Charlie's Orthodontics Phase I

Most of you probably know that our daughter Charlotte was born with a complete bilateral cleft lip and palate nine years ago. She has had two surgeries, one at 3 months and again at about 18 months. She has a few surgeries ahead of her. In order to prepare for for a future revision her upper jaw needs to be expanded and the bone forced to grow. She has severe overcrowding, extra teeth, and not enough bone or space for any of it. Some of her teeth are facing the wrong direction, risking wear on the sides of the teeth that normally wouldn't be exposed. Unfortunately they all sort of errupted at once after they closed the hard palate and it is difficult for them to determine by the xray which teeth have suitable roots.

We were referred to an orthodontist who drew up a two part plan. Phase 1 would involve placing an expander which I would have to tighten each night for her. She would get braces to assist with rudimentary alignment and they are going to take an image of her mouth so that they can determine which teeth are candidates to move into position as her permanent teeth and which will be removed.

She is actually lucky, it is very rare for a child born with a cleft palate to have extra teeth, and in fact they are more likely to deal with missing teeth. We were warned in her infancy that she would likely have false upper front teeth, and apparently, that is not the case for her.

In Phase 2 the orthodontist's plan involves continuing alignment of the upper and lower teeth to give her a smile that she no longer will feel self-conscious about flashing. It breaks my heart that she already hides her smile.

The entire process would likely take about 6 years, and in fact they wanted us to already have begun Phase 1. So here's the problem.

Phase 1 will cost $3,840. Our dental insurance will cover $1,700 -but- that is a lifetime cap. That is all they will ever pay, which means that when Phase 2 rolls around we will be responsible for the entire amount (another $3,840).

I can't worry about Phase 2 right now. My main priority is coming up with at least enough for the down payment so that the orthodontist can begin the work as soon as possible.

If anyone can pitch in, no matter how little, it will really make a huge difference for us. We would be incredibly grateful for any contribution towards our little girl's healthy smile. Thank you! xoxo