A 24-year-old woman who was forced to wear dentures after losing her teeth has finally been given permanent teeth.
Natalie Lacasse, from Vancouver, has worn dentures since she was 19 – after months of vomiting, fueled by pain medication, caused her teeth to slowly rot and fall out.
After struggling with shame and embarrassment about her teeth – which she concealed with dentures for years – Natalie has now finally restored her smile after raising nearly $10,000 online to fund new, permanent dentures.
“I still have a long road ahead of me, but after two very long years of being stuck with no teeth, finally having teeth again… is surreal,” the content creator said.
Natalie Lacasse, 24, lived without teeth for two years and wore dentures instead. She finally got permanent teeth so she smiles with confidence
Despite the mental toll not having teeth had on her, the Vancouver native was determined to normalize wearing them and posted her journey on TikTok
“I still have a long road ahead of me, but after two very long years of being stuck without teeth, finally having teeth again… is surreal,” the content creator said
‘It’s so strange! I didn’t realize how big this would really be for me.
‘The moment I was handed the mirror (to look at the results), I saw myself with real teeth.
‘When I sat in the chair and saw my new smile, the way they fit so well, it felt so crazy, I feel so confident.
‘I have repressed much of my situation over the years, after spending the first year with dentures depressed and crying every day.
‘I started to suppress it and shake it off. I only realized the seriousness of the past few years when I saw my smile again.’
Natalie’s problems with her teeth started when she was just 18 years old and was involved in a minor car accident that required a prescription for painkillers.
However, the medication gave her stomach ulcers and caused her to vomit for months, eventually causing her teeth to become brittle and rot.
Natalie first found out she had stomach ulcers a few months after the crash, which happened in February 2017, and was immediately told to stop taking the medication she had been prescribed.
“They told us to stop taking it because it can have the side effect of stomach ulcers depending on the use and dosage,” she said.
However, that didn’t stop the vomiting.
Without her dentures (L), Natalie would have no upper teeth. Now that she has her permanent teeth (R), she can’t help but show off her huge smile and newfound confidence
‘I started to suppress it and shake it off. I didn’t realize the severity of the past few years until I saw my smile again,” Natalie said as she reflected on her dental journey.
“By June, the vomiting was so frequent that I kept travel-sized toothbrushes and toothpaste in my car and at work so I could brush after being sick,” she recalls.
Natalie then started vomiting blood.
“Then I realized I could no longer hide from the doctors, and we discovered that the severity of my ulcers was much worse than we thought,” she said.
‘They found a tear in my esophagus because I was getting so sick, and ulcers down my stomach, my digestion was a wreck.
‘To cure it I was given 18 medications a day to heal and repair my stomach.’
In October she realized something was wrong with her teeth too.
“My teeth became almost transparent – they were very thin and brittle,” Natalie said.
‘Then one day I was about to take a sip from my coffee mug, but it hit my upper lip, causing my front tooth to break and fall out of my mouth.
‘Then I realized that the state of my teeth was not only transparently thin, but they were losing all their enamel.
“I repressed a lot of my situation over the years, after spending the first year with dentures depressed and crying every day,” she recalls
Natalie openly shared her teeth journey online and gained 19,500 followers on TikTok. Thanks to her GoFundMe, she was able to raise $9,909 for a set of permanent teeth
‘I rushed to the dentist and discovered the effects of brushing my teeth after being sick.
“It turns out this isn’t the right thing to do, and I brushed heartburn and vomited into my teeth.
“I completely erased all the enamel from brushing after I was sick.”
At just 19 years old, the only option was for the teenager to have them taken out.
Due to the price of the procedure, Natalie could only remove a few teeth at a time.
At age 23, half of her teeth were missing, including the entire front row.
“I wanted to pretend like nothing was happening, and nothing happened, it was embarrassing for me and something I was ashamed of,” she said.
‘It made my self-confidence go out the window, so I tried to hide because I didn’t think anyone needed to know.
“It was like I had an empty mouth.”
Natalie and her now fiancé are all smiles as they cuddle with their fluffy cat
Natalie tried to get dentures in 2021, but due to her financial situation, she couldn’t afford good quality dentures.
“My dentures were so poorly made that they were unwearable,” she said.
‘I was stuck with no top teeth and eleven broken.
“I also had rotten lower teeth and nerve damage.”
In addition to dealing with the challenges of having no teeth, Natalie simultaneously learned to speak again by watching hundreds of videos about speech impediments.
Her biggest obstacle was her tongue and she practiced reading books out loud in her kitchen until she finally mastered it.
In January 2023, she looked into getting special dentures, considered permanent artificial teeth, and was told they would cost $10,000, so she set up a GoFundMe to finance her new chompers.
After getting dentures, Natalie began documenting her struggles in a candid series of videos on TikTok, where she eventually amassed nearly 20,000 followers — who then helped her raise $9,909 for a set of permanent teeth through a GoFundMe page.
In August the money was received and she had both an upper and a lower denture fitted.
Now Natalie is an advocate and content creator, sharing her journey online in hopes of helping others.
A recent TikTok post has been viewed more than 65,800 times and was captioned: “YALLLL, I was told to have the dentist open it tomorrow for sterilization purposes.”
The video showed her zooming in on the bag containing her old dentures.
The clip received thousands of likes and many comments from stunned users.
Natalie added: ‘If I could give any advice when it comes to dental health and especially saving your smile, please don’t hesitate and don’t be afraid to get multiple opinions’
A recent TikTok post was viewed over 65,800 times, received a lot of feedback and was captioned: ‘YALLLL, I was told to have the dentist open it tomorrow for sterilization purposes’
One person said: ‘Omg omg omg I’m so excited omg.’
“Oh I can’t wait to see it,” another added.
‘Ahhh tomorrow is the big day!’ a third person wrote, while someone else said: ‘I would have done it.’
“Sorry, my dog probably opened it,” one user joked.
Natalie added: ‘If I could give any advice when it comes to dental health and especially saving your smile, please don’t hesitate and don’t be afraid to get multiple opinions!
‘The dental industry can unfortunately be a money grab, and while they may give you everything you want to hear, not all dental specialists are in the industry for the right reasons.
“Also remember that no matter the circumstances, finding humor and positivity in every situation can make dealing with and coping with difficult times a lot easier.
“Life is too short to get angry about things we have no control over.”