Marj Doyle

28 th March, 2006

I am delighted to tell you that so far I have been very impressed with Dr. Popadic and, of course, his staff.  I attended his surgery (friendly, modern and spotless) in January and was a bit apprehensive about the whole procedure.  However, Dr. Popadic was most reassuring and took all the time necessary to discuss all possibilities, never pressurising, taking x-rays of individual teeth and explaining everything in detail.  Once we had decided which treatment to go ahead with, he and his staff proceeded very professionally and I was impressed with the calmness, yet efficiency, of the whole situation.

  I had two extractions, then one implant and abutment loaded with a temporary crown.  Because of infection, I only had a temporary tooth for the second one (I am not sure exactly how it is placed - it is attached by a bar across the adjoining teeth at the back and is still in place two months later - at home I would have had to wear a denture!)   I came out looking exactly like I had gone in - the temporary teeth were exact replicas of my originals.  And this all happened between 3pm and 7pm.  Apart from the initial pain of the anaesthetic injection, I felt very little else - there was, of course, the usual dull sounds and vibrations of drills, etc., but no pain.  In fact, that is my lasting impression - no pain, not even the next day.

  As I haven't really chewed on the implant yet, I can't really comment on it yet, but it has not bothered me at all.  I am returning in early April for bone grafting, gum grafting, more implants and porcelain crowns, so if you have any particular questions I will be an expert on it all after that!

  We flew from Dublin to London Stansted to Trieste (€200 approx. altogether with Ryanair), hired a car in Trieste and stayed for 3 days in Rovinj.  All the work was done in one afternoon and we just dropped in the next afternoon so that Dr. Popadic could check everything out.    Dr. Popadic organised an apartment for us within a few minutes walking distance of his surgery.  And Rovinj is a lovely place to visit anyway, irrespective of the rainy weather in January.

  I hope this is of help to you but if you need any more info please ask.

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21 st April, 2006

Sorry for not getting back to you - I was away in Croatia last week visiting Dr. Popadic and he and his staff were as friendly as the last time.  I spent the day in his surgery.  In the morning, I was numbed up and Dr. Popadic removed the temporary teeth from January and  prepared 5 teeth for crowns.  Then he took a break of about an hour and the surgery was prepared for the afternoon while I waited outside - it's more like a hall than a waiting room but you get to see what's going on. 

  Then I was numbed up again for surgery - one tooth (baby) removed and  implant inserted.  Then serious bone grafting with artificial bone, mixed with bone shavings removed from the implant site and some soft tissue from a toothless region further back.  I believe 15 stitches were inserted (resorbable).  The gum surgery was painless but I did have the sensation of stitching, etc.  However, near the end of the procedure, as Dr. Popadic did not want to use any more anesthetic, I did feel pain from one of my prepared teeth which was very very sensitive to air.  Then he cemented in very temporary teeth - all in one piece - to last just until the next day. 

  There was no pain from the actual surgery - only from the sensitivity of the teeth prepared for crowns.  I was given 2 pain killers, 2 anti-inflamatories and 2 antibiotics.  I was also given prescriptions for antibiotics and painkillers.  An appointment was made for 6 o'clock the next evening to have the "permanent" temporary teeth fitted.  I went back to the apartment, rested for about 2 hours and went out for dinner!  I did not need to take any more painkillers.  My face swelled up - it was the worst on the third day but I bought "instant" ice packs for 12 kuna in the local chemist which helped.

  The next evening I went back and Dr. Popadic removed the overnight temporary teeth - this was a little bit painful.  He then inserted the temporary teeth which are to last six months.  Even though it was 7.30 in the evening (there was a delay in the teeth arriving from the technician, but for them to be made in a day was fantastic), Dr. Popadic took his time with these, making several adjustments until they fitted perfectly and then cemented them in. 

