Gaten Matarazzo, the 17-year-old actor who plays the witty Dustin in Netflix hit show Stranger Things, has revealed having undergone a fourth surgery to help correct his rare bone condition.
Matarazzo took to Instagram on the weekend to let fans know that the operation, the removal of 14 supernumerary teeth from his gums and exposing of six adult teeth, was a "complete success." He hopes it will be the last one he needs.
"Though my expression in this picture may not show it, the surgery was a complete success," he wrote as the caption to an image of himself giving a thumbs up after the procedure. "This was such A big one, it may be the last one I need. Hopefully at least.
"I was under for four hours. My recovery for the past few days has been great and I can’t thank the team that did the surgery enough. Thank you all for your kind wishes and prayers. It means a lot. Again, if you’d like to learn more about Cleidocranial Dysplasia, you can go to ccdsmiles.org. Thanks again everyone."
The actor suffers from a condition called Cleidocranial Dysplasia that mostly affects the development of bones and teeth. He's added that he has had several surgeries to extract excessive teeth from his gums but this one, in particular, saw to the removal of 14 of such teeth.
Matarazzo has been very open about his condition, which he says has prevented him from landing other jobs.
"It was always because of my lisp, and me being shorter and having the teeth issue, that was always the reason they couldn’t cast me," he told BBC 5 Live in a 2016 interview. "Because they couldn’t write in a disability into the show because they had already written the script."
Things aren't all bad for Gaten, obviously. He plays a big role in a very popular show and made $250,000 for every episode of the most recent season, which means he banked a cool $2 million for Season 3 of Stranger Things.
Not bad for a 17-year-old, right?
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