The Tooth Project

Crystal-Anne is a music teacher at Kwalikum Secondary School in Qualicum, BC. She is going into her 6th year of teaching there and is also currently working on her second year of a Master's in Music Education from the University of Western Ontario. 

A rugby accident in high school knocked out three of Crystal-Anne’s top front teeth. At the time, dental professionals were able to reattach the teeth but knew at some point they would need to be extracted and implants put in place. 

The current cost of implants is about $5000 per tooth, which is considered “cosmetic” by most insurance companies, meaning she will pay out of pocket for this procedure. And with three teeth to get done all at once, the grand total will be $15,000. 

From start to finish, the implants will take about ten months to complete, between the extraction, time to heal and when the implants are in. The extraction is scheduled for the end of October, giving Crystal-Anne time to start the school year with her current front teeth in place and allowing her to coordinate the Honour Ensembles at the British Columbia Music Educator’s Association Conference. She will need to recover and heal several months following the tooth extraction before the implants go in, hopefully before the next school year begins. 

From a young age, Crystal-Anne knew she wanted to be a music teacher, knowing how significant making music together can be in the formative high school years and desiring to spend her life creating a safe space where students belong. She does just that each day - not only pushing her students to excel musically, but also creating an environment where her students know they will be welcomed, accepted, loved, and heard - not just by her, but by their peers as well. She also shares this love for people and music in her local church and hopes to continue to do so throughout her treatment.

Crystal-Anne pursued her childhood dream of becoming a music teacher, knowing that music brings people together. Her big heart for her students is what keeps her getting to school early, staying late, and sacrificing her lunch hour most days of the week during the school year so that she can run choir rehearsals or band practices. Her bands and choirs keep her busy throughout the year with band trips, festivals and concerts. She certainly earns her time off during Spring Break and summer vacation!

Crystal-Anne would appreciate donations for her dental implants. She is a little worried about how losing her three front teeth will impact her ability to teach in the coming school year - let’s imagine for a minute the difficulty of teaching a choir proper enunciation for a choral piece or demonstrating for young band students how to get a proper sound out of a wind instrument without three front teeth. 

She will no doubt continue to show up for her students like she always has. This project's funding will help cover her dental implants so that she can pay for her Master's education and continue paying back her student loans from her undergraduate degree. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and to walk alongside Crystal-Anne through this significant dental procedure.