The Call for Action team goes to work to help fix a man's mouth

(WXYZ) - Last year, 40-year-old Kenny James of Detroit was an out-of-work armored car driver who hadn’t seen a dentist in more than 10 years.

His mouth looked like something out of a horror movie. Most of his teeth were broken, infected or decayed. 

But the worst part was the pain he felt every time he tried to eat something.

That’s when Kenny called the Call for Action team for help.

Right away, we contacted Dr. Kathleen Abate, winner of the “Americas Top Dentist” award for 3 years in a row, winner of The University of Detroit Mercy’s Award for Cosmetic Dentistry, and the owner of Millennium Family Dental on 15 Mile in Clinton Township.

With 18-years in dentistry, Dr. Abate knew this would be a big job.

She began the skillful work of rebuilding Ken’s entire mouth. The job involved removing nine teeth, 6-root canals and 6-post implants.

Dr. Abate also had to build partial dentures and brand new teeth with crowns to replace everything that Ken needed to have taken out of his ravaged mouth.

It took 15 appointments and 14 months of work.

Even so, Dr. Abate was willing to do all of the hard work for free.  Why?

”Because I really do believe from the bottom of my heart, that God gives us talents and abilities so that we can help others with their most serious problems,” Kathleen says.

So, thoroughly, carefully, Dr. Abate transformed Kenny’s mouth from a horrific, unhealthy disaster to a perfect smile.

At last the work is done and the results are incredible - a $30,000.00 dental project, all done for free.

 “This is going to change my life, because I no longer have to hide my smile or be afraid to talk to people,” Kenny says. “Dr. Abate is a great lady.  She is a great dentist.”