"Behind my swollen face, I could see that six of my front teeth were gone: the nightmare of my perfect smile"

Eight years ago, Natalia Guerrero was convinced in Colombia to wear false front teeth and crowns, even if hers were fine.

This was the beginning of a painful dental nightmare that ended in Miami, United States, and cost him a small fortune.

The painful experience led him to reflect on the millions of people who need urgent dental assistance, but who can not afford it.

This is his testimony

This was a treatment he did not need and that he did not even want not really. A treatment that left me in agony. A treatment that had to be done again and again and that cost me thousands of dollars, hundreds of sleepless nights and countless hours of excruciating pain.

I remember the noise of the exercise the smell of burning flesh mixed with blood, my blood. I remember the empathic face of the dental assistant holding the suction tube while the dentist juggled in my anesthetized mouth.

But the most painful thing is the memory of the 10 minute stop and I had the opportunity to look at myself in the mirror.

Behind my swollen face, I could see that six of my front teeth were gone. What were there small vampire style cones. I was shocked, shocked to have been extremely stupid.

This was the last step in a chain of unnecessary procedures that my dentist disguised as a treatment for "terribly worn" teeth.

First, he put false teeth on six of my front teeth. Then, as they were constantly breaking, he suggested crowns, which he described as similar, but more resistant.

In a very stupid way, I did not ask too many questions and I did not realize that my natural teeth would be reduced to Dracula fangs.

Not only was this procedure useless (it only needed a dental plaque to stop cringing while sleeping), but it turned out that my dentist was not ready for this job .

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Over the last eight years, I have had to undergo several surgeries on my gums. They had to repair my crowns twice, three in the case of the incisors.

If you have not experienced this, you will not imagine how difficult it is to break a porcelain tooth. It's a fight between the dentist and the crown in your mouth. And you are there, lying down. Resigned Shut up Waiting for the hours to pass.

Anesthesia lasts less in my body than in other people, so I have to receive several injections between which I feel pain.

This continues well after leaving the dental chair, in and out of my mouth. I had to endure persistent pain in my ears, my jaw, my eyes and my neck, in addition to migraines that lasted up to two months.

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Not to mention all that I've paid to fix this disaster.

You probably think that I was unlucky, but I was very lucky. At least I could afford the treatment.

In many countries, people who want to improve their teeth – whether it's because they feel better or that they feel better – have no way to pay for it.

Almost everyone has a friend or acquaintance who needs a dental treatment. When someone drops money from heaven or an inheritance, it is one of the most likely things in which he will invest.

"You think twice before laughing, because you are ashamed" ] says one of my aunts in Colombia. A bad treatment that has been done in Spain has made him lose three teeth from above and today his prostheses are noticed.

Another case is that of Edgar, a character, fat smoker and party king. His problems started when he ignored a broken tooth and the tooth on the side became infected. Finally, there were only three left.

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Being a kind of hippie, there was no problem and he had an abundant beard that hid him the mouth, but when he finally had his teeth, he went hairdresser and sent a series of selfies smiling to the Whatsapp family group. Almost 60 years old, it was a triumph for him.

It was not just the price that kept him away from the dentist. He says his generation fears these professionals. "My uncle Oscar was tied to the dental chair," says Edgard, "and he stood there screaming."

Inequality

Health is one of the most significant indicators for measuring social inequality .

Bad teeth can not only cause terrible pain, but also the loss of job opportunities, isolation and illness.

The cost of dental health, both in Colombia and in the United States, exceeds the possibilities of many.

In 2016, some 74 million people – nearly a quarter of the US population – did not have dental health coverage in their insurance or public health programs in the United States.

And even those who had it, had to pay part or all of the account for the treatment they needed. Extraction can cost anywhere from $ 200 to $ 600 depending on where it is performed and whether anesthesia is used or not. Crowns vary between US $ 1,000 and US $ 2,000.

So, the Hollywood Smile House and creator of global standards for dental perfection, where people spend more than a billion teeth whitening products a year, is also the country where millions of people are worried about what to do. your tooth hurts or you have a dental infection.

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And many Americans trust clinics and free charities, where the trend is to remove teeth rather than treat them.

A study published in 2015 by the National Center for Health Statistics revealed that one in five people aged 65 or older do not have teeth. And in unofficial figures, the number rises to one every three years.

"Every year we arrive in Wise, Virginia and we extract about 4,000 teeth ," says Stan Brock, 82, founder of Remote Area Medical (RAM), an organization that provides medical services free to those who do not have access.

Since 1985, RAM has treated more than 740,000 people around the world with the help of 120,000 volunteers.

In a rural airport elsewhere in Virginia, I see hundreds of people lining up for treatment with a doctor, dentist or ophthalmologist. Some even arrive at dawn, desperate not to miss the opportunity.

"There are people in this country who are dying of dental infections, it's terrible," Brock says.

"When you have an acute infection, it can reach your brain, trigger diabetes or heart disease, and in this country, there are people who really die because they do not have access to a dentist.

In the United States a basic revision costs on average US $ 275.

Sometimes I close my eyes and I remember the sparkling smile that I once had. I remember how small, square and exceptionally strong my teeth were. I miss catching an apple from the tree and chewing it.

I have not been able to do this for eight years. Now, chew badly, physically, psychologically and emotionally, because it reminds me of my huge mistake.

When I look at Carolina, my identical twin, she sometimes gives me a secret sorrow. She keeps her teeth perfect, as healthy as my teeth before they are torn off. She notices my corner look, but tells me that my new teeth are very beautiful, like those of an actress

" A good dentist never takes a healthy tooth because he knows that he will never grow back, "said one day a dentist in a rural town in Colombia.

And he was right.

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