Get Elin's Teeth Fixed
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My name is Elin. From 14-16 years old I was in an abusive relationship. I am a statistic.
This is nothing new to me; I grew up a statistic. My dad was abusive, I was in foster care, my parents struggled with addiction, and my dad left us and my family struggled and continues to struggle to make ends meet. But I have worked very hard to end the cycle, I have worked very hard to be one of the people who “got out.” Poverty is cyclic. Abuse is cyclic. I’ve always been determined to have it all stop with me.
This year, I will graduate from my local Junior College. I will have graduated in two years. The percent of people who graduate or transfer from my Junior College is 15%, the percent of people who do it in two years is so low that it is a commonly held belief in my town that it is “impossible”. But I will have done it. I was accepted to my top choice university within the week that I applied. I have worked tirelessly to achieve this, but it’s beginning to feel like all odds are against me.
From 14-16 years old I was beaten constantly. I have dozens of leftover physical injuries to show for it, but for the most part, they are all healed enough to not bother me anymore. Except my teeth. Somewhere through the beatings, my nose was broken. I can still feel dents and bumps in the bone. Broken noses are usually not that big of a deal. They usually heal and are not a bother afterwards. Something I did not know, however, was that injuries so close to the mouth can cause irreparable damage to the teeth. And that’s what happened to me.
A little over a year ago, I went into the dentist to have some minor cavities taken care of in my front teeth. Immediately after, I was in so much pain I couldn’t think straight. Cavity fillings are never supposed to hurt that badly. No amount of ibuprofen or tylenol helped. I spent every day and night crying from the pain. A week later, I woke up to my face so swollen I could barely talk. The pictures I have up are the first day of swelling. The days that followed resulted in my eye swelling shut, my gums swelling with pus and blood and continuously bursting from the pressure and my teeth beginning to move and become loose from the swelling. Then, my gums started to fall off around the infected teeth. The roots of my teeth were exposed and the swelling continued and I was terrified. My dentist did not know what to do. In fact, no one at the dentist’s office would touch me because they had no idea what happened. I was in and out of the ER, where they pumped me full of morphine and gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way.
Eventually, the swelling went down. I had to drop two classes because of it, putting me behind in my academic schedule though I managed to make up for it by taking two semesters with a 17 unit course load. It was then discovered that the broken bones in my nose were to blame, and the minor dental work was essentially the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was almost 19 then, and was crushed that the abuse I worked so hard to put behind me was still affecting my life. The infection in my (then) two front teeth was so bad that my dentists could not do anything about it. I had to seek out a specialist and since I have Medi-cal, had to wait ten months to get a consultation (this appointment is next month). Since then, however, the infection has spread to four other teeth as well as my jaw. I am in constant pain. I have trouble eating and brushing my teeth because any little thing causes searing pain. I will have to wait even longer for an appointment to fix the damage, and by then I could lose all of my upper teeth.
I leave for college in two months. I am moving eight hours away from home in order to go to a school where I can get the best education for my major (Social Work). I can’t wait any longer, the pain is too much to handle and the infection is just continuing to spread. I have decided to take matters into my own hands, and get the six teeth removed and get partial dentures. This is what I’m begging everyone for help to do. This is the only way to ensure I don’t lose all of my upper teeth at nineteen years old. I just need the pain to stop, but my insurance won’t cover proper treatment. Please, help me. Help me be able to finish college, to focus in class, to not have to spend every day aching in pain with the constant reminder of the abuse I suffered. Please. Anything will help. Thank you.
This is nothing new to me; I grew up a statistic. My dad was abusive, I was in foster care, my parents struggled with addiction, and my dad left us and my family struggled and continues to struggle to make ends meet. But I have worked very hard to end the cycle, I have worked very hard to be one of the people who “got out.” Poverty is cyclic. Abuse is cyclic. I’ve always been determined to have it all stop with me.
This year, I will graduate from my local Junior College. I will have graduated in two years. The percent of people who graduate or transfer from my Junior College is 15%, the percent of people who do it in two years is so low that it is a commonly held belief in my town that it is “impossible”. But I will have done it. I was accepted to my top choice university within the week that I applied. I have worked tirelessly to achieve this, but it’s beginning to feel like all odds are against me.
From 14-16 years old I was beaten constantly. I have dozens of leftover physical injuries to show for it, but for the most part, they are all healed enough to not bother me anymore. Except my teeth. Somewhere through the beatings, my nose was broken. I can still feel dents and bumps in the bone. Broken noses are usually not that big of a deal. They usually heal and are not a bother afterwards. Something I did not know, however, was that injuries so close to the mouth can cause irreparable damage to the teeth. And that’s what happened to me.
A little over a year ago, I went into the dentist to have some minor cavities taken care of in my front teeth. Immediately after, I was in so much pain I couldn’t think straight. Cavity fillings are never supposed to hurt that badly. No amount of ibuprofen or tylenol helped. I spent every day and night crying from the pain. A week later, I woke up to my face so swollen I could barely talk. The pictures I have up are the first day of swelling. The days that followed resulted in my eye swelling shut, my gums swelling with pus and blood and continuously bursting from the pressure and my teeth beginning to move and become loose from the swelling. Then, my gums started to fall off around the infected teeth. The roots of my teeth were exposed and the swelling continued and I was terrified. My dentist did not know what to do. In fact, no one at the dentist’s office would touch me because they had no idea what happened. I was in and out of the ER, where they pumped me full of morphine and gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way.
Eventually, the swelling went down. I had to drop two classes because of it, putting me behind in my academic schedule though I managed to make up for it by taking two semesters with a 17 unit course load. It was then discovered that the broken bones in my nose were to blame, and the minor dental work was essentially the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was almost 19 then, and was crushed that the abuse I worked so hard to put behind me was still affecting my life. The infection in my (then) two front teeth was so bad that my dentists could not do anything about it. I had to seek out a specialist and since I have Medi-cal, had to wait ten months to get a consultation (this appointment is next month). Since then, however, the infection has spread to four other teeth as well as my jaw. I am in constant pain. I have trouble eating and brushing my teeth because any little thing causes searing pain. I will have to wait even longer for an appointment to fix the damage, and by then I could lose all of my upper teeth.
I leave for college in two months. I am moving eight hours away from home in order to go to a school where I can get the best education for my major (Social Work). I can’t wait any longer, the pain is too much to handle and the infection is just continuing to spread. I have decided to take matters into my own hands, and get the six teeth removed and get partial dentures. This is what I’m begging everyone for help to do. This is the only way to ensure I don’t lose all of my upper teeth at nineteen years old. I just need the pain to stop, but my insurance won’t cover proper treatment. Please, help me. Help me be able to finish college, to focus in class, to not have to spend every day aching in pain with the constant reminder of the abuse I suffered. Please. Anything will help. Thank you.
Organizer
Elin Walters
Organizer
Modesto, CA
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