Denis needs dental surgery

Hi. I am a retired person, 65 years old. I have always been in great health for all my life. that all changed in 2010. I was hospitalized with an unknown staph infestion that essentially damaged my pancreas and I became a type 1 diabetic. After I was released from the hospital, I noticed that my teeth gradually became loose and my gums were receding. I was left without a job and had no insurance. I was able to go to a dental clinic in 2011 and they told me the bad news. However, without any dental insurance, I could not do anything.

Several years and several missing teeth later, I was finally able to afford dental insurance. With high hopes, I went to a dentist last year and they told me what I already knew, only my problem had gotten worse.  Even with the dental insurance, I could not afford to have the surgery done. The dental insurance covers 50% of the procedure, but it is capped at a max of $2000. The whole process costs in excess of $8000, and that is for the most economic route, which is having the teeth remaing extracted and getting dentures. I will settle for whatever I can have done, I need to worry about my health first, not my appearance. I'm not that vain.

The problems I am going through now are health related because of my diabetic condition. Any kind of gum infection will make me sick. Right now, I cannot chew properly and eating is hard. I have lost weight because I cannot eat what I need. I am afraid to eat more than twice a day because it is too hard to chew my food.  It would be nice to finally eat again and to smile at people again.

Thank you for understanding, and thank you for reading my story.