When I see somebody with bad teeth suffering with what I suffered with, when they keep their head down or they don't make eye contact or they don't smile, I understand that that was me. It's just your teeth. It's it's it's not though. It was a constant worry about everything that I ate. I had horrible heartburn, feel bloated. Everything is so different about me now. Michelle got full mouth dental implants over five years ago and she's here to share the top three ways it's changed her life since and whether it's still worth it today. You ready to dive in, Michelle? Yes. Alright. Well, after getting dental implants, there's a lot of things that can change in everyday life and a big one is eating. So, Michelle, I wanna talk about that first. How has eating changed since you got your new smile? Oh, everything. It's kinda funny because I had this moment the other night, five years later, and I still have these epiphany moments. We went to this place called Krusty Krab, and basically, you're like a savage. You go in there, they put this big thing in front of you and it's all different kinds of seafood. They give you rubber gloves, they give you a bib, and you just get to dig in. And shrimp, crab, lobster, I I couldn't have eaten lobster before. I love it, but I couldn't eat it because the texture is kinda like chewy and I would just bounce off my gums. It just was really uncomfortable. And I was so I wish I had photos. I didn't take photos because I did look like a beast. But the eating, really the sky's the limit with these love apples. I used to have to cut them into little tiny pieces and place them just right. Now I bite into caramel apples, I love caramel apples, carrots, carrot sticks, celery. I couldn't eat celery. I couldn't eat carrots unless they were like, the carrots were cooked. What else do I eat? Steak. And and I could kinda mostly move it around in my mouth enough to where if I if it was small enough, but I was afraid of choking. And not only that, but but it was wreaking havoc on my stomach because it takes a lot of work to digest it. So there is nothing that I cannot eat now. I can eat anything. There's been nothing that I have come across. I'm like, oh, I can't eat that. I love blow pops. K? That's like my weakness, blow pops. I'm a sucker for suckers, and I can suck them suck them and then bite them. I eat so many blow pops. I bite the sucker and then chew the gum. I think I'm making up for lost time, honestly, because there was so long that I couldn't do that. And I love suckers. My eating has completely changed. Wow. I was gonna ask you, you know, do they feel strong? But it sounds like you're chomping on some pretty hard things. So, like, what would you say to that? Way stronger than what I had naturally. Naturally, I I can't remember a time in my life that I could have eaten like that. I mean, maybe when I was a child, before I started having the dental issues, I may have not had that concern. But my adolescent and adult life up until I got my implants, I mean, I worried about everything. I was in a constant state of worry about everything. Biting into hamburgers, you know, I'm sure you've heard that story where I, a hamburger, it's not that hard. A bun and a hamburger is not that hard and I bit into it and the whole crown came off. Like, at the at the gum line just came up and I don't like chewing on weird things in my meat. And I thought it was something in my food and I couldn't believe it when I pulled it out and it was my tooth. It was a constant worry about everything that I ate because my teeth were so broken down. Even the ones that weren't looking like they were, they were like in my photos, I've got, like where I'm smiling, these top ones, they looked okay. But behind them, they were the crowns were breaking away behind. And so literally every tooth in my mouth was on a timeline. Some had already gone, and the rest were on their way. Oh my goodness. Well, so whenever you did get your new smile, now that it's been five years later, do they still feel like the same amount of like reliable as they were when you first got them? More reliable because they've they've withstood the test of time. In the beginning, was very like, are they gonna work? Are they gonna last? Can I trust them? And little by little, bite by bite, you start to, like, biting into a caramel apple. That scared me the first time I did it. And then after that, I was like, woah. And then the next time, it wasn't as scary. And same with steak and seafood, and I would give it a test and it would pass. And they feel so like, I don't even realize that they're other than the fact that I look in the mirror and still remember that they are implants, they are completely mine. Me. My body has accepted them. Absolutely. And I know you mentioned before that you maybe it was kinda messing with your digestion because you couldn't chew your food all the way down. Do you think, you know, you're being able to chew what you want now, has that changed how you feel overall? Yeah, absolutely. And not fearing about choking. That was a real real thing. I couldn't eat oranges, you know, when you peel an orange and eat it, because if you go to swallow a piece and you think it's chewed up and it's not, I've I've had a couple scary moments like that. And so yeah, the whole