donate to help the Thomas family

I’m organizing this fundraiser on behalf of my friend, M. She’d like to maintain privacy for her family, but they could really use your help. They’re facing over $20,000 in dental bills between 2023-2024 and any funds donated will be used to pay these and any future bills.

Here’s her story: My dental hygienist discovered an abscess above one of my front teeth in August ‘22, and after finally getting in to see an endodontist and oral surgeon in December ‘22, we learned this abscess has existed for years and has caused a huge amount of damage to 3 of my front teeth. I’ll be losing one of my front teeth due to the damage, and will need multiple bone grafts due to the severe amount of bone loss. I’ve already had an apicoectomy in January '23 and will have the extraction and first round of bone grafts in February '23. The following surgeries, assuming I heal well, will take place in May/June (bone graft #2), then November/December (implant) leaving me getting a permanent tooth in March/April 2024. My dental insurance has a $1500 max, and after that, everything else is the full cost directly out of pocket. We’ve already hit the max with the first surgery, paying $2700 out of pocket, so the rest of the surgeries in 2023 will be entirely out of pocket - each surgery estimated between $3000 to $5000. The costs associated with getting a permanent tooth in 2024 are estimated between $2000-3000. There are a lot of unknowns in the equation, including possibly needing more surgery and implants on the teeth directly adjacent to the most damaged tooth. If so, that would lead to doubling the current estimation.

This whole experience has brought a huge amount of anxiety to my life. It feels like my life is on hold while I navigate all the possibilities, scheduling surgery and recovery times, and figuring out how we’re going to afford this. It’s been especially frustrating since I tried to do everything “right” for years with regular dental visits and proper cleanings, to still end up in this situation. Without these surgeries, the abscess will eventually spread throughout my jaw, causing more bone loss, affecting all my teeth and overall health. The bone grafts will prevent my jaw from atrophying entirely and the implant will provide much needed support to the permanent tooth. The surgeries cannot be delayed. Any help you can give would be most appreciated.

August 2023 update: there were some complications with my February surgery, so we decided to let the area heal for longer than initially planned. My surgeon decided to combine the June/November procedures and will be doing one surgery in September, although he is still unsure if I’ll need an additional surgery. There was also a biopsy done, which came back abnormal. He’ll be investigating it further during the surgery. The total for this one surgery is $8200, entirely out of pocket.