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Dating With Dentures: NJ TikTok Star Finds Reasons To Smile

Most of the time, Lily Magno isn't wearing her dentures.

New Jersey native Lily Magno is inspiring others to embrace themselves fully -- on and offline.

New Jersey native Lily Magno is inspiring others to embrace themselves fully -- on and offline.

Photo Credit: Lily Magno

The 25-year-old New Jersey native feels comfortable without them, so she doesn't see the need to wear them.

Not even when she films a TikTok for the world to see.

But a year ago, Magno didn't want anyone to know the truth about her smile. 

In the spring of 2020, the dance teacher and social media guru lost three of her top teeth due to a gum infection -- 12 years after the skateboarding accident that caused it.

Magno was insecure. She was embarrassed. She was depressed.

It wasn't until she embraced her dentures and new smile that she was able to reclaim her own happiness and inspire others on social media along the way.

Magno long dreamed of going into modeling and social media, largely thanks to her pearly whites.

"I had such a nice smile," said Magno, of Lavalette. "I loved it and people complimented me on it all the time."

She joined TikTok last year, at the urging of the kids she taught at a dance studio.

Her early videos were mostly comedy sketches and dance routines, but they weren't getting Magno the response she was looking for.

And so, when she lost her teeth, Magno didn't exactly want to post more on TikTok.

"Losing my teeth was heartbreaking," Magno said.

Despite her parents' urging, Magno didn't want to go out. Her dating life came to a screeching halt. She didn't even want her friends to see her new smile.

Her first set of dentures weren't helping much, either.

"It was held on by suction and by the end of the day, it would fall out," Magno said. "I had to put denture glue in my mouth.

"The shape of it also didn’t match my teeth very well and it made my lip protrude. It was so obvious -- having to take it out to eat and how it looked when it was in -- I was so insecure to smile."

It didn't exactly make dating any easier, she said.

Magno recalled one time in particular where she showed a guy her smile at the bar and he held his hands up to his mouth and pretended to vomit.

That made accepting herself even more difficult.

But at the end of October 2020, Magno got a new partial. That was what she said helped her gain confidence, and turn her life around. 

"I felt like I had my old smile back," Magno said.

For the first time in nearly a year, Magno started to feel a lot like herself again. And so, she started making more TikToks -- with and without her teeth.

For a while, Magno stuck to making comedy and dance videos on TikTok. She said she didn't want her teeth to become her niche on TikTok.

But one day, she figured, why not? -- and posted a video of her dentures and her missing teeth.

It took off almost immediately.

"Once I started realizing what I could bring to the table for people my age and younger who have to deal with having dentures, I started getting more into posting it as my niche," she said.

"I liked the idea of trying to change social norms and celebrating imperfections."

And so, clicking her teeth in and out of her mouth became the norm for Magno on TikTok.

She talks about the trials and tribulations of dating with a partial. She jokes about accidentally leaving her teeth at home.

Magno makes others in the same boat feel a whole lot less alone.

She says people are equal parts curious and grateful. Many people think that Magno's missing teeth are due to drug use, she said.

A video she posted last July about showing up to a date without her dentures garnered 4.9 million views. Another one about someone close to her being grossed out by her "fake teeth" had 6.5 million views.

Magno says being transparent about her situation helps others embrace their own imperfections -- especially youngsters.

"At 13, if that's all you see, you're going to have a lot of struggle with your own life," Magno said. "There's something that we need to change in society."

Being open about her situation has made dating easier, Magno said.

"A few guys have been so supportive not only of the fact I have fake teeth, but what I do online for it," she said.

"Most of the time if a guy doesn’t want to talk, it's because I post about it so much online, and not because of the fact that I have fake teeth," she added. "It's a weird mixture."

But Magno recognizes that finding a boyfriend will come with time.

For now, she's focused on spreading her message: "Embrace the idea of being yourself on and offline."

Now that she's on the social media circuit, Magno is working toward breaking into the entertainment industry.

She hopes to one-day show that "it's okay to not look flawless on national TV -- and take your teeth out."

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