  A look in the mirror showed a totally NEW me - a perfect row of teeth and they are only acrylic.  I left and joined my husband for a beer and dinner!  (Who cares about the swollen face, up to the eye - it's only for a few days - I took Vitamin C and Arnica 30 (for bruising) recommended by my own dentist at home and despite Dr. Popadic saying that my face would probably turn blue, green, purple etc, there was no discolouration.  After 5 days there was just a slight swelling of my lip and by 7 days it had gone completely.

  I can still feel some stitches and I am very careful about what I eat - a side effect is that you don't overeat!  There was discomfort and I was afraid to smile too much because of the stitches but I never had to take the prescribed painkillers.  I took the course of antibiotics and there doesn't seem to be anything amiss.  I am returning in six months to have all permanent crowns affixed.

  I hope this goes some way to alleviating your apprehension.  Long term I can't say how things will turn out, but I have had no problem after 4 months with the implant inserted in January.  Regarding Dr. Popadic, so far  I have only praise for his standard of workmanship and his attitude.

4 th October, 2006

Returned to Rovinj for a brief visit to Dr. Popadic to have moulds taken for the final prosthetics in four weeks time. The temporary row of teeth were removed, the moulds taken, and the temporary teeth replaced, a repair having been made in the meantime. They had done well to last six months. I also took the opportunity to have a lower back tooth filled – a huge chunk of old filling and tooth fell out about a week beforehand, but as it was not painful I decided to get it done in Croatia. Elvis, one of Dr. Popadic’s assistants did this, and also was ever so gentle while cleaning my sensitive lower teeth – no pain. The last time I had this done with a dentist at home I was in agony for a week! Weather was lovely and balmy – tee shirt weather in the daytime but cooler at night.

6 th November, 2006

Went back for final assault! I thought there would be no pain at all this time – just take out the temporary teeth and replace with the eight individual Procera crowns.

Unfortunately, one of the teeth to be crowned had become very sensitive and was very painful. Dr. Popadic inserted the three permanent crowns on the implants, which was a little bit painful as he twisted them in under the gums. He also permanently inserted four of the other crowns. This was just a matter of holding them in place until the “glue” had set. The final crown he only inserted temporarily as he wasn't’t sure if the painful tooth had an infection or whether it was just because the old temporary tooth was not fitted properly. If it was still painful the next day he would have to remove the nerve. I made an appointment for the following morning to have my bottom teeth bleached. Despite painkillers, the sensitive tooth pained all night.

7 th November, 2006

Went back to surgery first thing in the morning and it was agreed that the nerve would have to be removed. As the surgery was busy that day, I made an appointment for 2 o’clock. In the meantime I had the bottom teeth bleached – I found this very painful. Little pricks of pain hopping all over the teeth. Maybe I was just feeling sorry for myself because the other tooth was painful as well.

Had the root canal treatment that afternoon but as the crown had got slightly damaged when it was removed, it had to be sent to Zagreb for repair and I had an (ugly) temporary tooth for the night. Dr. Popadic’s skill was sorely missed – he had left this to his assistant this time.

8 th November, 2006.

Returned to the surgery at 6.30 the following evening. Petra had gone to the bus station to collect my crown off the bus from Zagreb. It only took a few minutes to insert it – no anaesthetic. Dr. Popadic gave me a prescription for an antibiotic, and filled out Form MED 2 and gave me a “sick note” for the three days. I offered to pay my final bill, approximately €457 for the bleaching and final crown, but they said they would send me the bill and I could transfer the money when I returned home. Then Dr. Popadic and I went down to the Sturmer Cafe to meet my husband for a drink to celebrate.

9 th November. 2006

The following morning as we were leaving, I called in to Dr. Popadic for a quick check that all was well.

5 th August, 2007

As you can see, regarding the implants, I have not had a bit of bother with them at all – I can chew and bite and eat anything I like – and my smile has improved tremendously! I ‘d forgotten that a great big smile works wonders in sticky situations! And I notice people looking at my teeth and even commenting about them. It’s only my own sensitive teeth which were crowned which are sometimes bothersome – Some day I’ll get all implants (hopefully next year).

Marj