Recreating Christie's Smile
Donation protected
My name is Christie, and I am raising money for emergency tooth extraction and dental implants for 3 upper molar teeth. I am not asking for large donations, but rather believe that if I can get 2000 people to donate just £5 then I will be able to have this treatment. I also plan to pay every pound raised forward to other charities, from my salary.
I need to have this treatment at the very latest end of March 2021 as the infection under my teeth is leaking into my mouth, which puts me at risk of having it spread into the rest of my body.
(Dental records and Dr. quotes coming soon - this was an initial estimate given to me this week).
I am NOT asking for a handout. Once I have had my treatment, I will be paying every single pound that I raise forward by donating £120 pounds, from my salary, every month to a charity chosen by those who donate, until it is all paid forward.
I have set-up a Facebook page here and each month I will run a pole asking YOU which cause I should donate to. People will be free to message the page with suggestions and I will select three that can be voted on each month. The causes can be for absolutely anything or anyone.
For those of you looking for the short version, I am only raising these funds for myself due the the emergent nature of my diagnosis.
It is emergent due to a misdiagnosis in December 2019, which has allowed an infection under my teeth to spread - making it impossible to save these three teeth. This is why they have to be extracted. I need to have them replaced with dental implants in order to keep my client-facing job. Losing teeth doesn't just affect eating ability and smile, but also the structure of your face. Having them replaced will help me keep my job and also allow me to hold on to a bit of dignity.
For those of you who would like more detail, this is my story...
I am not destitute, but the last two years has seen my partner, cats and I move from South Africa to the UK, with myself as his sponsor - so BIG visa fees involved, along with the cost of moving our lives across the world. Further more with the exchange rate of roughly R20 (rands the local currency) to £1, our savings did not go very far - in fact it just barely got us set-up.
We left South Africa due to increasing violent crime - with the last straw being a young girl raped and murdered at the post office less than a mile from where we lived. We were no longer safe in our own neighbourhood, and didn't feel safe in our own home.
Then, as we were starting to find our feet here in the UK, Covid hit and I was Furloughed and then made redundant, adding a bit more financial pressure. Now, even though I have started a new job, our savings have been wiped. Furthermore, since we have lived here for less than three years, we don't qualify for personal loans or dental plans yet.
I have been struggling with dental problems since my early twenties, and as such have not qualified for dental insurance since I came off my parents medical aid.
No, I don't smoke - never have. I also didn't grow up drinking fizzy drinks, juice or even squash. My mum didn't allow us to have sweets during the week as kids, and we went to the dentist every six months for check-ups.
My teeth were the victims of trauma (bike accidents), which resulted in the roots of the teeth dying within a year of each other - all three of the teeth that need to be extracted had to have root canals.
Since then one of them had a crown placed on it in June 2018 and the second one had a crown overlay placed on it in January 2020. I have literally done everything I can do to save these teeth, and my efforts where thwarted by misdiagnosis.
When I went in for a filling on the second tooth in December 2019, the Dentist advised that I would need a crown. However, due to what he said was scarring of the tissue from my first crown, I should only have an overlay and not a post (this is implanted in the gum to secure the crown) crown. The overlay is just cemented on top of the tooth and not secured by a post. Crowns are usually a good option as they last up-to 10 years. However, for a white crown, they cost £600+
Less than year after the overlay crown was placed, it came off. I was able to see a dentist, although a different one from the one who placed my overlay crown originally. She then advised that I had an abscess, caused by infection under the tooth with the first crown. Looking at my previous x-rays from 2019, she then told me it was an infection that had been there SINCE my initial consultation for the filling! It hadn't been managed for a year and had since spread.
You would think at this point there may have been concern, but she simply said the tooth may need to be pulled at some point, gave me antibiotics, cemented the overlay back on and sent me on my merry way.
Three weeks later, the overlay came off again and I saw a third dentist. She was far more knowledgeable, and advised that because the infection had been left to run rampant in my mouth that the tooth would need to come out. She further said that the tooth with the overlay and third tooth next to it also had infection under them now, and would also need to be extracted. She advised doing them together as it would cost less and minimise chance of the infection spreading elsewhere.
She has said end of March at an absolute push, but sooner rather than later is advised to prevent the infection spreading further. I will be receiving a formal treatment plan and quote in the next week.
Ultimately I would have preferred to return to South Africa to see my dentist of 28-years to have this treatment. It would also cost about 75% of what is currently being quoted. I have also been told by friends that dentists in countries like Poland and Hungary are better and less expensive too. However, travel restrictions make looking at these alternatives impossible for now. And I have been told I do not have the time to wait and see if they become options down the line.
I also feel like this is something I could have saved for. My dentist in South Africa started to see the warning signs when I need my first crown and advised me - so I was able to save for it and pay to have it done when I did need it two-years later. Unfortunately, I have had no such time or warning this time round.
My job, which involves speaking to clients in a professional setting (online and sometimes in full HD), relies on my appearance being that of a high-level professional. Not only will the loss of these three teeth affect that, it will affect my ability to speak as well - causing slight slurring in my speech.
This treatment will help me keep my job, and most importantly (I think) my sense of worth. The emotional impact of losing a part of your body is traumatic. Many people seem to dismiss tooth loss as something minor. It is not.
I feel ashamed, judged, depressed, anxious and extremely embarrassed by this . I think that people think that I must not have taken care of my teeth, or that I didn't financially plan properly or that I chose to move country because I was bored and felt like it and now I am in a worse-off situation because of it. Even worse is that I feel I have done everything I can to help myself and protect my teeth and I still haven't been able to save them.
So, I am asking you to help me, help myself. In return, as said above I will be paying any help and support I get forward.
