Critical Dental Care Needed

I have spent the last 3.5 years working on my mouth/teeth. But now, I need some help! I know God will provide one way or another, but if you feel led to help, this is the story.

Growing up, I was told many times I would need braces. Once I finally had enough money saved up, we decided to go to Kristo Orthodontics in Eau Claire. That started this journey.

I had the choice to do braces or Invisalign with rubber bands, and I chose the Invisalign.

To start the Invisalign, I needed to have oral surgery to remove the 2 baby teeth I still had (born without adult teeth beneath them) and 2 healthy adult teeth on the top to make room for them to pull back the overbite and correct my bite, as I have a small mouth.

I also had to have a root canal done on the bottom right side, which was beside the baby tooth. I went to a specialist in Eau Claire for this.

One year into the Invisalign, the root canal failed, and I needed to have it pulled. They also said my 3 wisdom teeth needed to be taken out (I was born missing 1 wisdom tooth). Therefore, I had ANOTHER oral surgery to remove those 4 teeth.

I finished the Invisalign after about 2.5 years. I felt like I was finally making great progress.

We had a feeling I was going to potentially need 1 implant to fill the space where the baby tooth and failed root canal tooth were gone.

At some point in this process, I became pregnant.

While I was pregnant, I attended my regular dentist for a cleaning, and they let me know that I had a few cavities, but they refused to fix them while I was pregnant. So I made an appointment for a few weeks after I had my daughter. When I went to that appointment, they said they wanted me to wait longer to “recover more” after having her (which I was completely healthy and fine, so I was very confused why they suggested this). They had me wait another 6 weeks.

I had 4 cavities that needed filling, and they would not do them all at once. They made me space them out between 2 appointments weeks apart.

After a month, I began having excruciating tooth pain. I went in, and they told me that the cavity must have been too deep and developed an infection to the nerve, and the tooth needed to be pulled. So one more tooth gone (far back upper left).

Not long after that tooth got pulled, another one they did a filling on had excruciating pain (my last tooth left on my bottom right). They told me the same thing: infection to the nerve, tooth needed to be pulled.

Now, I know genetically I haven’t been very fortunate in the teeth department. I take good care of my teeth; a lot of this has been strictly genetic.

As for the two filling failures, I’m not 100% sure if it was bad because they neglected it for so long or if they actually did something wrong when they did the fillings. But I do know they always seemed to be in a rush, trying to get me out quick, and weren’t very graceful.

3 years & 10 teeth gone!

Then I turned the big 26 and got off my parents' amazing insurance. I sure thought I’d started this process soon enough that I’d have everything squared away.

Now, due to the 3 teeth pulled on my lower right side, I need at least 2 implants. I have not been able to chew on my right side at all for the last year or so.

I went to a specialist in Eau Claire to see what I’d be looking at for implants. They informed me that due to me not having that one adult tooth form, my jaw bone is too thin, and before I could do an implant, I would need a bone graft.

For the bone graft alone (insurance doesn’t cover it, which I don’t have anymore anyway) through them, it would be $2,300. Then about $5,500 per implant.

For financial reasons, I have considered getting a partial denture, and that has been my plan, but it’s taken me months to save up enough for that, which is around $2,500.

At my first appointment for that, I was informed what it is, how it works, and what it looks like. Basically, I’d have a whole bottom mouth full of metal just to fill the spot for those 3 missing teeth, and it sounded extremely uncomfortable and inconvenient. I was highly encouraged yet again to do implants.

They said they could do a bone graft at my dentist for $600, and they said they do implants for $5,000 each.

After paying my dentist $500 for a new CT scan, I wasn’t feeling peace about this dentist.

Then, after hearing what the dentist said about not wanting to do a bone graft but doing 2 implants still, I felt more hesitant.

Not long after, I heard from multiple people bad reports about this dental office.

I went this week to get a second opinion from a new dentist office 40 minutes away.

It was a SHOCKING appointment. I have 2 teeth with huge obvious spots of decay that my dentist didn’t even see at my recent cleaning. This dentist showed me on a camera, and even I could see how bad they were.

We did a new CT scan and images, which showed every filling this dentist did in my mouth. They did not go deep enough, and there’s still decay behind the fillings. Now I need those redone.

The one tooth—they did such a bad job on that it’s so close to the nerve this dentist will have to take the whole top of my tooth off and put a crown on it soon to hopefully save my tooth.

He showed and talked me through everything he saw in my mouth that we need to fix rather quickly because my prior dentist had completely neglected my teeth.

This has been a very eye-opening journey and disappointing at times as I’ve been doing everything I can, meanwhile had a crappy dentist who didn’t care to help me, but they were so nice I never suspected a thing.

Here’s the thing: I need to have 3-4 fillings redone, a possible crown (not sure if he’s doing it right away or not).

I 100% need at least 2 implants as soon as possible because the longer I go without these bottom teeth, the riskier it gets. Because then my top teeth will begin to fall down and out since they won’t have the other teeth to bump against.

I most likely will need a bone graft, which I don’t know the cost of yet.

Each implant is about $6,500.

Therefore, I’m looking at at least $13,000 just for the implants.

I have a hard time asking for help. But I’m a stay-at-home mom to my daughter and also help others with childcare.

My husband and I are doing everything we can to get these taken care of, but it would take us a super long time to save for these, and they need to be done ASAP.

This is no pressure to donate, but if you feel like God would put it on your heart, every little bit would make a world of difference to us, and we would be so thankful.