‘Jamal’ knows first-hand the trauma of dealing with losing teeth

DUBAI // “Jamal”, 69, knows first-hand the trauma of dealing with losing teeth.

The Lebanese expatriate and cancer survivor lost her teeth in 2008 because of the side effects of cancer medicine. “I was affected so much due to the tooth loss. I was very nervous and stressed all the time,” she said.

“Imagine, you are with friends and family and you constantly have to hold your hand over your mouth, fearing that a tooth will fall out. I was in a restaurant and this happened while I was eating. A tooth fell out.”

She started avoiding restaurants and similar places. She even smiled and laughed less.

“It got to the point where I was trying not to smile or laugh at all, and even limited how much I spoke. When you are constantly afraid of teeth falling out, you start to change your social habits. It was not so much the appearance. This was about day-to-day life and the normal things I no longer could do without worrying.”

She has avoided many kinds of foods – nuts, steak, and anything crunchy or requiring a lot of chewing. “You become afraid of doing many things you used to do without even thinking about it,” she said.

Since having implants she says her life changed dramatically. “I enjoy life now and I am happy again. I am smiling. I can laugh and joke and eat whatever I want. I feel happy. I am a new person. If you look at pictures from me during this time versus now, with my new teeth, it is totally different.

“Before I would almost never smile in the pictures. Now I smile normally again.”