A woman has issued a warning after being left toothless due to suffering a little-known side-effect of a strong painkiller.
Natalie Lacasse was prescribed naproxen, an anti-inflammatory pain relief medication, at the age of 18 after a serious car accident. However, the medication gave her stomach ulcers that caused her to vomit frequently for five months, the Mirror reports.
She also suffered from another, far more visible and permanent side-effect as a result of the drug – because her attempts to freshen up after being sick were actually making her teeth worse. Natalie, now 24, had no teeth by the age of 19, suffering stigma as a result.
She said: "Over the years, I've continued to face the stigma and assumption that I either don't take care of myself or was abusing substances due to my teeth, and that has really impacted my mental health. As soon as doctors see my teeth or hear about my dental situation, they always ask about drug usage and when I express I've never used anything, I'm usually met with some form of disbelief."
After being involved in a car accident that tore her lower back muscle, doctors prescribed naproxen, telling her to take it for two weeks. Before long, she was vomiting uncontrollably several times a day.
She continued: "I had no idea the effects these medications had on the digestive and stomach system. When I had peptic stomach ulcers, I was vomiting for months, and I thought I was doing the right thing by brushing my teeth as soon as I'd vomit.
"I had no idea that's the opposite of what you do after getting sick, as you only brush the acid into your teeth, breaking down the enamel. I obliterated my teeth by doing this.
"Doctors are incredibly fast to push these heavy medications onto young people instead of resorting to other forms of pain relief first, like physiotherapy."
A year on, she withdrew into herself, cutting off friends and barely bothering to put on make-up. The Canadian, from Vancouver, began saving up for dentures, spending over £4,000 on her new smile to date.
On her "new" face, she said: "It felt like I was punched in the gut. I was expecting my smile [to be] back to normal and to look the same and when it didn't, I tried my hardest to not break down in front of the dentist as they were excited for me and thought they were good.
"After my first denture ever (in April 2019), as soon as I left the office, I cried the whole walk home on the phone to my mum. Each tooth being added and then revealed was a tiny bit of a heartbreak, but when I got the last six added, it was hard to look in the mirror and still to this day when I see my old smile in photos, it hurts a bit seeing my new smile."
Natalie has shared her journey of self-acceptance on video-sharing website TikTok. She now says she will no longer hide her smile, with or without the false teeth.
She added: "Sometimes I forget it isn't normal and I will smile at someone or speak to a cashier without my dentures in, and they either look like they saw a ghost or don't look away from my mouth. At this point, I don't care as much because without my dentures I'm in a lot less pain right now and I don't want to be in pain to make others comfortable just to look in my direction.
"Up until last year, I constantly was hiding my smile and teeth. When I'd talk or laugh, I'd cover my mouth, and I truly was horrified to have anyone, even my own family, see me with [or] without my dentures."
Now, Natalie is waiting for a specialised denture due to her slightly underdeveloped left jaw joint. Her current dentures are purely for 'aesthetic' purposes, and she cannot eat with them in and struggles to speak properly.
She said: "As it is a standard fitting temporary denture, even with adhesives it causes too many issues for my jaw and nerves to keep in. I never wear my denture to this... around an hour of them in, the headaches I get daily, turn to a migraine, so I avoid wearing them unless as a prop or for photos.
"I still have difficulties eating in public as it is incredibly hard for me to eat with no upper teeth and all broken lower teeth - and this tends to get the worst reactions. I had people gag at me once while I tried to eat, completely avoid asking if I wanted food due to my teeth and have even had people sarcastically try to offer me soup instead or something incredibly crunchy/chewy as a joke.
"I feel comfortable not wearing them because of the pain, but my anxiety when not wearing them is something I still battle with and something [sharing my story on] TikTok has really helped me begin to overcome."
Posting her story on social media has provided her with a much-needed source of respite. She says laughter is the key to finding some peace along her journey, as well as building a community for others in similar predicaments, and posts videos of her proudly showing off her smile.
She said: "I'm really trying to not just entertain myself during this very difficult time but bring humour and light to chronic pain and dentures being young while sharing my journey and story. When I started this process, I didn't see anyone like me, and I am just trying to be someone 19-year-old me would've looked up to.'
Some of her followers on TikTok have praised her for being able to "make fun" of herself, but some of her admirers even include those who have lost their own teeth. One said: "I feel your pain, even after losing only two side front teeth."
In Scotland, naproxen has been blamed for the death of one mum who suffered an adverse reaction to the drug, which caused a stomach ulcer to burst. A fatal accident inquiry found that Linda Allan's death was "preventable" but medics failed to investigate her discomfort after a knee operation.
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