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Believe in yourself again.
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Raegan’s life was marked by significant trauma, starting with the loss of all her teeth at 16, which led to severe self-esteem issues and an eating disorder. The shame and isolation from not having teeth made her withdraw from others, struggling to even talk or engage socially. After years of feeling unworthy and hopeless, she found a team willing to address her complex case with zygomatic implants, offering her not only a solution to her dental issues but also a renewed sense of worth and the ability to reclaim her life.
Raegan: I just wanted to say that this is a major life-changing moment for me in many ways. One thing that you all have made me realize is even though I don’t feel worth it, you make me feel like I’m worth something positive in life and rewarding after everything that I’ve been through, and I’m just extremely grateful for all that you all do.
Dr. Tamir Anver: Raegan’s story is a really difficult one to talk about. It’s unlike anything I’ve heard before, but the amount of trauma that she went through, a 21-year-old young woman who had the x-ray of a nine-year-old and one leg just, really needing a chance, really needing help, really needing hope.
Raegan: Well, it started with my mom, a lot of medical things and just wasn’t a good environment, had all my teeth extracted at a dental school when I was 16, ended up heavily in an eating disorder after that just due to low self-esteem that I think primarily, and so it was definitely like, I didn’t want to talk to anybody, very just in my shell just because I didn’t want to be looked at.
Dr. Anver: We met with her and reviewed her case, and really, she had only one option. She needed a total reconstruction using dental implants to give her upper and lower teeth again, which for her, at her age would absolutely just give her a chance of having a life again.
Raegan: I knew that there was this zygomatic implants, but hardly anybody did it. That’s one thing that about whenever I came here, it was like, “Okay, let’s have it done,” and that was, like, such a monumental point in my life. It was such a connection, and I opened up fully with things that even I haven’t really discussed with anybody, and so I felt very able to do that. It was a safe place to be able to do that, and I’m not going to be judged, I’m not going to, you know… and I immediately felt that with everyone here.
After the surgery, it was just like I felt this new sense of self, and honestly, also coming back into who I was before all of that happened. I couldn’t stop smiling or anything like that, but it made such a difference. I didn’t understand how much of an impact positively that it would give me, and not just from, like I say, the confidence aspect but also eating.
I don’t know how to [inaudible]
Female: Do it.
Female 2: Apply mouth to apple. Yay!
Raegan: I didn’t think that that could happen.
Female: Look at that.
Female 2: Look at that. Let me see.
Raegan: In everyday life, I feel like you don’t think about with teeth because it’s just like they’re there. It makes such a difference being able to feel normal in that. I think that’s also why it made such a difference in not changing who I am as a person, but changing how I presented myself, how I talked, how I acted, how I did so many different things.
Man: What does your smile mean to you?
Raegan: It means so much more now, and I feel like I can’t even put it in into words, and it’s a feeling. I feel like I can be my silly self, but I don’t know how to explain it. It really is just like such a deep, meaningful feeling that I have.
I felt this new sense of self... It made such a difference. I didn't understand how much of an impact it would give me, not just from confidence, but also eating and feeling normal again.
I understand the information disclosed in this form may be subject to re-disclosure and may no longer be protected by HIPAA privacy regulations and the HITECH Act.