Give Bert his smile back!

So many of you know my son, Bertram (aka Bert, Bertalert, Bertalertalertram, etc). He has been on a wild ride the last three years working through treatment for his juvenile idiopathic arthritis. He spent a year on the cheapest and insurance-preferred treatment, methotrexate.

Methotrexate is an immunosuppressant. It’s used for cancer patients as well as autoimmune diseases such as arthritis. It helps stop your body from attacking itself, but that also means it isn’t defending itself either. He spend over a year (amidst a global pandemic) getting sick so easily and fighting CoVID-19 twice.

One of the lesser-known side effects of methotrexate is the damage they do to your newly forming teeth. You only see it with young children as they still haven’t gotten all of their adult teeth.

Bertram’s six-year molars were all formed in the gums without any enamel because of the methotrexate’s effect of shutting down the body’s natural defenses. When they erupted through the gums, they didn’t stand a chance. We had no idea until it was too late. At his first dentist appt after his teeth came through, they were already crumbling. We sought a second opinion, not understanding why this had happened at the time, only to allow his teeth to become fully ruined.

He’s on Humira now, which doesn’t have the same kind of effects (we hope), and it’s been without the side effects we hated so much with the methotrexate. His twelve year molars should come in without problems and I know he’ll have wisdom teeth one day.

One of the last effects from Bert’s time on this medication is his tremendous gag reflex. He spent over a year throwing up, battling nausea and fighting stomach pain. You might see why this is related, right? He can barely put his own finger in his mouth without gagging. Getting in to even LOOK at those teeth has caused a tremendous amount of anxiety and upset for both Bertram AND the dentists. He’ll need general anesthesia for the procedure.

However, Bert is too old, according to insurance, to receive that benefit (seven is the cut-off). I’ve tried to appeal, but a gag reflex isn’t an exception in their eyes. Anyone who has dealt with an aspiration pneumonia would probably feel differently.

I’m asking for help to cover the remaining costs of the anesthesia and teeth extraction. He’s been in pain for too long with his arthritis and now his teeth, and I just want him to be able to not hurt for once in his life.

Thank you for taking time out for Bert!!