Dentists "very happy" they got call to fix Derrick White's smile before Celtics parade
BOSTON - It was a moment that went viral on Monday when Derrick White took a hit in the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals and came up bloody with a chipped tooth. "They were trying stuff in the locker room, I was like I don't care, just play," said White after the NBA championship game.
"I knew there was going to be some damage"
Dental doctors Maged el-Malecki and Joey Chang of Boston Dental were watching, and they knew it couldn't be good. "When he went down with the amount of force in that direction, I knew that there was going to be some damage to the teeth and/or bone," said Dr. Chang in an interview with WBZ-TV.
Little did the doctors know they would be getting the call for the fix. "I was like oh my gosh really? I'll definitely be there and I'll help however I can," said Dr. Chang.
And of course a duck boat parade was just days away with a smile on the line. "Definitely wanted to get him there with a smile," Dr. Chang said.
There he was Friday, a smiling Derrick White in the rolling rally celebration who had admitted earlier in the week he didn't want to flash his pearly whites during the post-game celebration because of the tooth. But this player had put it all on the line.
"This is spreading throughout Boston. Everybody is very happy to see him smiling the way he is smiling now," said Dr. el-Malecki. "So we are very happy to be part of this."
Dentists say it's a temporary fix
The hour and a half procedure to repair the broken tooth after White collided with Mavericks player Dereck Lively is a temporary fix that was performed just Thursday. Asked what kind of patient he was, Dr. Chang said, "He was very nice throughout it. He was very humble. I can't imagine a better patient really."
Now White will need follow-ups to make it permanent unless something else happens. "Hopefully it lasts a lifetime unless he decides to do the same thing in a final next year. We'll be here to take care of for him as well," said Dr. el-Malecki.
Thinking about next year, he says, is definitely something worth smiling about.