chewing it, digesting it, you don't feel as bloated, you don't feel, I don't know, it seems like it doesn't take as long to digest. The acid that I would build up, I had horrible heartburn, feel bloated, I don't get that anymore because I can properly chew my food. It's not just I'm eating for survival. I need to get this down there to eat. Now it's like I can actually enjoy it. Absolutely. Enjoy the food process. Definitely. Definitely. Well, eating is obviously a huge thing, but I know this went way beyond just food for you. So can we talk about the way it's changed how you've showed up in your life compared to before? How do you put that into words? I really don't know how to put that into words. Was thinking about this yesterday as I was kinda reading over things. I was like, wow. You know I'm in school. I'm going into school into a job where I am gonna be talking to people just like this. My ultimate goal, because I'm in a little corner of Arizona and I'm kinda, like, out here in the middle of nowhere squished between Utah and Nevada, my biggest thing that's gonna help me in my career is to be online. I'm going to pretty much be online and work my way out through the computer. So I will be this is how I will mostly be working with people is face to face like this. And up until this podcast videos, I didn't put myself on social media. Like, I can sit here and talk to you and I can think, well, is my hair okay or is my face okay and all that, but the one thing I am not worried about being okay is my teeth. I know. I don't even have to look. I know that they look gorgeous and and people notice that and they do. And the way I show up with that is noticeable. I'm doing things I never dreamed I would do, like I'm skydiving. I started skydiving. I really do account that to my teeth because I hid myself so much that it was not even something that I would ever have dreamed of doing. Because first of all, I'd have to go in and be in front of people. Anywhere you go, you're in front of people. And when I see somebody with with bad teeth or, you know, suffering with what I suffered with, I feel for them but I also understand it. So when they keep their head down or they don't make eye contact or they don't smile, I I understand that and that was me. I am like bubbly and my personality is sometimes loud and I wanna get out there, I'm a heart centered person, I wanna get out there and make a difference. And I absolutely one hundred percent could not do it with my teeth the way they were. Even if no one else noticed, I knew it. And it changed everything about me. How long do you think it took, you know, for you to start seeing these changes in yourself? Like, after you got your new smile? Little by little. Little by little, like, when I first got my when they first placed these, I remember dragging home, and I think I got on Snapchat or something, and I was playing around with my smile with filters. Because, you know, filters make your skin look all pretty and stuff, and then I was like, oh, my teeth look really good, and then I slipped away from the filters, and I'm like, just smiling, just me. And like, you don't need filters when you, I mean, They're still fun sometimes, like the broccoli head and stuff, it's all fun and good. But little, seriously, little by little, even over five years out, I am still learning stuff about me that were so far deep inside me, hidden away like a like the inner child me that is now it's like, it's safe to come out. It's safe to come out, it's safe to be funny, it's safe to be silly, it's safe to be goofy at any angle and I am. I'm like a Jim Carrey at work. I freaking love to make people laugh. And that part of me was so far hidden. It it took a couple years for her to come out. Now there's no stopping it. Yeah. There you go. There you go. I think it is so incredible because now that I know you as you now, I can't even, like, picture you being any less you. You know what I mean? Like, I it breaks my heart to think that there was a time where you didn't feel like you could be yourself. I mean, everyone deserves to feel like they can be themselves. That's what life's about. What's really strange to me is when I have a Facebook memory before my surgery, and everything is so different about me now. And for example, I went skydiving for my fortieth birthday, and I I I posted this before where I'm like, after my skydive, I'm sitting there and I'm like and then when I went my tandem jump and just recently in in November, my smile afterwards, I'm like, like like it it's so strange to me how guarded I was. And even my kids, they don't they don't remember me before. They're like, this is just you. This is who you are. But when I see those memories pop up, it is so strange to me. It's like, I'm a totally different person. I'm the same person, but I'm not afraid to be me. Right. I'm not hiding. And the one thing I'm not worried about is my teeth. I'm worried about my parachute. I'm worried about like, lemon on my feet. But it's it's like, it's not at all on my mind anymore. Oh, my gosh. So little by little, it happened, and then it just, like, it's me. It's who I am, though. That is so incredible. And you are so brave for taking the leap to get this done and the leap off the plane that many times. Like, that's not many people can can do that, Michelle. So that says a lot about you. And if people are wondering if they're a candidate for this, how would they find out? That's easy. There's a sixty second quiz. Very simple. