A woman whose teeth completely rotted and fell out of her mouth now has to wear dentures at just 29 years old.
Courtney Luna has had bad teeth ever since she can remember due to an enamel deficiency and says she has tried everything to stop them from rotting, including braces, extensive dental work, and changing her diet.
Her baby teeth all rotted out as a child, and when her adult teeth came through, they were equally weak.
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With her teeth continuing to fall out and no treatments helping to combat the issue, Courtney decided it was time to fix her smile once and for all – with dentures.
“Throughout my whole life, it has just been pain, deadly infections, three abscesses that caused major swelling, sleepless nights, and tears,” Courtney, from Kansas City, Missouri, US, told What’s The Jam.
“I have spent so many hours of my life in the dentist chair.
“I’ve had root canals, crowns, fillings, and even had braces when I was a teenager, which even had to be removed due to decay.
“I’ve tried changing my diet, brushing regularly, trying everything I could to reserve them, but despite all of that, my teeth would still randomly crack or pop in half, just from eating a normal meal.”
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Courtney’s dentists found that she had enamel deficiency, otherwise known as dental enamel hypoplasia.
It is an enamel defect, characterised by thin or absent enamel, where a tooth may have an overly thin layer of dental enamel or may have no enamel at all.
But for production worker Courtney, it was on every tooth, and there was nothing she could do to fix it.
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She said: “I realised that no matter what I did, I’ll still end up having to get them removed shortly down the road anyway.
“I decided I wanted to get some form of implant dentures since I’m still young, and wanted to prevent any bone loss to my gums.”
She decided on conus style implants and retained dentures.
Including her current set of dentures, Courtney has spent £47,000 ($60,000) to date on her teeth.
She said: “So far have endured a sinus lift, bone grafting procedure, full top teeth extractions, placement of four implant posts, and recently just got those implants exposed – all while being awake!”
So far, Courtney has had her top half row of teeth done, as the dentist advised to do them separately.
Now, she’s looking forward to getting her bottom set completed.
She said: “Recovery has been painful, but going smoothly.
“It has been a long process due to the bone grafting needing to settle, and then my implants also settling in.”
But despite the surgeries and costs, Courtney is happy with her results after a long battle to achieve her smile.
She said: “Despite all the tough surgeries and lots of debt, I am still very thankful that getting implant dentures was even an option I could take.
“Having no more sharp nerve pains and abscesses in my top teeth anymore has been such a good experience so far, and I’ve felt no regret getting my teeth removed.
“Even just wearing my top dentures right now has given me so much confidence with my new beautiful smile.
“I want to show the world that you can make the best out of whatever situation you’re in, even if you’re like me with dentures at 29 you can still be happy and enjoy your life!”
