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Eight years ago, BBC journalist Natalia Guerrero decided to seek treatment in search of the perfect smile
The dentist who accompanied her replaced her good front teeth with dental prostheses . It was the beginning of a painful nightmare that ended in Miami, USA, and cost a small fortune.
The experience has made millions of people think that they need urgent dental care, but can not afford it.
Check out your testimonial below:
This was not a treatment I needed – I did not want to, either, to be honest. It was a treatment that left me in agony and cost me thousands of dollars. Not to mention countless comings and goings to the dentist, hundreds of sleepless nights and several hours of excruciating pain.
I remember the noise of the drill, the scent of burning flesh mixed with blood, my blood. I remember the caring look of the badistant holding the suction tube while the dentist juggled with my anesthetized mouth.
But the most painful is the memory of the 10 minutes spent in the mirror. My face was swollen and six of my front teeth were gone. She looked like a vampire. It was the last step in a series of unnecessary procedures that my dentist had convinced me to do as part of a treatment for "terribly worn" teeth.
First, he replaced six of my front teeth for false teeth. Then, when they started breaking, he suggested I wear crowns, which he described as being similar but more resistant.
In a very stupid way, I did not ask too many questions and did not realize that my natural teeth would be reduced to Dracula's teeth.
Not only was this procedure useless (all I needed was a dental plaque so I stopped grinding my teeth while sleeping), but my dentist was not qualified for this job.
During the past eight years. I had to undergo several gum surgeries. I had to tie my crowns twice, three in the case of the incisors
If you've never experienced this, you'll never be able to imagine how hard it is to break a tooth in porcelain. It's a fight between the dentist and the crown inside the mouth. And you can not do anything. Stay here. Has resigned. Calada. And wait until it ends as soon as possible
But the nightmare does not end after leaving the office. I had to endure the persistent pain inside my ears, jaw, eye and neck, as well as migraines lasting up to two months.
Not to mention the money that I paid to fix this mess.
You probably think I did not have a chance, but in fact, I was very lucky.
In most countries, people who want to improve their teeth – by discomfort or self-esteem – can not afford to pay for it.
World has a friend or acquaintance who needs a dental treatment.
"You think twice before laughing because you are ashamed," says one of my aunts in Colombia. A treatment that she suffered in Spain made her lose three fingers and today, her prostheses are very remarkable
Another case is that of Edgar. , an acquaintance who smoked incessantly and liked to go to parties. His problems began when he ignored a broken tooth and the tooth on his side was infected.
It was a bit of a hippie, he did not do much and decided to grow a thick beard that ended up hiding his mouth for years. But when he had his new teeth, he went to the hairdresser and sent a series of smiling selfies to the WhatsApp family group. At the age of 60, it was a triumph for him.
This is not just the price that kept him away from the dentist. He says his generation is afraid of these professionals. "My uncle Oscar was tied to the dentist's chair," says Edgar, "and I did not stop screaming."
An Imbalance Thermometer
Oral Health Works Like a Thermometer of Social Inequality
Bad Teeth Can Not Only
In 2016, about 74 million people, either nearly a quarter of the US population of America, live in poverty, but the loss of employment opportunities, isolation and disease.
But the cost ends up being one of the biggest hurdles. – they did not have dental coverage in their health insurance program
and even those who had paid partially or totally for the treatment they needed. The extraction can cost between $ 200 and $ 600, depending on where it is performed and whether anesthesia is used or not. Crowns range from $ 1,000 to $ 2,000.
This is a contradiction in a country where celebrities are spending millions of dollars to get a perfect smile. 19659002] In addition, many Americans use free clinics and charities to remove their teeth rather than treat them.
A survey published in 2015 by the National Center for Health Statistics. Revealed that one in five people aged 65 and over did not have teeth.
However, unofficial figures indicate a much higher proportion: one in three. ” clbad=”img img-responsive image-large”/>
"Every year we arrive in Wise, Virginia, where we extract about 4,000 teeth." Says Stan Brock, 82, founder of Remote Area Medical (RAM), an organization that provides free medical services to those who do not have access.
Since 1985, RAM has served more than 740,000 people around the edge of a rural airport elsewhere in Virginia, hundreds of people line up for treatment by a doctor, dentist or ophthalmologist. Some people arrived early in the morning, desperate not to miss the opportunity. "
" There are people in this country who are dying of dental infections, it's terrible, "he says." When you contract an acute infection, it can reach your brain, trigger a diabetes or heart disease. In this country, there are people who die because they do not have access to a dentist. "
The base costs about $ 275.
Sometimes I close my eyes and tell myself remember the sparkling smile I've had, I remember how small, square and exceptionally strong my teeth were, I can not bite an apple
I was doing it for the last time there was Every time I chew, I feel pain, but it's not just physical pain, but emotional and emotional pain, which reminds me of the terrible mistake I made.
"A good dentist will never tear a healthy tooth because he knows that he will never grow back," said a dentist in a rural town in Colombia
and he was right
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