I’ve been wearing dentures since losing my teeth at 19 – I had to learn to speak and eat all over again
- Natalie Lacasse, from Vancouver, vomited on daily as a medication side effect
- Her teeth decayed eroded away due to stomach acid so she had to get dentures
- READ MORE: Woman reveals how she was forced to get DENTURES at 20
A woman has revealed how she lost her teeth at 19-years-old after bumping them while drinking a cup of coffee.
Natalie Lacasse, from Vancouver, Canada, survived a horrific car accident when she was 18. The pain medication she was prescribed had a rather unpleasant side effect, causing her to vomit for months on end, which weakened her teeth enormously.
Now 24-years-old, Natalie was devastated when she lost all her teeth in April 2019, and has since had to spend $5,000 on dentures.
In a YouTube video published on SHERA, a digital platform dedicated to empowering women, Natalie, from Vancouver, talked about the experience.
The next morning [after the accident], I’d woken up and I could barely walk,’ she said.
Natalie Lacasse, from Vancouver, had a side effect to pain medication, which caused her to vomit for months on end, weakening her teeth. Pictured: Natalie without her dentures
‘It felt like I was shredded apart. I went to the ER and they told me I had a tear in my lower back muscles.
‘The ER doctor gave me two weeks of Naproxen and told me it was a muscle relaxant.’
After taking the Naproxen, she began vomiting continuously, having previously not known the effect the medication had on her stomach lining.
The medication caused gastrointestinal problems and stomach ulcers leading Natalie to throw up several times a day, even keeping a cup in her car just in case she was caught short.
She said: ‘I was using travel size toothbrushes to keep brushing my teeth, not knowing I was brushing the stomach acid into my teeth.
‘I noticed my teeth were growing transparent. The sun was on my face and it was going right through my teeth.’
In April 2019, Natalie was drinking a cup of coffee when she banged the mug into her front teeth, causing them to break off.
She visited a dentist who told her that her lower teeth were completely eroded and broken.
The now-24-year-old was devastated when she lost all her teeth in April 2019, and has since had to spend £4,022 ($5,000) on dentures. Pictured: Natalie taking her dentures out
The medication caused gastrointestinal problems and stomach ulcers leading Natalie to throw up several times a day. Pictured: Natalie with her dentures in
It was then she began the process of getting dentures.
The dentures cost her ability to speak and at the age of 19, she had to learn all over again.
She said: ‘I didn’t think I’d have difficulty speaking.
‘I didn’t think I’d have to relearn how to eat.
‘I left the dentist and went to talk to my mother on the phone and I couldn’t.
‘The first week I really didn’t know what I was doing, it was a lot of crying and hurting.’
Although her journey was difficult, Natalie watched hundreds of videos on speech impediments, using those methods to help improve her speech.
She said: ‘I noticed my teeth were growing transparent. The sun was on my face and it was going right through my teeth.’ Pictured: Natalie with her natural teeth
The medication caused gastrointestinal problems and stomach ulcers leading Natalie to throw up several times a day. Pictured: Natalie in hospital after she was diagnosed with peptic stomach ulcers
Natalie watched hundreds of videos on speech impediments, using those methods to help improve her speech. Pictured: Natalie without her dentures
She said: ‘Through watching speech impediment videos, I start to use my tongue – the tongue is the issue.
‘It’s obviously embarrassing having my teeth fall out while I’m trying to talk, so I started to read books out loud in the kitchen.
‘I would watch YouTube videos and try and talk with them to see if I was sounding right.
‘Once I got the hang of it, it was easy – I almost forgot I had the dentures in.’
Despite the initial cost to fix her smile, Natalie is hoping to undergo reconstructive jaw surgery, estimated to cost $16,500, however has yet to save the money for this.
Although it has changed the shape of her face, along with her everyday life, Natalie has not let her new look get her down, and she has even shared her journey on social media.
Natalie is hoping to undergo reconstructive jaw surgery, estimated to cost $16,500 (£13,260), however has yet to save the money for this. Pictured: Natalie in hospital
Although it has changed the shape of her face, along with her everyday life, Natalie has not let her new look get her down. Pictured: Natalie wearing her dentures
In April 2019, Natalie was drinking a cup of coffee when she banged the mug into her front teeth, causing them to break off. Pictured: Natalie without her dentures
Taking to Tiktok, in a post that gained more than 50,000 likes from her followers, Natalie hilariously answered the question ‘Why don’t you eat in public?’.
Starting the clip by smiling at the camera, she then popped out her dentures to highlight one such problem.
Some viewers were stunned at the performance and shared their shock.
One person said: ‘You make my day.’
She said: ‘I was using travel size toothbrushes to keep brushing my teeth, not knowing I was brushing the stomach acid into my teeth.’ Pictured: Natalie with her natural teeth
She said: ‘Once I got the hang of it, it was easy – I almost forgot I had the dentures in.’ Pictured: Natalie without dentures
Another added: ‘This is so far from what I was expecting. I love this!’
‘I wasn’t expecting that, I love people that make fun of themselves,’ a third said
While a fourth commented: ‘Did. Not. Expect. That.’
Natalie added: ‘I’m really trying to not just entertain myself during this very difficult time, but bring humor and light to chronic pain and dentures being young while sharing my journey and story.’
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