Small Town, Big Surprise: 2012 Gendex Sweepstakes Winner

In September, a dental office in the small town of Bucyrus, Ohio got a big surprise. Since setting up this practice in February 2006, the Nagys have tried to grow their practice options. “We do general dentistry, surgery, some endodontics, Invisalign®, and emergencies,” explains Michelle.

Attila started taking a series of orthodontic courses and found that to properly serve orthodontic patients, he would need an imaging system that could take cephalometrics.

“Attila is an insomniac and was on the Internet checking out pan and ceph machines that fit the small footprint of our office space,” recalled Michelle. The GXDP-700 piqued his interest, and he signed up for the promotion to win a complimentary GXDP-700.

The versatile Gendex unit can capture a variety of radiographs from a full complement of 2D panoramics to cephalometrics to 3D (small field of view), giving growing practices the freedom to expand their treatment options. The Nagy’s long-time Henry Schein representative Kristine Hilton played a pivotal role in unveiling the secret prize.

“She knows that I work part-time, but she texted my husband to make sure that I would be in the office that day.” After lunch, the excitement began to unfold.

“We saw this enormous blue bus pull into the alley next to our office. Then, we saw the camera crew outside,” described Michelle. “I had no idea that my husband had even signed up for this, and since he entered a while back, he forgot about it too. Finally, they told us that we had won! We were so excited and posted our good news on our Facebook page.” The Facebook page explained, “This will not only replace our panoramic X-ray unit (the one that spins around your head to detect any problems in the entire jaw/sinus area) but also will allow us to take very high-quality X-rays for orthodontic (braces) treatment we now provide in our office.”

Besides quality care for their patients here in the US, the couple has recently established a charity called Smiles of Hope Here and There in Nagydobrony, Ukraine. Attila does dental work at a girl’s orphanage where all of the children speak Hungarian, Attila’s native language.

“The clinic, with only the most basic equipment, has one chair, and is the only one in the region,” says Michelle. “During his visit, he provides dental care for the girls in the orphanage, the local school children, foster children, and some adults as well.”

The dental duo anticipates that the GXDP-700 will help them provide more services to their patients because of the scope of imaging choices; the pan offers 11 projections for three patient sizes and will increase the quality of their X-ray images. Patient comfort is also a focus.

Michelle adds, “The new pan/ceph unit will be amazing. My own daughter has such a bad gag reflex that I have never been able to get a bitewing on her, and I have about four other patients that have a similar problem. I even have a special needs patient that we need to anesthetize to take X-rays. One child’s mother told us that she was in tears knowing that we had to take X-rays during her appointment the next day.”

Michelle anticipates a much better imaging experience with the GXDP-700. “It will be so much easier and more comfortable for our patients, and my daughter will be the first one.”