Help Save Shannon's Teeth

Hi friends, my name is Shannon and I'm a 36 year old queer woman. I take care of my mom full time and even though I have been caring for her for several years now, we still haven't been able to get me paid from the state. Because of this, we have been using savings and her disability and social security payments to pay for rent, groceries, medical supplies, etc. since 2019.

I am currently on Medicaid but there are no dentists in my area who are accepting patients for this type of insurance, leading me to not go to the dentist for quite a few years. Further away from us, there is a dental school and while this is much more affordable, the time spent travelling back and forth as well as at the time for the procedure takes me away from my mom too long, particularly if there is an emergency at home. I had two severe tooth issues in 2023, one a breakage that lead to two teeth being pulled and another leading to a root canal and crown, all being paid out of pocket (which was several thousand dollars). So when yet another tooth broke last year, I made the difficult choice to avoid getting it checked out, particularly since it wasn't painful.

Until Friday, February 21st. For the first time in several months, the tooth started to hurt, to the point where pain killers, ice, over the counter tooth medications, and at home remedies weren't helping. My sleep for the last several days has been minimal and difficult, with the pain waking me up multiple times and the act of finding a comfortable position almost impossible. I finally accepted that I needed to go to the emergency dentist who said that the tooth would need a root canal and crown, with it possibly being pulled if the crown wouldn't fit.

I was able to purchase the dentist's insurance for $29/a year, which gives me 20% off procedures, but this still left me with a bill of $2700ish. This is a solid two months' worth of total expenses for us and is really something we can't afford, but the dentist highly suggested trying to save the tooth if possible since it is an important one for chewing.

Hence, here we are. I am really hoping to raise enough to cover most, if not all, of the cost for this tooth. Thanks to a friend, I already have $1,000 which is an amazing start that I am very grateful for regardless of the success of this fundraiser. I greatly appreciate your donations and shares!