Dentist Helps Metro Detroit Woman Addicted to Comet Cleanser

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WJBK) - "I had eaten the household cleanser Comet for years and years and years and years," said Crystal. "It had, I guess, eroded the enamel off of my teeth, (and) then, of course, started going down to the roots."

She said she was hooked on Comet for nearly 30 years. She ate the cleanser nearly every day.

Crystal, who refrained from using her last name, attributed the strange addiction to a difficult childhood that included physical and sexual abuse.

"I thought maybe somehow I was cleaning myself out, that I felt dirty inside," Crystal said.

The Redford woman's story recently aired on The Learning Channel's "My Strange Addiction" series.

The program's producers asked Dr. Demi Kazanis of Royal Oak to evaluate the damage of eating Comet did to Crystal's teeth.

"I'd equate it to a meth mouth. Crystal had a lot of decay, a lot of infection. She was in extreme pain. She needed help," said Kazanis. "When I examined Crystal, I actually saw Comet cleanser in the remaining teeth that she had in the crevices. I knew what was going on."

Dr. Kazanis spent months working to restore and repair Crystal's teeth, providing more than $20,000 in dental work for free.

"It made me very happy. Most times people don't like to come to the dentist, and if I can make somebody happy and do something nice for somebody, I always welcome the opportunity," said Kazanis.

"I feel better physically. You have no idea what bad teeth can do to your physical health, very detrimental. I look better. I speak better," said Crystal.

She hopes telling the world her story will help others.

"If one person out there sees something in me that they have going on in themselves and they do something to stop it, the shame will be worth it," Crystal said.