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It'll lead you to the next step. Awesome. Alright. I am curious, you you said you don't really think about your teeth anymore, like they're a part of you, and I know, you know, that wasn't always the case for you, so I do want to talk about how often were you going to the dentist before and spending maybe time and money, and how has that changed to this day? What does it look like now? In the beginning when my teeth started breaking, I was going as often as I could afford, but then it got to where I was really getting shamed, even from the dentist. I went in to get help and he asked me if I brushed my teeth with a candy bar. Oh my god. I I That that is when my dentist appointments went from really trying to fix it to not wanting to go at all. Not wanting to go at all. It it devastated me and I can still feel the pain of, like, and the embarrassment. Like, who talks like that? Your your bedside manner sucks, sir. Yeah. You don't say that. You think I'm proud of this? It's like, come on. And so that, it they I was going regularly trying to fix it. My grandpa had pulled a bunch of them because he was working on getting me dentures, so I didn't have any of the back ones. So I had these front ones right here, and then these ones and then they were gonna eventually pull them all and put dentures in and then after he asked me that, then my grandpa bite and then I didn't ever get the dentures and so I then my ex husband, his sister was going to dental school and she wasn't as scary. But at that point, my teeth were so beyond fixable. They were so beyond fixable. She was root canalling, crowning, root canalling, crown. Every six months, I would drive up to Salt Lake, she would do root canal, crown, root canal, and those weren't sticking. That's when the crown fell off and she had crowned these front teeth, which why they looked okay, but underneath the crowns, they were deteriorating. Like, I would not have bitten to an apple with one for sure because they that they would have just fallen right off. And so I went from regularly to to very limited to trying to get regular. It was a big gap between that last time and then starting to see my sister-in-law. And at that point, I I don't know what my options would have been other than just get dentures fully. Everything I was fixing was breaking, literally. It's just that one, I think, lasted a year. I don't even think it maybe I wanna say a year or two. And I thought crowns were like a permanent fix. I had no idea that they were not permanent, or I wouldn't have invested so much money and time and pain. Right. Well, tell us a little bit more about then what you got at Nuvia compared to that. What did I get at Nuvia? Yeah. Tell me about the twenty four hour process. I think a lot people are curious about how that works. I don't even know what to say about that. That was like technology that I had not even heard of. Carrie, he went and got his done and he told me about Nuvia and he's the first one that I fully disclosed because I was really good at hiding it. I I talk like this a lot. I didn't smile. I was very reserved. I I mean, I got really good at it. My pronunciation, a hundred percent better now. People can understand me. So he then got it done and I witnessed secondhand his experience to it. I was there when he went. I was there when he came home, I was there during his healing, he got his top arches done and he looked phenomenal. Phenomenal, a huge change from his teeth he had before. And I was like, jealous. Like, why can't I have something like that? And he's like, well, why can't you? And I was like, that doesn't happen for people like me. My teeth, my mouth, it's I've been to so many dentists, there's nothing we can do. It is what it is. And he made me call and schedule a consultation, which was terrifying because of my fear of dentists. Went in and the fir okay, I'm just gonna say this because it's huge. The first thing I noticed was the smell. It does not smell like a dentist's office. Dentist's office, the smell instantly brings up trauma and very triggering to me, and just, they did not, it did not smell like a dentist's office, which is huge. And then they all welcomed me, they took me in, they they did an x-ray, they fully told me everything about what was going on in my mouth, more so than I had ever heard. It's hard to remember back that long ago, but I think I was in the process of having bone loss or could be, but not to the point where I couldn't get this. It was just something that if I needed to be aware of, that if I didn't do this when I did it, there may not be another time that I could. I knew that that was an issue. Never even heard of bone loss or or all that that goes with it and tell them. They were I would say they spoke Michelle. They they spoke like a dentist to me in dentist language, but they spoke it in a way that I understood, so they were completely clear. They said this is what we're gonna do. You are eligible. You you are a candidate. First of all, which I can remember sitting in that room and hearing what they're