I believe in the power of kindness - and I truly believe that there are 2000 kind people out there who can spare 5 pounds to make a difference in my life and, in turn, the lives of others.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please feel free to message me on my charity Facebook page here should have any further questions.
Thank you,
Christie
I need to have this treatment at the very latest end of March 2021 as the infection under my teeth is leaking into my mouth, which puts me at risk of having it spread into the rest of my body.
(Dental records and Dr. quotes coming soon - this was an initial estimate given to me this week).
I am NOT asking for a handout. Once I have had my treatment, I will be paying every single pound that I raise forward by donating £120 pounds, from my salary, every month to a charity chosen by those who donate, until it is all paid forward.
I have set-up a Facebook page here and each month I will run a pole asking YOU which cause I should donate to. People will be free to message the page with suggestions and I will select three that can be voted on each month. The causes can be for absolutely anything or anyone.
For those of you looking for the short version, I am only raising these funds for myself due the the emergent nature of my diagnosis.
It is emergent due to a misdiagnosis in December 2019, which has allowed an infection under my teeth to spread - making it impossible to save these three teeth. This is why they have to be extracted. I need to have them replaced with dental implants in order to keep my client-facing job. Losing teeth doesn't just affect eating ability and smile, but also the structure of your face. Having them replaced will help me keep my job and also allow me to hold on to a bit of dignity.
For those of you who would like more detail, this is my story...
I am not destitute, but the last two years has seen my partner, cats and I move from South Africa to the UK, with myself as his sponsor - so BIG visa fees involved, along with the cost of moving our lives across the world. Further more with the exchange rate of roughly R20 (rands the local currency) to £1, our savings did not go very far - in fact it just barely got us set-up.
We left South Africa due to increasing violent crime - with the last straw being a young girl raped and murdered at the post office less than a mile from where we lived. We were no longer safe in our own neighbourhood, and didn't feel safe in our own home.
Then, as we were starting to find our feet here in the UK, Covid hit and I was Furloughed and then made redundant, adding a bit more financial pressure. Now, even though I have started a new job, our savings have been wiped. Furthermore, since we have lived here for less than three years, we don't qualify for personal loans or dental plans yet.
I have been struggling with dental problems since my early twenties, and as such have not qualified for dental insurance since I came off my parents medical aid.
No, I don't smoke - never have. I also didn't grow up drinking fizzy drinks, juice or even squash. My mum didn't allow us to have sweets during the week as kids, and we went to the dentist every six months for check-ups.
My teeth were the victims of trauma (bike accidents), which resulted in the roots of the teeth dying within a year of each other - all three of the teeth that need to be extracted had to have root canals.
Since then one of them had a crown placed on it in June 2018 and the second one had a crown overlay placed on it in January 2020. I have literally done everything I can do to save these teeth, and my efforts where thwarted by misdiagnosis.
When I went in for a filling on the second tooth in December 2019, the Dentist advised that I would need a crown. However, due to what he said was scarring of the tissue from my first crown, I should only have an overlay and not a post (this is implanted in the gum to secure the crown) crown. The overlay is just cemented on top of the tooth and not secured by a post. Crowns are usually a good option as they last up-to 10 years. However, for a white crown, they cost £600+
Less than year after the overlay crown was placed, it came off. I was able to see a dentist, although a different one from the one who placed my overlay crown originally. She then advised that I had an abscess, caused by infection under the tooth with the first crown. Looking at my previous x-rays from 2019, she then told me it was an infection that had been there SINCE my initial consultation for the filling! It hadn't been managed for a year and had since spread.
You would think at this point there may have been concern, but she simply said the tooth may need to be pulled at some point, gave me antibiotics, cemented the overlay back on and sent me on my merry way.
Three weeks later, the overlay came off again and I saw a third dentist. She was far more knowledgeable, and advised that because the infection had been left to run rampant in my mouth that the tooth would need to come out. She further said that the tooth with the overlay and third tooth next to it also had infection under them now, and would also need to be extracted. She advised doing them together as it would cost less and minimise chance of the infection spreading elsewhere.
She has said end of March at an absolute push, but sooner rather than later is advised to prevent the infection spreading further. I will be receiving a formal treatment plan and quote in the next week.
Ultimately I would have preferred to return to South Africa to see my dentist of 28-years to have this treatment. It would also cost about 75% of what is currently being quoted. I have also been told by friends that dentists in countries like Poland and Hungary are better and less expensive too. However, travel restrictions make looking at these alternatives impossible for now. And I have been told I do not have the time to wait and see if they become options down the line.
I also feel like this is something I could have saved for. My dentist in South Africa started to see the warning signs when I need my first crown and advised me - so I was able to save for it and pay to have it done when I did need it two-years later. Unfortunately, I have had no such time or warning this time round.
My job, which involves speaking to clients in a professional setting (online and sometimes in full HD), relies on my appearance being that of a high-level professional. Not only will the loss of these three teeth affect that, it will affect my ability to speak as well - causing slight slurring in my speech.
This treatment will help me keep my job, and most importantly (I think) my sense of worth. The emotional impact of losing a part of your body is traumatic. Many people seem to dismiss tooth loss as something minor. It is not.
I feel ashamed, judged, depressed, anxious and extremely embarrassed by this . I think that people think that I must not have taken care of my teeth, or that I didn't financially plan properly or that I chose to move country because I was bored and felt like it and now I am in a worse-off situation because of it. Even worse is that I feel I have done everything I can to help myself and protect my teeth and I still haven't been able to save them.
So, I am asking you to help me, help myself. In return, as said above I will be paying any help and support I get forward.
I believe in the power of kindness - and I truly believe that there are 2000 kind people out there who can spare 5 pounds to make a difference in my life and, in turn, the lives of others.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please feel free to message me on my charity Facebook page here should have any further questions.
Thank you,
Christie
Organizer
Christie Cope
Organizer
England
