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Mother who lost teeth during pregnancy posts video of toothless smile to help break stigma

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Photo courtesy of @princxssglitterhead/TikTok

A mother on TikTok is showcasing what it really means to be beautiful on the inside and out.

Alicia, who goes by @princsglitterhead on the app, suffered tooth decay and loss during pregnancy, and is trying to help reduce the stigma of people wearing snap-in dentures.

In a video published at the end of March, Alicia encouraged TikTok fans to embrace “how hot we look, how beautiful we look, with or without [dentures in].”

Alicia talking about her denturesPhoto courtesy of @princxssglitterhead/TikTok

Alicia without her denturesPhoto courtesy of @princxssglitterhead/TikTok

The video got over 15.1 million views, with many people supportive of her being so candid in a world that can be so critical of others.

“Wow you look so beautiful even without it,” wrote a commenter.

“Yes plz normalize young ppl with dentures!! As a dental assistant, I hate seeing how much it affects my patients' self-esteem You’re so beautiful,” wrote another.

Alicia made several other videos reacting to comments, showing how she eats with dentures, and her journey to getting the dentures.

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She even responded to those who don’t like seeing her take her dentures out, saying things such as “unnecessary, sick” on her feed.

Alicia first started to lose her teeth over a decade ago, following the birth of her eldest daughter, Katie.

In a video on her YouTube channel, Glitterhead Dental Diaries, she stated that she didn’t have a cavity until she was over 18-years-old and that while pregnant, she felt a little toothache here and there. Still, the real issues didn't start until after she had her child.

One day she bit into a McDonald’s hamburger, and her I-tooth fell out at the gum line.

“I just married my husband, we just had our first baby...this man married me with perfect teeth… and then the next year his wife is missing front teeth,” she said.

She also states that she had a bit of a traumatic experience at the doctor, having to keep fluoride in her mouth only for her to accidentally swallow it and threw it up everywhere.

But then, when she became pregnant with her second daughter, Bea, which she said “did a number on her,” she discussed how she and her husband worked a lot, and she didn't have time to take off to go to the dentist.

“I wasn’t as healthy as I should have been. So the baby had to strip things out of my body...mostly calcium from my teeth,” she said.

After paying $16,900, Alicia finally got her new smile.

Another video published yesterday, captioned, “You deserve happiness & the ability to #smile NO MATTER THE REASON YOU NEED,” she reiterated to onlookers to take a second and think if this situation were to affect their mothers, sisters, or anyone else dear to them, and how unfortunate it would be for them to lose their smile out of a lack of confidence.

Ultimately we all deserve to feel our absolute best in this world, and Alicia is definitely making that a reality for many, which is so heartwarming.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that nearly 60-70 per cent of women end up getting gingivitis as their hormones fluctuate during pregnancy.

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