Restore Heather's Smile and Ease Her Pain

Hi, my name is Heather. I'm a 38-year-old mom of 3 (17, 12, & 5) and I currently work full-time at a medical clinic. I was diagnosed with MS in 2006, and after trying several medications over the years, we've finally settled on an infusion process twice a year, a type of chemo, if you will.

In the last couple of years, I've been struggling with severe back pain. We discovered I have arthritis in my back, disc degenerative disease, 2 herniated discs, and a severely atrophied multifidus muscle. I've tried physical therapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy, medication, and epidural steroid injections. The injections helped the first time but not the second or third. When it gets bad, I can't stand very long, grocery shop on my own, cook dinner without sitting in a chair in front of the stove, or even dress myself. I'm currently on my 3rd appeal with insurance to allow a neurostimulator to be implanted in hopes that will help.

Because of the type of medication for my MS and the fact that I have Enamel Hypoplasia, meaning I was born without enamel on my teeth, they are severely degraded. My medication causes my teeth to crack and break, and with no enamel on my teeth, everything I do destroys them. I don't smile with my teeth showing because I'm extremely self-conscious of them. I'm missing teeth and some are just broken. I have a partial that we keep adding teeth to, but insurance won't allow any more, so the dentist recommended a denture for the top set of teeth. My insurance denied the prior authorization for my denture, and my teeth are breaking too fast for the dentist to keep up with. They said I could still self-pay, but that would be about $1500 upfront that I just do not have nor will I have in the future. I attempted to get implants, which would be so much better, but a full set is $40k or just the top of my mouth is $22k. The financing they have would only offer me $2k, definitely not enough. I just want my smile back with no more cracking teeth and constant dentist visits. I feel like everything keeps getting denied right and left while my health declines. I know asking for the implant cost would be too much, so I'm only asking for enough to cover the one denture, please.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.