Patient Testimonial | James

James: So, it was disconcerting because I put a lot of time and effort into my appearance, and I meet with customers and I meet with colleagues and people that work for the company all the time. So, I want to make sure that I look professional.

But at the same time, it was one of those proud moments where, “Okay, I finally lost the tooth. I’m officially a hockey player.”

Hey, I’m James Rooney. I was a patient of Dr. Loetscher’s, had surgery about a year, year and a half ago. Worked on one of my teeth. So, I grew up on the south side of Chicago. I was a hockey player since I was 8 years old and still play today. So, I’ve been playing hockey for 40 years.

Dr. Loetscher: So, Jim came in. He’s a professional, owns a company, but he’s also a hockey player. And for him, his appearance is important. And his teeth, of course. He had unfortunately knocked out one of his premolars, came in with a broken tooth.

James: I was playing in a game, and I had the puck, went around the net, and lost an edge and flipped over with the puck and hit the boards. Massive concussion, tore the labrum in my right shoulder and lost my right eye tooth.

I had asked a few people around the area, “Who was the best,” and they told me, “Dr. Loetscher.” When I got into the operating room, doctor said, “Hey, look, just to be totally honest, I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to do everything that we wanted to do today because the recent x-ray that we took shows that there was a lot of bone degradation.

Thankfully, when I went in for surgery, he was actually able to do everything that we expected to do when I went under the first time, which was music to my ears because me walking around without a tooth in my job looks a little silly.

Dr. Loetscher: So, first, I saw him, we examined him, took out his broken tooth that he injured playing hockey, put an implant in and let the tooth integrate and put them right back out there. I was hoping it didn’t interfere with his busy life, and it didn’t.

James: You know, from the moment you walk in to talk to the individual at the front desk to the moment that you get home post op and someone calls. Dr. Loetscher called me himself and said, “Hey, James, how are you doing?”

And then, he called me again three days later, “How are things going?” Very impressive. It’s very rare that you see that level of professionalism. And this office does a fantastic job. There’s really nothing to be afraid of with the surgery itself. It was an amazing experience from beginning to end. I was really pleased with the outcome.