Information For Study Volunteers

Volunteer Profile: Warren Swanson

“I suffered from dental pain for ten years. Now it’s gone.”

Waterford resident Warren Swanson was having a lot of trouble with his teeth. “My gums were often inflamed,” he says. “I was experiencing a lot of pain.” And there was a particularly vexing problem with a front tooth. An old dental post had broken and none of the five dentists he consulted felt it could be repaired.

When Swanson’s daughter suffered from cancer, several years ago, she was a patient at the Health Center and “she received exceptional treatment,” remembers Swanson. “The quality of care was wonderful.” So, in December 2004, he turned to the UConn Health Center for help. 

His timing could not have been more ideal. UConn dentists were conducting a study of crowns and looking for volunteers. Swanson enrolled and soon had three new caps. Moreover, the pain he’d been experiencing was alleviated.

“I wish I had come to the Health Center in the first place,” he says. “They have better equipment and modern ideas. All around they have better ways to handle dental problems.”

Since undergoing the dental treatment, Swanson has returned to the Health Center for treatment of several other health care problems. But his participation in the dental study brings him back for routine check-ups and dental cleanings about every six months. And he always looks forward to those visits.

“I suffered from dental pain for ten years,” he says. “Now it’s gone. For me, it’s always a great experience visiting the Center. No one likes going to see the dentist, but I have high confidence in the UConn professionals. I’ve referred many friends to them. They’ve always provided me with first rate care. The members of the staff all know me by name and I feel like they’re friends."