Lake County woman flashes new smile following full dental makeover

LAKE COUNTY – North Chicago resident Brooke Allen has plenty to smile about lately.

She was featured in episode three of Lifetime’s “Smile" on June 11. The show is a makeover series documenting the emotional, psychological and physical journey of transformative dental procedures. It features people with such poor dental conditions, they can’t fathom dating, working or even leaving their homes due to the extreme distress, pain and embarrassment they experience daily.

Allen, a 2003 graduate of what is now Grayslake Central High School, learned of the show just by browsing the web. She came across an ad that asked “are your teeth holding you back?” So she applied and thought nothing of it until September 2013, when Lifetime requested a Skype interview. Another year went by before she heard from them again. In September or October 2014, Allen received an email that she had been selected as a possible cast member.

At that time, she had to go through a background check, meet with a psychiatrist and, because she was pregnant at the time, had to wait to be cleared by the doctor after giving birth.

“You have to go through so much before you even talk to a producer,” she said.

Growing up as one of 16 children, Allen often found herself stepping into the “mom” role, helping her siblings get ready and off to school. She was also going to school herself and working at the time and found herself eating lots of sugar and candy at night, without brushing her teeth before bed.

“I just didn’t understand the importance of teeth like I do now,” Allen said.

As she grew older and wanted to take care of her dental issues, she found herself working jobs that either didn’t provide insurance or only provided limited insurance. Even when she tried to piecemeal the work together, dentists wanted to be paid up front and Allen just never had the funds to take on such a large bill all at once.

Her dental condition continued to deteriorate. Allen trained her lips and mouth to move in such a way as to hide her teeth and she avoided meeting new people, or even spending time with people she knew.

Allen was so embarrassed by her teeth, when she and her husband would go visit her husband’s family, she would stay in the car. Even at her own wedding, Allen barely left her seat and wouldn’t smile or be filmed for her wedding video. Outside of her home, the only place Allen would visit was church.

“It’s like you’re living a double life because you’re trying to hide your teeth,” Allen said.

That all changed in December 2014 when, after being cleared by her doctor following the birth of her son, the crew of Lifetime’s “Smile” arrived in North Chicago to begin filming.

On Dec. 22, Allen flew to New York to begin her dental procedures. She spent more than a month undergoing surgery and procedures, missing Christmas, New Year’s and even her husband’s Jan. 18 birthday.

“It took over a month because they did more than just take out my teeth,” Allen said.

Allen ended up having almost all of her teeth pulled out, with the exception of eight on the bottom. Dentists also had to clear out lots of infection. She also had to have some repairs made to her sinus cavity and bone area. It took quite some time of recovery and healing before Allen was able to receive temporary dentures.

And although Allen’s smile has improved, her dentures are only temporary, as her mouth needs to continue to heal. Once the dentist determines she had healed enough, Allen will get permanent dentures, but she said it could be months before her mouth is properly healed and ready for that procedure.

“When I came home and revealed it to my son… he double-looked,” Allen said. “He said ‘mommy, you got new teeth,’ and he tried to touch them.”

Allen, who has been married to her husband Joseph for five years, has three children: Joseph, 4, Mariah, 3, and Alexander, 8 months.

With a new smile, Allen is anxious to get out into the world and enjoy life. She also wants to see what opportunities are out there for her, knowing her teeth likely held her back from getting certain jobs and just having conversations with people.

Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time Allen has found herself on TV. Back in 2010, she was included in MTV’s “True Life: I Have Too Many Siblings,” and in 2013, she, her husband and their son Joseph were included on Inside Edition’s “The Secret Life of Babies.”

Allen hopes to one day make it on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, of which she is a huge fan, or even secure a hosting gig herself.