A Mining Town’s Lone Denture Dentist

The mining town of Paracale is focused on gold, but most of its residents have teeth made of plastic. The town is made up mostly of miners and their family, but there is a single denture dentist, Al Cababay, who has the responsibility of manufacturing dentures for the more than 50,000 residents. The dentist speculates, “Eighty percent of the residents of Paracale have false teeth,” and he made them all, including his own and his daughter’s.

Giving Smiles Back

As the lone denture dentist in a town where many people lose their teeth, Cababay is well-known, and when people see him on the street, they smile at him, giving him back the smiles he gave to them. They come to him on the street to tell him when they need dentures. He instructs them to come to his house, where he works to make dentures on the weekends.

He is not technically a dentist: he learned his trade as a student in 1987. He was studying to become a mechanic, but took up a part time job working in a large denture factory. This allowed him to learn his craft. He then moved back home, but continued making dentures, technically under the supervision of a dentist in Daet, the capital of the province, about 23 miles away. His primary job is as a security guard at a local high school.

He takes impressions, mixes epoxy, makes dentures, and fits them in his house.

Repeat Customers

Cababay says he helps about 10 people a week. However, he says that many of them are repeat customers. Some of the miners who work in compressor mining come in for multiple new sets of teeth. Compressor mining, technically illegal but regularly practiced, involves diving underwater to mine the clay that houses the gold. To breath, miners bite a tube that runs from an air compressor at the surface, and in the dark water they often lose their dentures.

Dentures and Bling

And of course in a gold mining town, many people would want to get a little extra shine on their false teeth, partly for the shine, but also partly to make them look like natural teeth they may have gold crowns placed on some of the teeth. Retainer wires are common among teens with dentures, and sometimes with others. Cababay even noted that one of his clients got a retainer wire with the Playboy bunny on it.

Unlike Parcale, chances are there are likely many denture dentists in your area, but if you are looking for a truly exceptional denture dentist, please contact a local FOY^® Dentures dentist.