Dental Stories from 30 years on Palm Beach Island

Q: Have you treated any famous people?

A: Does the inventor of the paper clip count? How about Velcro? And my favorite; the maker of something so common and simple, it makes the paper clip as hi-tech as a Tesla.

In walks a short, stout 88-year-old man form Manhattan, wintering in PB for the winter. We got into talks about the car collecting hobby. He was a bit hard of hearing.  He mentioned he has a garage in Manhattan filled with a collection of old Rolls Royce’s. I asked him what he did for a living. He shouted his one-word answer: “PAINT!”.

I shouted back to him: “What kind of paint?”. And again, a one-word shout: “WHITE!”

Now you would think that no one could have a patent on white paint, right? And every paint manufacturer makes white paint. So what gives?

He then explained to me that EVERY airplane made all over the world gets a coat of his “special” white paint that bonds to the metal that ALL planes are made from. Then, they paint the colorful graphics and company logos. The white paint is opaque and hides the gray metal from showing through the layers of paint to follow.

We use a similar technology when we place crowns or veneers over teeth that are very dark, or when we are making crowns that will be attached to titanium dental implants. An opaquer is used to mask out the gray metal, to allow for your “WHITE” teeth to really shine!