Life can be a bit tough for individuals that have an imperfect smile or crooked teeth.
Your smile is such an important part of your personality, and if you are self conscious about it, it can lead you to become less social or outgoing like this woman with a mangled smile was.
But young Ryan Coutinho from Guajeru, Brazil had a particularly difficult problem with his teeth — because he had next to none.
Because of severe early cavities, he had to have almost all of his teeth pulled, leaving him with a gummy grin and only a few teeth left on his bottom arch.
But an incredibly kind dentist noticed his mouth and offered to give him a procedure for a new smile — despite being initially turned down by his parents.
Now Ryan has an amazing new set of teeth, and a new confidence to go along with them!
Check below to learn about this dentist's completely kind gesture.
[H/T: BBC]
Poor Ryan Coutinho had to get almost all of his teeth pulled because of early cavities.
He was left with only a few on his lower arch, which made him self conscious about smiling or engaging much with kids at school.
But his mouth caught the eye of dentist Amanda Mattos when she visited his school in north-eastern Brazil.
She reached out to Ryan's mother via his school teacher, offering to fix his toothless grin.
But she refused saying that she didn't want him to go through another traumatic dental ordeal.
"They are all very modest, live outside the town and didn't understand the procedures," Mattos explained to BBC. "They were still shaken by the process that removed all his teeth."
But, as luck with have it, she ended up encountering the family again two years later.
Ryan's mother got a job at the public clinic where the dentist also worked, and she brought Ryan in because of a pain in one of his remaining teeth.
"I asked him what he wanted. He smiled and said: 'a smile like my friends'," Mattos explained.
And after a lengthy conversation with his father, Ryan's mother reluctantly let him get the procedure that would give him a toothy grin.
Mattos definitely went above and beyond for the boy — she even brought equipment from her private practice to their appointments when the town's public health service wouldn't pay for the procedure!
It took plenty of time, appointments, and making impressions in order to make the new smile possible.
And though Ryan left the dentist chair disappointment and without new teeth many times, he eventually was gifted with a set of dentures for his upper arch!
"We all cried. It was very moving," Mattos said.
Now Ryan has a new set of teeth that he can enjoy until he's old enough for other dental procedures.
The story of Mattos' kindness has spread throughout Brazil, giving her a lot of praise and exposure.
Because of her extremely kind gesture, Ryan now has something that is worth more than any dental equipment — a happy confident smile!
If you want to Mattos' amazing gesture to be spread around even futher, make sure to SHARE with friends and family on Facebook.
