Samuel's Teeth Fund
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I am John Adams, Samuel's dad, and I need to raise some money to pay for some critical restorative dental work for Samuel.
Samuel is currently 8 years old and has a genetic condition called EEC (ectodermal ecrtodactyly clefting syndrome), or ectodermal dysplasia, which comes with a long list of medical issues that affect his hands, feet, eyes, skin and teeth.
Whe he was just a baby, we began treatment for his hands through surgery at Scottish Rite hospital in Dallas. Those surgeries have been completed and they were able to separate some his fingers that were joined together at birth. We also knew that he would likely be missing most of his permanent teeth and we were unfortunately correct. He has a total of 6 permanent teeth, 5 of which have grown in.
The reason I am asking for help is because he needs so much dental work to happen at once and we simply cannot afford the cost. A few years ago, we took Samuel to Children's hospital in Dallas where his dentist, Dr. Morgan, put in several crowns and fillings while Samuel was under anesthesia. The dental bill, at the time, was around $4,000 and the hospital cost was supposed to be covered by insurance minus the standard deductible/20% amount. Well, our medical insurance adamantly rejected the claim and Children's medical center sent us a bill for $12,000 that was eventually appealed down to about $9,000. I paid Children's what I could every month but after 2 years they sent my account to collections. (I have always heard that hospitals don't do that to people but they sure did it to us). I am still paying off that debt.
So, today Samuel now needs crowns over all of the rest of his teeth that were not crowned the first time around. His few permanent teeth have finally come in (or are coming in now) and they have little to no enamel left. He has to have permanent crowns so that his teeth can last as long as possible. Later, as an adult, he will eventually get some implants.
We had a treatment plan drawn up with Samuel's dentist and the treatment for his remaining crowns comes in at $8000 (after insurnace). Dr. Morgan tells us that he has worked out a flat fee arrangement with the hopsital for $3000. I have asked for $12000 in this donation campaign to help adjust for any extra charges the hopsital may send us, changes in the procedure when the operation starts, deductible costs, and so on.
The longer we wait for his treatment, the higher chance he has for his jaw to lose bone mass due to the lack of permanent teeth. This morning (December 28, 2015) we had 4 crowns put onto his bottom four front teeth, but they will probably have to be replaced when his other crowns are put in so that they all fit to help him chew. Those 4 crowns will cost around $800 to $1000 after dental insurance benefits and we can spread that cost over the next year.
If it was as easy as 4 teeth a year we could probably do this on our own, but all of this teeth (literally every single tooth) have significant enamel loss and cavities due to his genetic condition and it gets worse every month. To sum it up, we need to get all of the work done as soon as possible so that he has a good chance of keeping his teeth and will have enough bone when he is an adult to get permanent implants.
Please help if you can, we will be enormously grateful for any and every donation. I will post pictures here of his new teeth and crowns and keep you posted of every tooth that is saved!
Samuel is currently 8 years old and has a genetic condition called EEC (ectodermal ecrtodactyly clefting syndrome), or ectodermal dysplasia, which comes with a long list of medical issues that affect his hands, feet, eyes, skin and teeth.
Whe he was just a baby, we began treatment for his hands through surgery at Scottish Rite hospital in Dallas. Those surgeries have been completed and they were able to separate some his fingers that were joined together at birth. We also knew that he would likely be missing most of his permanent teeth and we were unfortunately correct. He has a total of 6 permanent teeth, 5 of which have grown in.
The reason I am asking for help is because he needs so much dental work to happen at once and we simply cannot afford the cost. A few years ago, we took Samuel to Children's hospital in Dallas where his dentist, Dr. Morgan, put in several crowns and fillings while Samuel was under anesthesia. The dental bill, at the time, was around $4,000 and the hospital cost was supposed to be covered by insurance minus the standard deductible/20% amount. Well, our medical insurance adamantly rejected the claim and Children's medical center sent us a bill for $12,000 that was eventually appealed down to about $9,000. I paid Children's what I could every month but after 2 years they sent my account to collections. (I have always heard that hospitals don't do that to people but they sure did it to us). I am still paying off that debt.
So, today Samuel now needs crowns over all of the rest of his teeth that were not crowned the first time around. His few permanent teeth have finally come in (or are coming in now) and they have little to no enamel left. He has to have permanent crowns so that his teeth can last as long as possible. Later, as an adult, he will eventually get some implants.
We had a treatment plan drawn up with Samuel's dentist and the treatment for his remaining crowns comes in at $8000 (after insurnace). Dr. Morgan tells us that he has worked out a flat fee arrangement with the hopsital for $3000. I have asked for $12000 in this donation campaign to help adjust for any extra charges the hopsital may send us, changes in the procedure when the operation starts, deductible costs, and so on.
The longer we wait for his treatment, the higher chance he has for his jaw to lose bone mass due to the lack of permanent teeth. This morning (December 28, 2015) we had 4 crowns put onto his bottom four front teeth, but they will probably have to be replaced when his other crowns are put in so that they all fit to help him chew. Those 4 crowns will cost around $800 to $1000 after dental insurance benefits and we can spread that cost over the next year.
If it was as easy as 4 teeth a year we could probably do this on our own, but all of this teeth (literally every single tooth) have significant enamel loss and cavities due to his genetic condition and it gets worse every month. To sum it up, we need to get all of the work done as soon as possible so that he has a good chance of keeping his teeth and will have enough bone when he is an adult to get permanent implants.
Please help if you can, we will be enormously grateful for any and every donation. I will post pictures here of his new teeth and crowns and keep you posted of every tooth that is saved!
Organizer
John Adams
Organizer
Irving, TX