Help Me Heal My Broken Teeth and Broken Spirit

Beloveds, Chad-Henry here. I have been keeping a secret. The area’s greatest affected by my neurological symptoms are not my hands and legs. They are my mouth. This is the first time I am publicly talking about my oral health. It is the only thing I am embarrassed about. To that end if you see me in public, please don’t bring up teeth.

At the beginning of Covid, I began experiencing involuntary mouth movements, including violently grinding and clicking my teeth. I am constantly biting my lip and cheek to the point of drawing blood. There are times when my teeth click so hard the only way to prevent pain and permanent damage is to bite down on thick socks.

My regular dentist referred me to a neurological dentist. Who attributed my significant oral health problems to a form of nerve impairment that affects the jaw and mouth. Given the severity of my overall mouth and severity of neurological symptoms his only recommendation was dental implants. Sadly, they are cost prohibitive.

Despite having a great dentist, I have now lost 7 lost teeth (3 upper, 4 lower). I have 6 cracked teeth, 5 fillings replaced (2 of which were subsequently lost), and my back teeth on both sides are worn down to the gums. Fixing my mouth requires 16 crowns, 16 core build ups, 7 teeth, and 2 bridges.

I currently have upper and lowers partial dentures. In addition to not being able to eat with them, partials must attach to healthy teeth. I have none. This means they move every time I speak. The more I speak the harder it is to understand me. This is devastating as speaking is how I make my money.

I know I am asking for a lot of money. To save costs I plan to got to Mexico for treatment.

WHO IS CHAD-HENRY GOLLER-SOJOURNER?

A Seattle-based writer, solo-performer and recipient of a distinguished Washington State Arts Commission Performing Arts Fellowship. His work has been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and featured on NPR. Chad is the creator of three solo performances.

Marching in Gucci: Memoirs of a Well-Dressed Black AIDS Activist, a Multimedia Solo Performance. Set in NYC during the height of the AIDS Crisis Marching … explores the paradoxical and precarious relationship between fighting AIDS while simultaneously engaging in self-harming behaviors.

Riding in Cars with Black People & Other Newly Dangerous Acts: A Memoir in Vanishing Whiteness. The groundbreaking and crushingly honest story of what happens when a black boy, raised by white parents, “ages out” of honorary white and suburban privilege and into a world where folklore, statistics, and conjecture deem him dangerous until proven otherwise.

Sitting in Circles with Rich White Girls: Memoirs of a Bulimic Black Boy, debuted July 2008, and chronicles the performer’s life-long affair with the scale and ten-plus year liaison with an eating disorder.

Set in NYC during the height of the AIDS Crisis, Marching in Gucci: Memoirs of a Well-Dressed Black AIDS Activist, is a Multimedia Solo Performance, that explores the paradoxical and precarious relationship between fighting AIDS while simultaneously engaging in self-harming behaviors.