The 19-year-old, who was born with a genetic disease that causes his teeth to appear transparent, shared on social media how orthodontic surgery changed his life and self-confidence.
Mihaley Grace, a resident of Oklahoma, USA, suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, a disease that weakens bones, and has had dental problems as a result of a genetic problem.
As a child, he thought his clean teeth would “get stronger”, but over time the situation got worse. At the age of 15, he began to be bullied and called “shark teeth” by his classmates. Also, he started to feel too much pain to eat.
“After four years of trying to find a surgeon working with someone with osteogenesis imperfecta, I finally found one. In December 2021, he had a complete denture at age 19,” he said. On TikTok..
Osteogenesis imperfecta, an inherited and rare disease that can manifest itself in different degrees, directly affects the collagen production in the patient’s body and causes the bones to become more fragile.
According to the young woman, this caused doctors to fear breaking her jaw during surgery to repair her teeth.
I had 117 broken bones before, I had 36 surgeries. I have screws in my knees and ankles, I had to have surgery after I broke my back, and I have a few grafts,” he said.
But after years of searching for a specialist, he found a dental surgeon who agreed to perform the surgery. Even with dental insurance, he had to pay US$9,500 (equivalent to R$49,000) to have the surgery and fit the prosthesis.
“When I woke up from the surgery I was laughing and crying because I was so shocked and finally happy,” she said.
Now, Mihaley, who displays his smile on social media, plans to go through other actions. One is to make implants in the jaw that allow better “movement” of the prosthesis, and the other should facilitate the insertion and removal of “moving” parts of the teeth with lasers.
source: Noticias
