A woman who had almost completely transparent teeth underwent major surgery and got dentures at 19 — and said it has changed her life.
Mihaley Olivia Grace Schlegel, 19 and from Oklahoma, was born with brittle bone disease, resulting in her teeth being brittle and see-through when they grew, according to Jam Press.
Schlegel said she was cruelly called “shark tooth” and her teeth continued to deteriorate and weaken over time. She stopped “smiling, laughing, and even eating” due to the pain.
“It got to a point where I was struggling to eat basic things like bread at around 15 years old,” Schlegel, who works as a retail assistant, told NeedToKnow.online.
Schlegel said that she tried “hard” to love her teeth because she was aware of how expensive it was to get them done.
“People would make a nasty face if I were to smile, they’d try to play if off sometimes, but it became more noticeable as I got older,” she sadly recalled.
When Schlegel was 13, the idea of dentures was brought up, but admitted she was so scared of what her future would be if she went forward with the surgery.
However, after the pain increased a year later, she started to look for a dentist to take on the case. It took five years for an orthodontist to agree to take on the complex case, due to her having brittle bone disease.
“Doctors feared breaking my jaw,” she explained. “I’ve had 117 broken bones, 36 surgeries and multiple placements/replacements for rods in both tibias and femurs.”
Schlegel had oral-maxillofacial reconstructive surgery when she was 19.
“When I woke up from surgery I just kept laughing and crying because I was so shocked it finally happened,” she said. “It was like a dream come true.”
The surgery was $9,500 with insurance, with Schlegel saying her parents helped her pay as well as taking $500 from her college savings — and that it has been worth every cent.
“There has been a big change in reactions from people especially. People don’t make gross faces when I smile, or ask me what’s wrong with my teeth,” she said.
Schlegel will have to undergo further procedures, including a surgery adding two to four implants in her bottom jaw so her dentures can clip in and a laser procedure around the tissue so she can put the implants in at ease — but she is happy to do so.
“New teeth have benefited me in many ways,” she said. “I can eat things that couldn’t before and I can finally feel beautiful when I smile.”
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