Help Sarah Get Her Smile Back

This page is for our 4 year old daughter who recently had to undergo dental surgery.

When her first teeth came in at 7 month we took her to the dentist who diagnosed her with Enamel hypoplasia, which means she has close to no enamel on her baby teeth. This made her teeth extremely weak and unfortunately no amount of brushing and flossing helped. She also grinds her teeth at night which was starting to really wear down her molars.

Fast forward -

When she was 3,5 we took for a routine checkup at KoolSmiles. We were told that a cavity had formed on one of her teeth that was already worn down from the lack of enamel and grinding. They recommended pulling the tooth and said a filling wouldn't stick to her tiny teeth. We were asked to fill out several forms including a permission slip for a papoose. We were told they only use the papoose in extreme cases if the child is likely to hurt herself or someone else. The nurse assured us that our daughter would do just fine without it seeing how good she was for her checkups.

On the day they pulled her tooth Sarah was not allowed to eat or drink for 4 hours before the procedure since they intended on using laughing gas. Once we got there they had the papoose laying on the examination chair which should have set my alarm bells off right there and then. Yet, I trusted them. They asked me to put her in the chair so they could just take a quick look. As soon as I put her down 2 nurses and the dentist started strapping her in and my daughter, who was already grouchy from not being able to eat or drink started to fight them. I asked them why they didn't start with the laughing gas and they said they just want to take a look first. So, they proceeded to give her a shot which upset her even more. At this point I asked the nurse to please unstrap her so I could calm her down. The nurse said they couldn't stop now and said that I had signed the papoose permission slip. Also, the dentist informed me that my daughter was now too upset for the laughing gas to work and he proceeded to pull her tooth with me yelling at him to stop.

Needless to say, it was a very traumatizing experience for the both of us. A few days after the incident I called KoolSmiles headquarters and talked to a representative and all she had to say was 'well, you signed the permission slip, didn't you'. After reading many reviews about the place I'm surprised they haven't been shut down yet.

After the dust settled I went ahead and searched for a new dentist. I finally found someone who I felt like we could trust and drove 1.5 hours to meet her. She was amazing, yet my daughter was terrified and wouldn't even sit in the chair. After seeing her x-rays the dentist recommended fixing her molars which are going to stick around for another 8 years or so. Considering the trauma the other dentist put her through she said we'd need to go the hospital route and have it done under general anesthesia.


After weighing our options, we decided to go ahead and schedule the appointment.
We obviously wanted our daughter to be pain free and not have to worry about what she eats and her grinding her teeth each night. (her pediatrician told us very early on that a mouth guard was not an option)

We also figured since we'd been paying into the system for years, surely we'd get some kind of assistance - wrong. After applying for the Maryland children's health programm, we were told that we don't qualify for assistance because we have medical and dental insurance. It didn't matter that our insurance only pays 50%.

In December our daughter finally had her surgery and she did amazing, no complaints, no crying or fussing. The nurses said she was an absolute joy to be around and I'm deeply thankful for the way they treated her.

Our hospital, anesthesiologist and dental bills from the surgery amount to $6948, almost half of that we have to pay out of pocket, which leaves us with $3.216 which we have to pay off by September if we want to avoid paying accrued interest.

I don't like asking people for help, but I figured it's worth a shot. Any amount, no matter how small helps and is greatly appreciated.

If you can't help financially, please support us by sharing our site.

I know there are cuter and more heartbreaking stories out there, which is why I'm perfectly happy with smaller donations - $5 that's less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks and you still get to have that warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of your stomach, only without the calories :)