saying, but not fully believing that this could happen for me. And then it went from that to getting financed, putting a down payment down, and then going in for my surgery. And I went in, went to sleep, and then when I woke up, I went home. I remember I slept sitting up and a lot of lot of liquids, pain manageable, you know, at surgery, but it it was, you know, it was manageable. They took care of you. They explained what to do. Fully transparent. And then went back, and here they are. Yeah. Oh my goodness. So now that it's been five years with your your dental implants, are you going a lot, or or is it something that's not much maintenance? No, there isn't much maintenance. You got your first year's worth of appointment. You know, you got your two week and four month, I think, and then that's when you're able, if the doctor looks good, you can start moving on your food. And then you go every year, no toothaches, no phantom pains, no easy. And you still have to brush them, they're like real teeth. Have you ever noticed that when you feel like there's kinda like sweaters on your teeth? What I heard is this like germ poop, like germs like eating stuff off your teeth. It was always freaking out. That's what I tell my kids, they always brush their teeth. But you still have to brush them. You still have to water pick them. Occasionally, you'll get something small stuck under the gaps are small, but raspberry seeds or strawberry seeds are tiny. Water picking them, brushing them every day. It feels really good to brush teeth. It was so hard before. It was really very difficult. So, yeah, they're they're easy. They're really, really easy. Have you had any, like, hitting costs down the line too, where you're like, oh, I didn't know I was gonna have to pay for this or that, or like, what has happened like? No. No. Nothing. I they gave me the bill when I signed up, when I when I went through the whole process of getting these, they gave me the bill. I have not seen another bill from Nuvia. Wow. At all. And they do payment plans, right? They do, yep. Yes. And reasonable, reasonable payment plans. And where can people go to find out kind of a range of what that looks like? Well, there's a cost guide. I'm sure you could post it down below. But ultimately, get in for a consultation. I'm telling you. I would love love to talk to people that were apprehensive in the beginning and like one, two, three years out and because we're all scared. Like that's my whole motto for this year is being afraid and doing it anyways because fear has held me back. Fear almost held me back from doing this. I can't imagine. Like, it makes me so sad to think about that. Like, had I not called on like, I let fear win. And you did that. You did that and here you are five years later. I feel like I already know the answer but Michelle, do you feel like getting this done was was worth it? Oh gosh. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. There's so many people I know I I want them to go and do it. Like I know it changes how you look on the outside but what it does for you as a human on this journey, it's like you there everybody's so different and everybody's so unique. You think you know what you wanna do, like, in life, and then all of a sudden, you feel like this totally different person and it changes what you do. Like, I thought I'd be working for someone else forever. Now I'm a life coach, getting ready to start my own life coaching business here. My husband built me a little office outside so I can have my little because I can I can go worldwide with my life coaching? All these things that I thought about doing when I was little, I never I didn't think about them at all when my case started to fail. I just thought I could just hide myself away and work hard and get ahead, and I would just, you know, be living, but I wouldn't really be alive. Right. Exactly. Now I feel like I'm living and alive, like, here. I think that's beautiful. I love I love the way you phrase that too. I think it's so powerful to hear that how much has changed in your life when you're no longer hiding anymore. I think that I really hope this video speaks to a lot of people out there that might be afraid or might feel like this is something they can't do. Michelle is a testament that this can change so many things in your life that you didn't even expect, and I think that every time you get on the podcast, it's just like I know it's not easy, but you you're here and you show up, and I think it's gonna help a lot of people. So thank you. You know, it's and it's people I've heard say, it's it's just your teeth. It's it's just it it's not, though. It really is a big deal. Like, you really don't realize how big of a deal it is, how much it affects how you are as a human, how you can be with other people, how you talk to yourself when you look in the mirror. It it's it's so huge. It has really changed everything. Incredible. Well, if you're watching and you wanna learn more about this process that Michelle went through, the twenty four hour permanent teeth process, or how the financing works, make sure to download that dental implant cost guide that Michelle did mention. It's in the description below. And until next time. Keep smiling.
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