14 DAY TRIAL // A BBC special dubbed The Truth About Your Teeth and set to air this June 4 focuses on oral hygiene in the UK. Apart from documenting just how healthy the country's teeth are in this day and age, the documentary tells the tale of a woman who spent 10 long years supergluing her falling chompers back in place.
In time, the superglue damaged her teeth, her gums and even the bones in her upper jaw to such an extent that, when she did finally work up the courage to go see a dentist, it cost her $25,000 (about €22,400) to get back her smile.
She kept supergluing her teeth because she was terrified of the dentist
The woman, identified as Angie Barlow of Greater Manchester, England, says that, when she was but a child, her mother was diagnosed with throat cancer when she went to have a tooth pull out. Eventually, she died at the age of just 34.
Following her mother's death, Angie developed a terrible fear of going to the dentist. When her own teeth began to fall because of her smoking habit, the woman got into the habit of supergluing them back in place. She kept doing this for 10 years before she finally worked out the courage to seek help.
“When the tooth comes out, I just put a little bit of glue and try and hold it in place to keep it, so I don’t have a gap in my teeth. I use glue on the top of the tooth, and then I put it back in place until the glue is set,” Angie Barlow explains.
Medical experts had to operate on the woman to give her back her smile
Angie Barlow only agreed to go see a dentist when her teeth and her gums started looking so bad that she was embarrassed even about having a casual conversation with her son, Oddity Central reports.
She was examined by Dr. Serpil Djemal of King’s College Hospital, who told her that, although a painless and seemingly easy-peasy intervention, her habit of supergluing back her falling teeth had actually damaged not just her chompers and her gums but also her upper jaw bones.
To fix the damage, Dr. Serpil Djemal had to operate on the woman, remove 11 of her top teeth and use screws to lock 12 brand new ones in place. As mentioned, the procedure cost Angie Barlow $25,000 (roughly €22,400). Then again, the woman says that it was all worth it.
“It’s wonderful isn’t it, I feel amazing, and there’s no hands over my mouth or embarrassment. People have said they notice a difference in me. My friends, they’re like 'Oh my God, you’re more outgoing!'” she confesses.