Restoring Elisa's Front Teeth
Donation protected
On July 28, 2011, Elisa was at summer camp. While jumping into the pool, her chin hit the diving board. Her front teeth went through the tissue between her chin and bottom lip and the top teeth ended up in the bottom of the pool. The lifeguards were heroic - one rescued Elisa and began first aid, and the other dove for and saved her teeth.
The emergency staff at the hospital praised the camp's response and said they did everything right. They were able to get the teeth reimplanted and perform surgery on her lip. Since then, she has had the following procedures: apexification to try to save the roots (unsuccessful, but it did buy us time), reparation of the broken teeth, orthodontia, and distraction osteogenesis to prepare for implants.
Once her braces came off, it became very clear that her front teeth have been experiencing resorption all along. They are discolored and recently began to come loose from the gum tissue. There are simply no more roots left. Her bone cells had identified her teeth as foreign substances and began to attack them.
On March 8, Elisa will have a procedure to extract bone from the back of her mouth (wisdom teeth area, which will also be removed at that time) and graft it into the front of her mouth. Those two front teeth will be removed, and she will be fitted with a prosthesis at that time. The surgery to place the base for implants will follow in the summer, before she starts college, but Elisa will not completely be done with all of her procedures until 2019.
The temporary teeth prosthetic itself will cost $950 on February 20. The first oral surgery for harvesting and placing bone grafts will cost at least $3,000, followed by the implant placement surgery in July. Our oral surgeon has offered a discount because of our insurance companies' policies against paying for this type of treatment, but that procedure will again be $3,000. The other temporary and permanent crowns will be over $5,000. Our medical insurance will not pay since the injury was so far in the past. Our dental insurance covers a portion of crowns and anesthesia, but is mostly helpful for routine care, like cleanings and x-rays. X-rays, bondings, and teeth molds have cost over $800 in the past two weeks.
We are praying for healing, primarily, but we are also praying for God's provision. We had not planned on asking for money in such a public forum, but friends and family have suggested we make the need known.
If you normally tithe or give offerings to your church, please do not let this replace or detract from your offerings. Elisa's need should not take precedence over your regular works of generosity. We ask that you, first and foremost, pray for our brave girl as she walks this road, and as we trust in God to provide all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
Joshua 1:9
Colossians 3:12-17
The emergency staff at the hospital praised the camp's response and said they did everything right. They were able to get the teeth reimplanted and perform surgery on her lip. Since then, she has had the following procedures: apexification to try to save the roots (unsuccessful, but it did buy us time), reparation of the broken teeth, orthodontia, and distraction osteogenesis to prepare for implants.
Once her braces came off, it became very clear that her front teeth have been experiencing resorption all along. They are discolored and recently began to come loose from the gum tissue. There are simply no more roots left. Her bone cells had identified her teeth as foreign substances and began to attack them.
On March 8, Elisa will have a procedure to extract bone from the back of her mouth (wisdom teeth area, which will also be removed at that time) and graft it into the front of her mouth. Those two front teeth will be removed, and she will be fitted with a prosthesis at that time. The surgery to place the base for implants will follow in the summer, before she starts college, but Elisa will not completely be done with all of her procedures until 2019.
The temporary teeth prosthetic itself will cost $950 on February 20. The first oral surgery for harvesting and placing bone grafts will cost at least $3,000, followed by the implant placement surgery in July. Our oral surgeon has offered a discount because of our insurance companies' policies against paying for this type of treatment, but that procedure will again be $3,000. The other temporary and permanent crowns will be over $5,000. Our medical insurance will not pay since the injury was so far in the past. Our dental insurance covers a portion of crowns and anesthesia, but is mostly helpful for routine care, like cleanings and x-rays. X-rays, bondings, and teeth molds have cost over $800 in the past two weeks.
We are praying for healing, primarily, but we are also praying for God's provision. We had not planned on asking for money in such a public forum, but friends and family have suggested we make the need known.
If you normally tithe or give offerings to your church, please do not let this replace or detract from your offerings. Elisa's need should not take precedence over your regular works of generosity. We ask that you, first and foremost, pray for our brave girl as she walks this road, and as we trust in God to provide all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
Joshua 1:9
Colossians 3:12-17
Organizer
Jamie Hatfield
Organizer
Roanoke, VA
