You may have heard about a recent television report out of Columbus Ohio claiming that
a crown made in an overseas dental lab has tested positive for lead.  The investigative 
report by WBNS-TV, Channel 10 in Columbus, has revealed a confirmed case of a victim made 
sick by contamination from a dental restoration made in China.

This information coupled with several other problems regarding items made in China, such as toys, toothpaste, and pet food, raises serious questions about crowns that are fabricated there. The ADA is taking this matter very seriously, and is advising their members to ask their laboratories where and how their restorations are being fabricated. My experience has been that laboratories offering an inexpensive crown and taking more than two weeks for conventional crown and bridge work are probably subcontracting their work overseas.

If your crowns and bridges are being fabricated by Colonial Dental Lab, you can be confident that the work is being done by our technicians in our laboratory in West Berlin, NJ. We use only the finest, ADA approved materials. We purchase metals from respected and prominent companies such as Metalor and Ceramco. Our Captek crowns have always been made with the genuine Captek material. We gladly furnish Identalloy Certificates upon request.

As we have for the past thirty two years, Colonial Dental Lab’s commitment to quality, integrity, and trust, assures you that we stand behind our restorations, and the materials that we fabricate them with.

 
Woman Survives Fall From Airplane.
Local Dentist Donated Services To Help Restore Smile.

              

   Plummeting from thousands of feet in the air, Shayna Richardson said a prayer as she spiraled toward
the ground. She prayed that her death would be painless. In 2005, Richardson's parachute failed as she jumped out of a plane in Arkansas with her boyfriend and jump instructor, Rick West. West's helmet camera captured the entire episode and he screamed as he watched helplessly watched her hit the asphalt after her backup chute also failed.  "I tried like mad to fix it," Richardson said. "But, eventually, you have to say,
'OK God, this is it. This is my time. I'm going to die. Just don't make it hurt.'" It did, but miraculously,
Richardson survived her 50 MPH drop, landing face first in the Siloam Springs, Arkansas parking lot. The 21 year old was making her first 10,000 ft accelerated free fall -- known by sky divers as an AFF

"I shattered almost every bone in my face," Richardson said. "I knocked out the front five teeth in the mouth, broke my pelvis in three places and broke my right leg."  In the emergency room, doctors told Richardson that she was two weeks pregnant. Richardson said the hope of a healthy baby was what pulled her through all of the reconstruction operations. Doctors even used metal plates to replace pieces of fractured skull to support to support her eye and hold her face together.  However, with medical bills
mounting, she was still left without any front teeth, an injury Richardson called her worst injury of all.

Dr. Alan Meltzer, a Voorhees New Jersey Periodontist, learned about Richardson's story and huge medical debt. He was touched by her story, and he wanted nothing more than to get Richardson her smile back.
After several procedures, he did just that. "Sometimes," Dr. Meltzer said, "there's nothing wrong with stepping up and just doing what you think is the right thing,"

Using CT scans, Dr. Meltzer first plotted Richardson's dental surgery on the computer, making sure to avoid the metal plates in her face. "We actually made the jawbone disappear," Dr. Meltzer said. "And we placed the implants so that we were sure to have adequate clearance in all directions from all the plates."
Five implants like the ones she received would usually cost around $30,000, but Dr. Meltzer picked up the cost.  When it was time to fabricate the restoration, Dr. Meltzer teamed up with Colonial Dental Lab.  Working with Colonial's implant specialist, Yakov Dvorkin, a fixed hybrid or highwater bridge was fabricated.

Shayna Richardson has her smile back.  Actually, she is now Shayna Richardson West.  She  married Rick West, and later gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Tanner. Her story has been told on TV both locally, and nationally.  And yes, she did go skydiving again, "just to show the parachute who's boss." Now she plans to keep her feet on the ground. "Holding Tanner is more a thrill than jumping out of any airplane."