A Canadian was left toothless due to a side effect of a painkiller.
- After a car accident, Natalie Lacasse, suffering from a temporomandibular disorder, had to take naproxen (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) for two weeks to relieve the pain.
- This drug caused him gastric ulcers. By dint of brushing her teeth after each vomiting, she lost them.
- Currently, the patient is wearing temporary dentures with which she cannot eat or speak properly.
At 12, Natalie Lacasse suffers from chronic jaw pain. Some time later, the doctors tell her that she has a temporomandibular disorder, namely a dysfunction of the left jaw joint. Six years later, she was admitted to hospital due to a car accident that tore her lower back muscles. To relieve chronic pain, health professionals prescribe naproxen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and recommend that she take it for two weeks.
“I destroyed my teeth” by brushing them “as soon as I vomited”
Very quickly, the Canadian began to vomit uncontrollably several times a day. “I had no idea of the effects of these drugs on the digestive system and stomach. When I had gastric ulcers, I threw up for months and thought I was doing the right thing by brushing my stomach. my teeth as soon as I vomited. I didn’t know that was the opposite of what to do, because it only brushed the acid away from the teeth and broke the enamel. I destroyed my teeth by doing this”, she told the British daily Mirror.
At 19, a year later, the patient lost her teeth. Consumed by shame, she constantly hid her mouth, began to isolate herself and no longer have a social life. “Over the years, I continued to deal with the stigma and the idea that I was not taking care of myself or abusing substances because of my teeth, which really had an impact on my mental health (…) As soon as the doctors see my teeth or hear about my dental situation, they always ask about drug use and when I say I’ve never used anything, I usually come up against to a form of disbelief.”
His dentures do not allow him to eat and speak properly
Natalie, now 24, has been saving for a long time to buy dentures. “I expected my smile to go back to normal and be the same, and since it didn’t, I did my best not to crumble in front of the dentist, because he was happy for me.”
Several months after this disappointment, the Canadian decided to publish videos on tiktok in which she explains how she managed to accept herself without teeth. “Sometimes I smile at someone or talk to a cashier without my dentures, and people look like they’ve seen a ghost or stare at my mouth. At this point, I don’t care as much because that without my dentures, I suffer much less”.
Currently, the dentures worn by the young woman are “purely aesthetic”. She can’t eat with it and has trouble speaking properly. “As this is a temporary denture, even with adhesives it is too much trouble for my jaw and my nerves. Within an hour of putting it on, the headaches I have daily turn into migraine, so I avoid wearing it”. Now, Natalie is considering jaw reconstruction with a specialized prosthesis, which is expensive.
