A Confident Smile for Sarah
My Wife Christine and I have created this fundraiser to raise money to help pay for Sarah's braces.
Sarah is our daughter and she is currently 11 years old. Sarah is a great big sister to her 2 younger siblings Vanessa, and Angela. She is an extremely outgoing young girl with aspirations to become a teacher and or writer.
As most of you know, due to circumstances beyond our control, Sarah had to have 2 baby teeth and 2 adult teeth removed.
Back in mid 2011 Sarah went to the dentist for her routine check up and cleaning. At this appointment the dentist referred Sarah to an orthodontist to discuss the option of braces as the X-ray showed Sarah's mouth would not be big enough to fit all her permanent teeth.
At her first appointment with the Orthodontist in 2011 we had to pay a $75 consultation fee. The X-rays at this appointment showed a mass that the Orthodontist could not identify. He then referred Sarah to an Oral Surgeon to have a more elaborate 3D X-ray to determine what the mass was. Picture Below.
In late 2011 we paid $85 for that more elaborate 3D X-ray. The Oral Surgeon contacted us for an in office consultation to discuss the results. At this time, he informed us that he needed to perform an exploratory surgery because he could not identify the mass and could not figure out why her permanent teeth were not falling into place. At this time he made us aware that he would have to remove 2 of her baby teeth in order to explore, and the cost would be minimal $200 approx.
We booked the surgery in early 2012 and Sarah was brought into the Stollery for the exploratory surgery. it was supposed to be a 1 hour surgery, but after 4 hours in the waiting room, we began to worry.
Once Sarah was brought out of surgery, the surgeon informed us that Sarah had a malignant Odontoma which had eaten away, and somewhat fused to her jawbone and 2 adult teeth. He had no option but to remove the entire mass, the 2 joining teeth and a chunk of her upper jaw bone. We were also hit with the bill for these unexpected extractions and surgery time, which was in excess of $1000.
After several visits to determine if her mouth was fully healed, the Orthodontist finally gave us the green light in late 2013 to begin her procedure. At this time we were advised that it would cost $4500 for that first stage of her treatment, with $2000 as the initial payment to get started.
Luckily we have some Orthodontic benefits through one of our plans, but the plan can only be changed to the Orthodontic specific portion every 2 years. At that time we did not have the finances to get the procedure started without that coverage. We had no choice but to wait until September 2014 when we could change the plan to the appropriate coverage. ($3000 Maximum coverage per person, lifetime.)
We scheduled an appointment with the Orthodontist to start the procedure, the availability brought us into early 2015.
At this appointment we had to pay another $75 consultation fee. After this set of X-rays it was clear her teeth had shifted substantially due to the extraction of her 2 permanent teeth. (which can be seen in the pictures). The Orthodontist informed us that her treatment would now cost $8700 and we would need at least $3000 for the initial payment, and the remaining amount would be paid monthly for 3 years at a rate of $200/ month. However, due to our financial situation there is just no way we can take on an additional $200/ month payment. Picture Below.
Her treatment must be started immediately to avoid additional costs and surgeries because a child's palate is no longer easily expanded after the age of 13, and the longer we hold it off due to financial reasons, the more her teeth will shift away from her centerline, which will increase costs substantially.
We are both very proud parents and find it extremely hard to ask family and friends for any financial assistance whatsoever, however family has offered to loan us the initial payment of $3000 which will be directly re-imbursed to them by our benefits plan. This will max out our Orthodontic coverage, leaving us with $5700 remaining balance, which is the amount we are attempting to raise in this campaign.
Sarah is going into junior high school in September, one of our biggest fears is that she gets bullied for her crooked teeth and smile. Sarah is an amazing kid, and deserves a smile that matches her personality, and if we had the finances, her treatment would have been started long ago.
If you would like to donate, and do not wish to use a debit card or credit card, you can also contact me thru go fundme site and I will provide you with my email for email money transfers.
This method also eliminates any fees from gofundme and wepay.Thanks in advance for your support.
