I (and my poor tooth) need your help!

Did you know teeth can just be resorbed? I didn't!

But one of my upper molars, which is super visible when I smile, is being resorbed. Resorption happens more in people who've had orthodontia, and this tooth is one of the ones next to the teeth that got pulled & so would have moved the most when I had braces in Jr High.

It's expensive and I can't just have the tooth pulled & live with a hole in my mouth... if it were a back molar, I'd just do that, but it isn't - it's a top right side 1st molar, and I'd like to grin & laugh again without a gaping hole in the right side of my smile, so my options are bridge or implant, and they're about the same cost, but an implant will preserve the healthy teeth to either side of the resorbing tooth.

The problem? It's EXPENSIVE.

Timeline:

~$2,000 due 12/31 ($1,228.73, plus nitrous oxide, plus sterile gauze & wound care & liquid diet for the next few weeks)

~$3,500 due 2/16ish

~$3,500 tbd spring likely late March

My crap dental insurance is going to pay for a very small portion of the total cost, unfortunately, and of course won't cover any lost time at work either. Many of you know that I have multiple sclerosis, which is already an expensive disease, so my flexible spending account is fully depleted for 2025 and I have significant costs projected for 2026 (I hit my medical out of pocket max by July or August every year), but the deductible part of that ALSO hits in January/February, so having major dental surgery at the same time as my out-of-pocket medical expenses are the highest is unfortunate.

I have an estimate from the dentist for the total cost pulling the tooth, doing a bone graft so the implant has something to hold onto, the endosseous implant itself, and the abutment supported porcelain/high metal crown: $6,832.80, plus 314.60, plus another non-insurance-covered but necessary for my dental anxiety nitrous oxide @ $150, plus the medication & tooth wound care I'll need multiple times (antibiotics, painkillers, gauze, a nutritious vegetarian liquid diet for at least a few weeks) - the whole process will take months - I'll heal from the pulled tooth & bone graft for 4 - 6 weeks, then get the implant post, then heal from that for 4 - 6 weeks, then they'll start making my replacement tooth & install it some time later. Suffice it to say it'll be a long winter & spring for me.

Somehow I need to still work... but I only have 5 sick days & let me tell you, MS already takes those 5 sick days every year, plus some, and intermittent leave is unpaid, so I can use my FMLA Intermittent Leave, but I don't get paid for that time off.

All told, it's likely to be about $9,000 - $12,000 total, especially taking into account any FMLA Intermittent leave days I take. And that's not even taking into account any infections / complications ... with MS, being on immune-modifying meds, those are more likely to happen to me than other people, and I heal more slowly.

I hate to ask for help, but in this case, I will really need it starting 12/31 (payment due date of service), and two more dates in early 2026, as per the timeline above.

Between rent ($1,600/mo), utilities (average $200/mo, sometimes more), student loans ($509.08/mo), & other bills, I'm living paycheck to paycheck at the moment, and this is a massive additional cost I didn't budget for & don't have time to save up for.

The tooth has to be pulled this year... I turn 50 in December, and don't want to ruin Christmas (at least I can knit gifts for people this year), so I'm getting the tooth pulled on 12/31/25. Yes, New Year's Eve. Because ruining my NYE is the only way to use the small amount of dental insurance coverage this year (after two cleanings and full x-rays already this year, there's not much left, and even if my dental insurance covers anything, I owe my dentist in full on the date of service and the dentist puts any overage after insurance towards my next service and/or dental cleaning, which I need 3x yearly, due to MS).

On top of that, my employer is also changing insurance providers for 2026, so I'll be navigating that unpleasant process as well. If I raise over the requested amount, I will use any additional funds for multiple sclerosis & other medical expenses like my deductible in Jan/Feb 2026, and living expenses while recovering from this series of dental surgeries.

I'm posting this now, 10/20/25, so that I can hopefully have the first $2,000 before my tooth gets pulled & bone graft happens on 12/31/25.

****** sorry, I didn't mean to write so much, but I felt the need to be as clear as possible, so you understand where the money would go, if you can help*******

Tl;dr - my body is a mess, including one of my teeth that just wants to disappear (is hard at work on disappearing), and I need help to pay for keeping my smile intact (literally & metaphorically).

Thank you so very much for anything you can contribute to help me out.

NOTE: The tooth image in the header isn't my specific x-ray - I didn't have the foresight to ask for a copy of my x-rays, so I pulled that image from the frankly terrifying amount of x-ray imagery of tooth resorption online.

*** Updated (reduced from 9k to 8.5k) requested total due to a couple of very kind friends sending me funds directly via PayPal.***