It’s about as remarkable a transformation as you will see.
If you are meeting Tyler Hood for the first time, here’s what your first impressions will be: confident, happy, bright, optimistic, interested in the world around him. And smiling.
But those who knew him as a boy and a teenager will tell you this is not always the person he seemed to be.
Like too many of us, Tyler didn’t get very good dental care growing up, and by the time he finished school and began adulthood his teeth had become a big problem.
“I remember having to go a few times as a kid,” Tyler said. “They had a couple of appointments during high school, in year 8 and 9, but I didn’t go after that because I wasn’t confident enough.”
As his dental health got worse, his fear or shame about going to the dentist grew and grew.
And so the problem got worse.
It became about more than just his teeth.
“I didn’t have any confidence,” he said. “Because I knew my teeth looked so bad I’d just keep my head down, looking down at the ground. I didn’t smile, I didn’t talk clearly, I wouldn’t look people in the eye. Because I was just trying to hide my mouth.”
“And I could see the way that people responded to me, just shopping at the supermarket or whatever.”
“As soon as I opened my mouth they’d have an impression of me that wasn’t actually who I knew I was.”
When you get into a headspace like that it can be hard to turn around.
But Tyler was lucky to have a supportive partner that encouraged him to do something about it.
“It was Imogen that pushed me to make an appointment at GEGAC dental and see about sorting it out,” Tyler said. “I have her to thank for that. It changed my life.”
Tyler said one of the hesitations he had about going to the dentist was how much it would cost.
“I’d heard it would be a hundred bucks or so per extraction, and I knew I would need quite a few extractions so I just thought ‘I won’t be able to afford that.’”
“But it didn’t cost anything. That was surprise.”
GEGAC’s dental services are free for Aboriginal people, and low cost for non-Aboriginal members of community.
About 18 months later, and Tyler is a changed man.
“It has changed everything,” he says, with a smile.
“I feel better about myself, I’m a better person to those around me, and I have more confidence. I’ve started my own business (shout out to Majestic Detailing), which is something I definitely would not have had the confidence to do before. I smile more, I talk to people. It’s unbelievable.”
And the positive impact of Tyler’s experience is now rippling outward, like a pebble dropped into a pond.
“A couple of my mates who have seen what I’ve done have decided they’re going to get their teeth fixed too.”
Tyler’s advice to anyone in community who doesn’t feel great about their teeth?
“Just make that first phone call,” he says. “That first appointment is the hardest, and after that JA and the GEGAC dental team will look after you. I just wish I had have done it sooner.”
Go on then, you heard the man.