A woman in her 20s says she has been forced to wear dentures after a botched root canal caused a severe infection.
Alex Sandroski, 24, had struggled with a toothache since she was a child and spent a lot of time in and out of the dentist receiving treatment.
Alex, from Pennslyvania, was born with short roots, and would often find herself losing her teeth as she was growing up.
When she was 18 she decided to get a root canal and crowns on the majority of her remaining teeth to put an end to the infections and breakage she had previously suffered.
She claims the procedure was a "botched" job as she still suffered from infections.
When Alex was 22, she decided to have dentures as a solution because she couldn't afford dental implants.
Alex, who now works as a dispatcher for a dental company, said: "I missed a lot of school because I would be up all night with a bad toothache and when I was 12, I was given braces for the first time which worsened my condition.
"The cavities got worse and the dentist discovered I had short roots during the time I had braces meaning my teeth were getting extremely loose and breaking.
"I had to have the braces removed and a permanent wire put on the back of my teeth to keep them in place.
"But whenever I would eat something, my teeth would crack off and crumble into my mouth.
"When I was 18, I found a dentist and we came up with a treatment plan - he ended up doing a root canal on most of my remaining teeth with a crown on top.
"I had problems from day one of doing that - he didn't do the work properly and it was done too quickly so everything started to fail and before I knew it, I was having infection after infection.
"I kept needing more and more teeth pulled out that I eventually made the decision to just have them all removed.
"My teeth were so infected that there was nothing I could do and financially, I couldn't afford dental implants so I made the difficult decision and felt extremely sad about it".
Alex says the troubles with her teeth are genetic.
She explained: "People think it's my fault for not looking after my teeth properly but it's genetic.
"My grandmother had dentures at the same age as me and my mum is constantly struggling with her teeth.
"My dad's side of the family all have short roots meaning they're prone to breakage."
Alex has called her teeth "her own worst enemy" after trying every possible treatment to try and fix them.
She says the root canal treatment was the breaking point after she began losing teeth following the procedure.
Alex decided to get all her teeth removed when she was just 22-years-old and is now wearing dentures full time.
She added: "Dental implants would have set me back $35,000 for just the top and I couldn't afford it.
"Right now, I'm at a point where I'm happy, pain free and pleased with my decision to get dentures.
"The dentures look very realistic and no one knows I have them until I tell them - I love seeing people's reactions for the first time!"
Ales says she is used to living with her dentures and has accepted being so young and having them.
She said: "I'm able to eat with them in and don't even have to think about it but I did have to relearn how to eat with dentures.
"It's a big adjustment but I can bite into apples, steaks, burgers, and other chewy food but I tend to avoid hard sweets".
Alex has been married to her husband for three years and says he has been fully supportive of her transition to having dentures.
She said: "I'm trying to help other women and girls out there who are having to get dentures and show them that it's not as scary as they might think.
"It's been life changing for me but in a good way."
