Can you imagine having all of your teeth pulled out?
That’s exactly what happened to Brittany Negler, 29, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After thinking she had killed her brother sick with cancer, she turned to drugs and got so addicted that her teeth started to rot.
Brittany went to a dentist to have them fixed, but she was told that her teeth weren’t ‘fixable’ and she had to ‘get them all pulled.’
She was also given dentures, but they were so large that she couldn’t even close her mouth and eat, causing her to lose a lot of weight.
She started drinking bottles of Ensure to try and gain back some of the weight she was quickly losing, but it didn’t work. Desperate for help, she reached out to cosmetic dentist Dr. Kenny Wilstead, who gladly gave her a $30,000 smile makeover!
When they got in touch, Brittany just weighed 79 pounds and was on the verge of getting a feeding tube.
The mom told Dr. Wilstead about her traumatic story while at his office in Garland, Texas. She explained that it all started when her older brother died of cancer when he was 18.
In a video shared by the dentist on Instagram, Brittany said:
“For the longest time, I thought I killed my brother. He had Ewing sarcoma. One day I woke up; I had a feeling not to go to school. So I went and laid in bed with him, and 15 minutes after I laid in bed with him, I heard him gasp, and he died right there,” she recalled.
“I didn’t know better, so I thought I killed him. Like, I thought I laid on his breathing tube or something.”
Brittany was a teenager at the time, and her family separated shortly after the tragic loss. She thought that was her fault, too, because she had accidentally killed her brother.
“I went to a dark place, I’m not going to lie,” she explained. “I started hanging out with the bad kids, started doing drugs to numb the feeling. I got really depressed. I was like, I need to take care of myself.”
When Brittany went to rehab, she admitted to her family that she blamed herself for her brother’s death. They assured her that wasn’t what happened and told her “it was just his time to go” and that he wanted her to be there when he took his last breath.
However, Brittany’s drug use left her with missing and rotting teeth. She wanted to feel better about her appearance, so she visited a dentist in Philadelphia, but she was told that her teeth were beyond saving.
Horrified, Dr. Wilstead said: “They literally pulled all your teeth and did dentures because of some minor [issues].”
Brittany went to get her records before going to Dr. Wilstead’s office and said it looked like the staff just made it up before she came in.
The file said her teeth were fixable by a root canal, but they never told her that when she consulted with them. All they said was that her teeth weren’t repairable and that they had to be pulled out.
Dr. Wilstead said there was nothing in her dental records saying that was necessary. Brittany was also given ill-fitting dentures, but it gave her so much pain when she chewed.
Brittany wore a sweatshirt over three T-shirts and had two pairs of pants on to try and hide how thin she was.
“I’m so excited to be here because I just want to eat again. I wear baggy clothes,” she said.
Online trolls would also inundate her with cruel messages about her missing teeth and how skinny she was, calling her a “crackhead.”
The bullying hurt her confidence that she wouldn’t leave the house anymore because her face was sinking in.
Brittany admitted she was “ready to call it quits” before she reached out to Dr. Wilstead. Over a series of appointments, the doctor fitted her with a pair of removable dentures.
The result was stunning—Brittany wore a new smile, and she looked gorgeous!
In the video, an emotional Brittany looked into the mirror and burst into tears as she saw her new smile for the first time. She jumped out of her chair to give Dr. Wilstead a big hug, clearly grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime gift.
Dr. Wilstead and his wife later took her to their favorite restaurant to check if Brittany’s dentures felt good while she ate.
Brittany shared her whole dental makeover story on TikTok, and she discovered that so many people were struggling with the same problem she had.
Brittany believes that “smiles really do change the world,” and to pay it forward, she is raising money and planning to start a non-profit to help people smile again!
Here is the video of Brittany Negler’s inspiring dental makeover.
I am very depressed my teeth are all rotting out and nobody will help me I glue in fake teeth and lost my son and my father in a very dark place
Brittney,wow just wow your story touched me to the heart core I’m here crying like a baby,you are beautyful inside and out, never forget that,much love and Respect. I’m in your shoes but never did street drugs just got hooked on pain pills and that all I know.is popping pills. All from what the dr, gave me for a lil pain.im still addict until this day.
Thats very wonderful 😊 I pray everyday that I could have beautiful smile again if I could just set up a payment plan so how I’m not rich so someone plz help I’m 35 and I’ve have poor health cuz my teeth they hurt I don’t have that many left but god plz help me
How do I find her? I was interested in her nonprofit as I’ve been thinking of grant writing for dental non profits/ and or joining a similar cause. Many in my family have weak teeth, so we know how much dental care is needed in the bulk of America.