Great Neck dentist Dr. Joseph Osipow, the official dentist of the Brooklyn Nets, used new technology to create a mouthguard and removable bridge for Peter Quillin, also known as Kid Chocolate, former World Middle Weight Boxing Champion, who had broken his extensive upper-fixed bridge during a previous fight.
A bridge is used to replace several missing teeth in a row. Instead of replacing each tooth separately, the missing teeth can be replaced by a bridge anchored to dental implants. Osipow fabricated a new bridge five days before Quillin’s Sept. 12 fight at Foxwoods Resort. To prevent the new bridge from breaking, Osipow designed the bridge so it could be removed after Quillin’s prefight press conference in the locker room and Quillin could then fight with a mouthguard that would fit over his prepared teeth, eliminating the hazard of tooth or bridge breakage.
The dentistry and protheses were fabricated with the new technology of intraoral scanning to create a digital impression, a 3D model scanning technique that prints in minutes, can be stored physically or virtually and is great for all patients because it replaces a broken or worn appliance within 24 hours.
Because of Quillin’s family heritage, for the Sept. 12 fight, Opislow designed Quillin mouthguards with the Cuban flag on the face of it, which could be seen when Quillin smiled directly into the television before the fight. The mouthguard fit directly over Quillin’s remaining and prepared teeth to give maximum protection and minimum risk to his dentition. Quillin’s complicated and costly bridge stayed out of the ring, to be replaced at his convenience after the fight.
The fabrication of a mouthguard and temporary removable appliance to fit over existing teeth has never been done before. Quillin’s removable partial denture appliance was given to his trainer before the fight, so that after Quillin’s knockout victory in the fifth round, he discreetly removed his mouthguard and inserted the undetectable appliance before heading to the center ring for his victory interview.
As Quillin trains and spars to get ready for the World Middle Weight Championship Fight on Dec. 5 at Barclays Center, Osipow designed another mouthguard for Quillin with Kid Chocolate imprinted in sparkling gold.
