Ana Claudia Rocha Ferreira suffered domestic abuse at the hands of multiple partners, dating back to when she was just 15 years old. The violence took a mental and physical toll.
"I only had four teeth left in the front. I was ashamed to go out," she explains. Rocha is one of millions of women who are victimized by their partners in Brazil. In nearly all of the cases, men target the women's faces and teeth, in order to diminish their femininity and feelings of self-worth.
Rocha was one of the lucky ones.
She got new confidence -- and a new smile -- thanks to Rio de Janeiro dentist Armando Piva, who is part of a non-governmental network of volunteers rebuilding the teeth, and the lives, of battered women.
Rocha says the dental work was like a "dream" and changed her life. But before her brilliant white grin -- emphasized by bright red lipstick -- was restored, Rocha went through some grim times.
"The assaults began when I was just 15 years old, and I was pregnant with my first daughter," explains the young black woman, who works at a graphic design firm -- and already has four grandchildren at age 39.
More From This Section
"He started punching me. I left him. But afterward, the father of my second daughter also started hitting me. My teeth fell out one after another," she recalls.
Rocha, who lives in a slum in Rio's vast Sao Cristovao area, says that in the favelas, "men say they like to beat up their woman so no one else wants her. They leave their mark on her face." She didn't leave her second abusive partner because she didn't have the money to do so. She also couldn't go home to her mother, who kicked her out at a young age.
Her mom's history was similar -- she was beaten all of her life and did not have one tooth left, Rocha recounts.
"Since I was 18 until now, I have not smiled," she laments. "I was constantly mortified." One day, she sent a message on Instagram to an actress who she admired -- a bit of a shot in the dark. She didn't ask for any money but asked for help, saying she wanted beautiful teeth like the actress had.
The actress responded, putting Rocha in touch with the volunteer dentists. The treatment by Piva lasted nearly a year at his ultra-modern office in Rio's chic Barra da Tijuca neighborhood -- a stark contrast to Rocha's bleak slum. He used dental implants to restore Rocha's confidence and smile.
With giant hoop earrings swinging from her ears, and drawing attention to her face, she says she is very happy: "Never again will I accept being hit."