I spent most of my $100,000 lottery win on my teeth - and I've never regretted the 7 hour surgery
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From the age of 18, Dan Aiken has been ashamed of his teeth. Then he won the lottery.
And after years of living in pain from his teeth, the happy winner cashed in his check with a million-dollar smile.
He shared the experience when he appeared in the TV program “The Lottery Changed My Life.”
For over half his life, Dan has had something to hide.
“You don't see me smiling real big right now, I've had 30 years of practice hiding it,” said Dan.
“I've had chronic dental problems since I was about 18, and I haven't been in a relationship since then.”
Over the years he has endured eight root canals, numerous crowns, and two front teeth glued in before he claimed his scratch-off windfall.
“I basically don't have a day without some sort of pain.”
Dan was hoping all the years of pain and embarrassment would finally be behind him, with help from the lottery.
Because in April 2011 he scratched his way to a hundred thousand dollars from a local store.
“I came in and bought ten dollars worth of tickets, didn't win anything,” he explained.
Then he bought another ten dollars and it turned into $100,000.
After taxes, he walked away with $68,000.
When he received the prize, Dan immediately thought about buying a new car among other things.
But he had to stop himself because he knew at that rate the money wasn't going to last very long.
He said, “I'm going to get the biggest bang I can out of it, and that means spending forty-five thousand dollars of it on a new smile.”
Dan's sister Maureen helped her younger brother get through the extensive day-long surgery.
After seven long hours in surgery, the moment Dan had waited 30 years for finally arrived.
Maureen recounted, “He gave his first big beaming smile with beautiful beautiful teeth, and yes I teared up.”
“It was such a miracle, such a fantastic beautiful thing for my brother.”
Dan said it was exciting to run into people he hadn't seen for a while.
“They'll keep looking at me to figure out what's different,” he said. “They aren't sure, but they know something's different.”
Dan added, “I’m also glad to be able to show off what the lottery's done for me.”
“It is a huge deal overall - the lottery definitely has changed my life and I can't say for anything but the better!”
