year. Over the years I had been wearing down my front teeth by grinding and clenching my jaw. There were also big gaps between my upper front teeth, and the enamel was getting rubbed off them. I was becoming self conscious about the appearance of my teeth. Dr. Farnum had not pressed me to veneer them or crown them as my previous dentist had done years before. But I was finally ready to do something about them, plus we needed to replace the bridge that I had had for several years (installed by my previous dentist, and also on my upper teeth, on the side) which had recently become loose. Many of the crowns that I had had for many years on my upper teeth were old and getting worn out. So, I decided to “bite the big one” and have Dr. Farnum replace all my old upper crowns, crown my upper front teeth in a way that would make them look attractive, and replace the bridge. Dr. Farnum spent a lot of time with me, informing me about the options in materials, etc. In order to keep me from wearing down my new front crowns, he told me that he was going to make the bridge and the new crown on the sides “longer” so that my bite would open up, preventing my lower teeth from wearing away the back of my upper front teeth as they had done to my original teeth. I’m sure that a cosmetic dentist would not think to do this.
In one (long) appointment, Dr. Farnum and Cecilia prepared all my upper teeth and made a temporary bridge and crowns. They took pains to help me choose a color for my new crowns which would complement my existing teeth, but brighten my look without looking artificial. Then came an anxious two weeks while the new bridge and crowns were manufactured by the excellent company that does all such work for Dr. Farnum. I say anxious, because the temporaries for my front teeth had little to hold onto, and fell out several times. Dr. Farnum had warned me of this, but he explained to me that it would have been inadvisable to use stronger glue because it would be impossible to remove them when the permanent crowns were ready for installation. He was kind enough to re-glue the temporaries a couple of times, making a special trip to meet me at the office one of those times since it was his day off. When the new bridge and crowns were ready, he told me that he could have had them for me sooner, but had not been 100% pleased with appearance of the original set, so he had sent them back to be redone! Needless to say, my new upper teeth look and feel great. Thank you Dr. Farnum, Cecilia and Mary Kay!
Sincerely,
Susan Artemis
