HELP PUT A SMILE BACK ON MY FACE
Donation protected
I didnt always have the "perfect" smile, for whatever reason i never had braces even though I did have spaces between my teeth, they were uneven in size but still not awful. When I was 16 I became a summertime nanny to three children who's father was a dentist. He asked if I would be his guinea pig for a process he had never done before called "bonding". "Dental bonding is a procedure in which a tooth-colored resin material (a durable plastic material) is applied and hardened with a special light, which ultimately "bonds" the material to the tooth to restore or improve person's smile." (from WebMD) Its a temporary fix that lasts about 10 years.
When my grandmother died she left me some money and with part of that money I got dental veneers. Dental veneers (sometimes called porcelain veneers or dental porcelain laminates) are wafer-thin, custom-made shells of tooth-colored materials designed to cover the front surface of teeth to improve your appearance. These shells are bonded to the front of the teeth changing their color, shape, size, or length. (from WebMD) FINALLY the perfect smile. I have never had so much self confidence as I did back in those days. I was at my ideal weight, under 30 years old and all all I had to do to get a smile out from someone was give them one of my own big smiles. Wow looking back at that time now I felt like I was on top of the world, but all good things must come to an end.
Unfortunately over the years the seal on the veneers splits apart and plaque, bacteria, moisture, food, etc gets behind the veneer and rots the small amount of existing tooth the veneer is attached to, so at some point the tooth will break off, This has happened to me twice now, both times right in the front of my mouth.
I looked up the definition of vain and vanity and neither one are particularly attractive definitions
vain [veyn] adjective
1. excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.; conceited: a vain dandy.
2. proceeding from or showing pride in or concern about one's appearance, qualities, etc.; resulting from or displaying vanity: He made some vain remarks about his accomplishments.
Of course I realize there are HUGE problems in our world and in the big scheme of things my tooth falls way below the level of importance to most people. But for me its part of who I am, it greatly effects my self esteem and my self confidence. My smile is a HUGE part of my personality. I don't smile like i used to, if I laugh I look like Misss Celie and cover my mouth up with my hand, and I never smile for photos, I even try to avoid photos if I can. If you look at my Facebook photos, the albums of me with friends in particular you know what a ham I am and how BIG i like to flash a smile. IM at a loss of what to do next, my insurance has already paid for everything up to now. The rest is up to me. They need to do a "build up" because there is nothing to attach a crown to, then there's the crown. Total cost $679.00
Over the past years I have had friends hold benefits to pay their medical bills, or at least help them pay them pay a portion of their bills. I always kind of thought that was odd.. I have a bill from a 2009 hospital stay for about $13,000 before I had any insurance. I never expected anyone else to be responsible for it but me. But now I understand why people ask for a helping hand.
When my tooth first fell out it was during one of my depressed episodes and I wanted to just give up, I definitely wasn't going to go out and be seen in public with a missing tooth. Well of course I have gone out into the world and even enjoyed myself. I have so many medical issues I am dealing with right now and I look at my tooth as one of those issues. I cant imagine what you as a reader are thinking when you read this. I'm sure parts of this I come across as an extremely vain person, but Im being honest when I say this issue truly gets me down on a regular basis.
So when I saw that some woman did a Go Fund Me Campaign for a boob job i thought, what the hell have I got to lose? Ive waited a while to post this because I had to make sure I was ready for the criticism and snide remarks some people might make. So here it is my plea for financial help.
If you would rather pay directly to my dentist Im sure that can be arranged just message me for contact info.
UPDATE. Im currently looking into a dentist in Tijuana so the cost could come down considerably. Ill change the amount when I get an estimate.
When my grandmother died she left me some money and with part of that money I got dental veneers. Dental veneers (sometimes called porcelain veneers or dental porcelain laminates) are wafer-thin, custom-made shells of tooth-colored materials designed to cover the front surface of teeth to improve your appearance. These shells are bonded to the front of the teeth changing their color, shape, size, or length. (from WebMD) FINALLY the perfect smile. I have never had so much self confidence as I did back in those days. I was at my ideal weight, under 30 years old and all all I had to do to get a smile out from someone was give them one of my own big smiles. Wow looking back at that time now I felt like I was on top of the world, but all good things must come to an end.
Unfortunately over the years the seal on the veneers splits apart and plaque, bacteria, moisture, food, etc gets behind the veneer and rots the small amount of existing tooth the veneer is attached to, so at some point the tooth will break off, This has happened to me twice now, both times right in the front of my mouth.
I looked up the definition of vain and vanity and neither one are particularly attractive definitions
vain [veyn] adjective
1. excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.; conceited: a vain dandy.
2. proceeding from or showing pride in or concern about one's appearance, qualities, etc.; resulting from or displaying vanity: He made some vain remarks about his accomplishments.
Of course I realize there are HUGE problems in our world and in the big scheme of things my tooth falls way below the level of importance to most people. But for me its part of who I am, it greatly effects my self esteem and my self confidence. My smile is a HUGE part of my personality. I don't smile like i used to, if I laugh I look like Misss Celie and cover my mouth up with my hand, and I never smile for photos, I even try to avoid photos if I can. If you look at my Facebook photos, the albums of me with friends in particular you know what a ham I am and how BIG i like to flash a smile. IM at a loss of what to do next, my insurance has already paid for everything up to now. The rest is up to me. They need to do a "build up" because there is nothing to attach a crown to, then there's the crown. Total cost $679.00
Over the past years I have had friends hold benefits to pay their medical bills, or at least help them pay them pay a portion of their bills. I always kind of thought that was odd.. I have a bill from a 2009 hospital stay for about $13,000 before I had any insurance. I never expected anyone else to be responsible for it but me. But now I understand why people ask for a helping hand.
When my tooth first fell out it was during one of my depressed episodes and I wanted to just give up, I definitely wasn't going to go out and be seen in public with a missing tooth. Well of course I have gone out into the world and even enjoyed myself. I have so many medical issues I am dealing with right now and I look at my tooth as one of those issues. I cant imagine what you as a reader are thinking when you read this. I'm sure parts of this I come across as an extremely vain person, but Im being honest when I say this issue truly gets me down on a regular basis.
So when I saw that some woman did a Go Fund Me Campaign for a boob job i thought, what the hell have I got to lose? Ive waited a while to post this because I had to make sure I was ready for the criticism and snide remarks some people might make. So here it is my plea for financial help.
If you would rather pay directly to my dentist Im sure that can be arranged just message me for contact info.
UPDATE. Im currently looking into a dentist in Tijuana so the cost could come down considerably. Ill change the amount when I get an estimate.
Organizer
Kurt Cunningham
Organizer
San Diego, CA