Lily needs reconstructive dental surgery
This fundraiser was created to help my daughter, Lily, who is disabled and on limited income from part time work, is also in urgent need of restorative dental surgery to give her functional teeth and get her out of pain. All funds raised from this campaign will go directly to help cover Lily's overwhelming dental expenses.
Lily's Health Situation:
Lily's current dental situation is a culmination of many things out of her control. She has a genetic collagen defect called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), that also affects her teeth and gums. In 2019, a large gastrogastric fistula, that had been the cause of severe anemia and malnutrition for over a decade, was accidentally discovered while Lily was in the hospital with pneumonia. In August of 2020, she underwent major surgery to repair the fistula, and has been working with a nutritionist and her surgeon's team to keep tabs on her blood levels and nutrition. Lily has excelled in her recovery, and is now able to eat and digest food properly, but because of the nutritional damage caused by the fistula, her dental issues are escalating. Over the years, she has spent hundreds of hours in dental chairs (mostly at dental schools), trying to stabilize and save her teeth, but the health issues continued to break them down. Lily's EDS also makes it harder for her to get numb with most -caine (endocaine, novocaine, lidocaine, etc) injections, so many procedures in the past were done when she wasn't numb and could feel the work being done. She has now found a numbing injection that will work for people with EDS (Marcaine, which is common for dentists to have, but rarely used anymore because it doesn't last as long and it raises the heart rate), but not before developing severe dental phobia because of past work done.
Because of her EDS and other health issues (hip dysplasia, osteoarthritis, degenerative disk disease, trigeminal neuralgia, cranio-cervical instability), she is disabled and on a limited income. The complexity of her situation also means that her treatment goes beyond what Medicaid dentists can provide for her, so all of the work is out of pocket.
The dental surgeon that will be doing most of the work on Lily's teeth is specialized in dealing with patients with dental phobias, disabilities, and very complex cases. He has shown so much care, and is willing and able to see her through this difficult stretch of procedures, when so many other dentists had to turn her away.
How will this money be spent?
As you might know, dental care can get very costly, especially when things get complicated. Lily's EDS affects more than just her ability to get numb from injections. The collagen in the dentin and gums is also faulty, making her teeth (even ones with crowns!) wear away, get infected, and/or dissolve at the root until they break off! We're hoping that we can save as many of her teeth as possible, and get her teeth, gums and jaw stabilized before the situation gets worse.
The plan is to get the fires put out and stabilize any of the teeth that can be saved. Also, using a bone graft, we need to see if Lily's jaw bone can even handle an implant (either for a replacement tooth or to anchor a dental appliance).
Here's how the cost breaks down:
First appt:
Extraction of 4 teeth (the currently infected canine tooth, a dead molar, possibly the other canine tooth, and the roots leftover from a molar and premolar that have already broken off) - $1100
Cavities filled for the 2 front teeth - $430
Bone grafts for the 4 extracted teeth - $1500 (This is the cost of one bone graft! He will be doing all 4 for that price since it will be done during the same appt)
Temporary dentures/flippers (since the gaps left will make chewing food impossible otherwise) - $1200
IV Sedation - $900 (good for any appts within 6 months of the first one)
Subtotal: $5130
Subsequent appts:
Perio scale/root planing - $400
Resin composite fillings (1 surface) for 4 teeth - $800
Resin composite fillings (2 surfaces) for 3 teeth - $645
Subtotal: $1845
Dental Implants:
Endosteal Screw ($2200 each, min 2 needed) - $4400
Implant Crown ($1750 each, min 2 needed) - $3500
Subtotal: $7900
She will need at least 2 implants to help anchor whatever appliances she able to get. Best case scenario would be that she's able to get implants for all the missing teeth (scheduled for 5 so far), which would be $19,750
Total: $14,875 – 26,725
We've set the total at $30,000 since (with pre and post-op expenses) that's the high end, and it's good to dream big! Anything will help, and be able to get her out of danger.
Why doesn't she just get them all pulled out and have dentures?
Good question! The answer is in the jaw bone. Many studies show that patients with EDS are able to wear dental implants with minimal issues, but dentures can often wear away the jaw bone and cause the appliance to have to be refitted/replaced every few years. Implanted teeth can last for decades and reduce the threat of infection and bone loss, and increase the functionality. Also, if she can get the necessary work done to stabilize her teeth, she won't need all of them replaced, which is the goal.
This fund rasier is so important to me because Lily has worked so hard to overcome the EDS challenges she's had over the years. I really wish I had the money to pay for all of these treatments myself, but since I'm retired and drawing socical security, I have a very limited income as well. I've helped others in the past using gofundme. I've seen that it's a great way to help people afford the medical care that they need.
If you would like to, and are able to, help Lily get the dental work she needs, any donation through this fundraiser would be greatly appreciated. If you're not able to help financially, please consider sharing this to help get the word out! Thank you so much!!!
