Shaylah Roberts noticed a single tooth deteriorating while she was pregnant in 2020. She did not think much of it.
A year later, the rest were following. Now, at 24, every tooth in her mouth needs to be extracted and she cannot afford the procedure.
“All of them are beyond saving,” the Missouri-based mum told CreatorZine.
“I hate looking at myself. I hate when other people look at me when I talk or when I eat. I’ve become a shell.”
How it started
Roberts believes the damage was caused by a combination of pregnancy, diabetes, mental health medication and low iron.
The deterioration began with one tooth during her pregnancy with her daughter and accelerated rapidly after the birth as she struggled with postpartum depression.
“I didn’t take it seriously at the time because it was just one tooth,” she said.
“About a year later I noticed it was starting to happen pretty fast to some of my other teeth.”
Her oral health declined alongside her mental health. Without insurance, she has been quoted £8,000 for extractions alone.
Dental implants, the only long-term solution, could cost up to £40,000. Neither figure is within reach.
‘I don’t feel myself’
Roberts says the impact goes far beyond pain, though the pain is constant and at times excruciating.
She has withdrawn from social life, stopped smiling and feels unable to be the mother she wants to be.
“Teeth are the first thing people notice about you, so I have become very antisocial,” she said.
“I don’t feel myself. I’m not happy with the way I look or feel. It has made me into a person I don’t recognise anymore.”
She added: “Life gets so hard because I feel like I’m a terrible mother. I don’t smile and talk and I just want to be back to myself. I have so much life to live and this is holding me back in so many ways.”
‘How many people have taken their lives because of teeth pain?’
Roberts started sharing her story on TikTok and has been flooded with messages from other women experiencing the same thing.
Pregnancy-related dental deterioration is more common than most people realise, driven by hormonal changes, nausea eroding enamel and calcium being redirected to the developing baby.
The response has been overwhelming and, for Roberts, heartbreaking. “It’s so sad and it breaks my heart because my teeth are terrible and I can’t imagine what the other women are going through,” she said.
“Sometimes I sit and wonder how many people out there have taken their lives because of teeth pain and the mental and physical toll that it takes on your whole body and life.”
She is calling for dental care to be treated as a healthcare priority rather than a cosmetic afterthought.
“Your teeth are tied to your brain and your heart and can actually kill you,” she said. “I hope that one day dental is seen as a priority and added to health care.”
Why it matters
Roberts’s story highlights a gap in healthcare that affects millions of people, particularly women, particularly those without insurance.
Dental care in the US is treated as separate from medical care, which means conditions triggered by pregnancy, medication or chronic illness can spiral without any safety net.
The women filling Roberts’s inbox are not edge cases. They are the predictable result of a system that treats teeth as optional.
Roberts’s TikTok following is growing because she is saying publicly what a large number of women have been dealing with in silence.
The cost of fixing her mouth is £40,000. The cost of ignoring the problem is measured in something worse than money.
