Dr. Duygu Taş

I'm 72 and my dentures had become a source of constant pain and embarrassment. For years, I avoided smiling. Dr. Duygu Taş didn't just see me as another elderly patient; she saw my hesitation. She explained the All-on-4 procedure at Ankara Hospital Acibadem with such clarity, using models instead of just medical jargon. The surgery was complex, she said, but she was confident. The follow-up was meticulous—she personally called the evening after surgery. Now, I have teeth that feel like my own. My grandchildren say I smile with my eyes now. It wasn't just dental surgery; it was the restoration of a part of my identity I thought was lost.

Our 8-year-old son, Kerem, fell off his bike and chipped his front tooth clean in half. It was a Saturday evening, a full-blown emergency. We rushed to Acibadem, expecting the worst. Dr. Taş met us with a calm that immediately settled our panic. She didn't just talk to us; she knelt down to Kerem's level, showed him the tools, and called the pieces of his tooth 'little treasures.' She performed a bonded composite restoration that looked utterly seamless. But her real magic was with Kerem—he left wanting to be a dentist! The follow-up visit was full of high-fives. She turned a traumatic event into an adventure.

As a musician who plays the flute, my chronic TMJ disorder was ending my career. The clicking, the locking jaw, the pain during long rehearsals—I'd seen several specialists who offered only basic mouthguards. Dr. Taş approached it like a detective. At Ankara Hospital, she used advanced imaging I'd never seen before, mapping the joint's movement. She proposed a tailored plan combining minimally invasive arthrocentesis with specific physiotherapy. It wasn't a quick fix; it was a collaboration. She understood the precise pressure and posture my art required. Six months later, I played a full concerto without a single twinge. She treated the musician, not just the jaw.

I arrived for what I thought was a routine checkup and cleaning, admittedly after skipping a few years out of sheer dental anxiety. Dr. Taş's approach was completely different. No judgment, just a gentle, 'Let's see what's going on together.' During the cleaning, she narrated everything in a quiet, soothing voice. But then she paused, showing me on the intraoral camera a tiny, hidden crack in a molar I couldn't feel. She explained the physics of how it would fail under pressure. The restoration was scheduled for the next week—no pressure, just a clear option. The procedure was so precise and painless I almost fell asleep. She transformed a routine visit into a masterclass in preventative care and patient education.