Hello everyone! For those of you that don't know me, my name is Heather. I am not one to ask for help much because I know that there are bigger issues than what I am raising money for. I was not going to make this GoFundMe, but due to costs, it has come to this.

Backstory: Growing up, I have never had the best of luck with my dental health. Did I miss a brush/floss here and there? Yes, but genetics were not on my side with weak enamel making those small cavities into bigger cavities no matter what solution I found to help. I have Amelogenesis Imperfecta, which means my enamel is more prone to decay, and once it starts, it is very hard to stop. I had four root canals by the age of 18, and it just got worse. It got to the point where my teeth were breaking just while eating soft things like mac and cheese. In 2019/2020, I had to have about 10 teeth taken out on top in order to get a flipper so I could eat normal foods. In the summer of 2021, I had my first oral surgery to replace all of my top teeth because the flipper was giving me more issues than solving them. At the time, I could only afford the top teeth to be done. In the summer of 2022, I got my bottom teeth done, but with a snap-in denture. With the snap-in denture, I have two posts that I can snap my denture onto. It worked fine for the first year, and I could not afford the other posts at the time. After a couple of years, having only the front posts done caused problems with eating and food getting underneath, causing sores. The next step for my snap-in is to get a screw-in denture like my top one. The only problem with this is that dental insurance is not covering much at all due to it being deemed "cosmetic," even though it is needed for every day wear and work now.

Getting my new denture/teeth made and having them ready for my surgery day alone costs $18,500. With the surgery, materials needed, and anesthesia, the other part of the process will cost an additional $18,400 at most. As a full-time teacher and part-time retail worker, I still will not make enough to cover this total in time for my surgery this summer without maxxing out my credit cards.

Any help would be appreciated. If you are not able to donate, I would appreciate if you could just share this link. If you are able to donate, any amount would be something I'd be grateful for and put towards my surgery.