A Hanover Park man’s smile is back on his dial after being gifted a new set of tanne.
A near-toothless John Meiring, 51, was spotted by a dentist in celebrity cook Fatima Sydow’s YouTube videos.
Last month he only had six teeth, but this week John received 28 new tanne.
Dentist Ryan Muller says when he watched the videos, he noticed John’s gap-toothed smile.
“I thought he gets nice food but can’t eat nicely. I love people and I think he deserves good teeth,” says Ryan.
Flashing his pearly whites, John says he is very happy about his nuwe tanne.
“Where I live, people didn’t believe me when I said I was getting my dentures,” John says.
“And when I showed up on Tuesday, they were really surprised.”
John has become known as Fatima’s food taster on her YouTube channel.
“He is a dear friend of mine, he does odd jobs around here,” says Fatima, who is from Lansdowne.
“When I started with the videos, I thought I make food and I have no one to eat (and that is where John came in).
“One day Ryan contacted me and said he could fix [John’s] teeth.”
John’s denture procedure was done for free and it took six weeks for the treatment to be completed.
Under normal circumstances it would cost about R10 000.
“He would come every evening for about 30 minutes for the six weeks,” says Ryan.
His new teeth have given John enough confidence to start looking for love.
“My self-esteem is up and now I want a girlfriend,” he says with a wide grin.
“I will keep the teeth white and clean.”