This is the second year the generous Aldeans, their charitable organization Second Chance Smiles, and Dr. Matt Kasiar have joined forces to give the ultimate smile and glam makeover worth over $60,000 to one lucky person. That lucky person? Neal Price.
Neal lives in Conroe, Texas with his wife and son where he works doing civil construction. His wife, Morgan, follows Brittany Aldean on Instagram and was the one who discovered the giveaway. It took a lot of encouragement for Neal to make the video. He explains, “I would avoid having conversations with people, so that way they couldn’t see my teeth. Or if I had to talk with someone, I would try to look away or keep my lips to where my teeth weren’t showing.” Neal’s grateful Morgan finally convinced him to submit a video just before the deadline.
Dr. Kasiar and Brittany were excited to see more men enter the contest this year. After watching so many heart-wrenching videos, it was ultimately Neal’s vulnerability and kindness that stood out to them. Brittany says, “In my experience, I know it’s extremely hard for a man to submit something like that. It’s difficult for someone to be real and raw knowing people would be watching that video. It wasn’t planned to pick a man this year, but it was based off of a gut feeling and seeing how passionately he wanted a new smile and how much he knew it was going to affect his life.”
Brittany and Jason called Neal with the news as he and his family were at a restaurant getting seated for dinner. His family was full of anticipation as they had been praying for this every day. Neal admits, “I don’t even remember what I said. I was so shocked and nervous.” He was about to get the smile of his dreams.
Dr. Matt Kasiar is the cosmetic dentist at The Practice in Franklin who designed Neal’s teeth. He says, “In Neal’s case, a lot of the teeth were in bad shape and had to go, so by the time we were looking at the remaining teeth, there wasn’t a lot to work with. We opted to remove the rest of them and place seven implants on his top and seven implants on the bottom.” Neal was in surgery for eight hours, but everything went perfectly.
Neal made the final reveal to his friends and family in May and was almost unrecognizable! To complete the makeover, he had his hair done by Travis Mitchell from The Parker House salon and received a new wardrobe and styling by fashion expert Chérie Kilchrist.
Everyone hopes that this transformation opens up new opportunities and relationships for Neal.Many people don’t realize how life-changing new teeth can be. Before the makeover, Neal was socially awkward and would try his best to hide his teeth. Now Neal is coming out of his shell and shows off his bright white smile everywhere he goes. Neal says, “I always try to be the best person and father I can be, but if anything, it’ll help me get better. I can feel my confidence changing every day and I’m definitely very blessed.”
After the success and gratification of the past two contests, Brittany is optimistic about continuing these smile makeovers for years to come.