I Was Born Genetically Missing 10 Adult Teeth
Donation protected
Hi Everyone! My name is Marisa Lowe and I am about to share something extremely personal with you and one of my biggest insecurities that I have been struggling with for my entire life. It has taken a very long time for me to get comfortable enough to speak about this subject with even my closest friends.
The official medical diagnosis is called oligodontia.
When I was about 7 years old, my dentist in my hometown in Utah told my mother that I was genetically born MISSING 10 ADULT TEETH. 5 on the bottom and 5 on the top. I had all my baby teeth, but unfortunately, 10 of my adult teeth never developed underneath my baby teeth and gums. This means that at 22 years old today, I still am hanging onto 5 baby teeth.
When I was 12-14 years old, I was lucky enough to have the financial support of my grandmother who spent $3,000 on my braces, which in turn properly positioned the adult teeth that I do have and made room for future implant surgeries. After my braces came off, I had 5 baby teeth still and the other 5 baby teeth had already fallen out by this point, so the orthodontist made a custom clear retainer with fake teeth in it for me to wear until my future surgeries.
When I was 16 years old, my mother found an oral surgeon in Utah who was optimistic to take on my case. At the time, I did not know that implant surgeries were not supposed to take place on 16-year-olds because the mouth is not fully grown or developed at that age. We paid out of pocket $8,000 for this oral surgeon to place 5 implants in the 5 open spaces I had. He placed 4 successful implants on the bottom of my jaw, but unfortunately, he completely botched the 5th one he placed in the top front of my mouth (my lateral incisor).
When he placed #7 (see chart below), it was inserted without proper examination of the bone and he inserted the implant at the wrong angle. As a result, he broke the very thin bone I did have and today, 6 years later, I am still paying the price for it. #7 currently sits in between my gums without any bone surrounding it and has a clear infection with much gum recession, so I need to have surgery to have it extracted and also have bone grafting to fix my bone loss.
As for my other remaining 5 primary/baby teeth, I have to have them extracted as well because they each have very small roots and are extremely loose (I am afraid to eat because they will fall out if I bump them).
After moving to Los Angeles 4 years ago, I have been researching specialists who could help me. I first went to UCLA dentistry and they essentially told me I was too special of a case for them to help me. Then a year later, by literally the grace of God, I have been able to find two HIGHLY QUALIFIED professionals who practice specialized dentistry as well as teach it at USC (University of Southern California). They have both agreed to take me on despite how complicated this is. I'm not going to share their names for privacy reasons, but the two surgeons are a Prosthodontist (specializing in treating and handling dental and facial problems that involve restoring missing tooth and jaw structures) and the other gentleman is a Periodontist (specializing in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of periodontal disease, and in the placement of dental implants).
I have been visiting them for the last few months to finalize my surgeries and this is our plan:
SURGERY #1: Extract remaining baby teeth and failing dental implant. Perform bone grafting and leave it to heal for 2-4 months while wearing a custom made temporary retainer with fake teeth in it.
SURGERY #2: Depending on how much bone comes back from surgery 1, I will have 3-4 posts placed into my jaw and leave it to heal for 3-4 months. After the posts have healed, I will then have my final 5 porcelain crowns placed.
Now here's the catch. My dental insurance is saying this entire process is completely cosmetic and they do not want to cover a single penny of it. I have called and tried countless times to speak with them over these 6 years and they refuse to accept that this is not a "cosmetic surgery." Anybody who has seen this can clearly see and empathize with me because this is not cosmetic, it is my health and unfortunately, this is the card I have been dealt. The beauty in this whole situation is that I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel with these two dental specialists helping me. This is not cosmetic, this is my health and well-being. If you were missing 10 teeth genetically, you would be thinking the exact same thing.
This whole process is going to cost around $26,000 out of pocket for me. I am planning on having the surgery next month in September.
I am about to graduate from University in December with thousands of dollars of student debt and I also have a car loan that I am paying off. Like many Americans during this pandemic, I am also on unemployment so funding is extremely tight right now.
If you could find it in your heart to donate anything even a small amount, I will sincerely appreciate it because you would be giving me the chance at having a real smile that is healthy. You would also be giving me the gift of being able to eat normally with confidence.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart <3
Here is a chart for me to explain visually what was described in the story above.
I currently have 5 implants in # 28, 26, 23, 20, 7
I currently have 5 primary/baby teeth in # 30, 5, 6, 10, 11
The official medical diagnosis is called oligodontia.
When I was about 7 years old, my dentist in my hometown in Utah told my mother that I was genetically born MISSING 10 ADULT TEETH. 5 on the bottom and 5 on the top. I had all my baby teeth, but unfortunately, 10 of my adult teeth never developed underneath my baby teeth and gums. This means that at 22 years old today, I still am hanging onto 5 baby teeth.
When I was 12-14 years old, I was lucky enough to have the financial support of my grandmother who spent $3,000 on my braces, which in turn properly positioned the adult teeth that I do have and made room for future implant surgeries. After my braces came off, I had 5 baby teeth still and the other 5 baby teeth had already fallen out by this point, so the orthodontist made a custom clear retainer with fake teeth in it for me to wear until my future surgeries.
When I was 16 years old, my mother found an oral surgeon in Utah who was optimistic to take on my case. At the time, I did not know that implant surgeries were not supposed to take place on 16-year-olds because the mouth is not fully grown or developed at that age. We paid out of pocket $8,000 for this oral surgeon to place 5 implants in the 5 open spaces I had. He placed 4 successful implants on the bottom of my jaw, but unfortunately, he completely botched the 5th one he placed in the top front of my mouth (my lateral incisor).
When he placed #7 (see chart below), it was inserted without proper examination of the bone and he inserted the implant at the wrong angle. As a result, he broke the very thin bone I did have and today, 6 years later, I am still paying the price for it. #7 currently sits in between my gums without any bone surrounding it and has a clear infection with much gum recession, so I need to have surgery to have it extracted and also have bone grafting to fix my bone loss.
As for my other remaining 5 primary/baby teeth, I have to have them extracted as well because they each have very small roots and are extremely loose (I am afraid to eat because they will fall out if I bump them).
After moving to Los Angeles 4 years ago, I have been researching specialists who could help me. I first went to UCLA dentistry and they essentially told me I was too special of a case for them to help me. Then a year later, by literally the grace of God, I have been able to find two HIGHLY QUALIFIED professionals who practice specialized dentistry as well as teach it at USC (University of Southern California). They have both agreed to take me on despite how complicated this is. I'm not going to share their names for privacy reasons, but the two surgeons are a Prosthodontist (specializing in treating and handling dental and facial problems that involve restoring missing tooth and jaw structures) and the other gentleman is a Periodontist (specializing in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of periodontal disease, and in the placement of dental implants).
I have been visiting them for the last few months to finalize my surgeries and this is our plan:
SURGERY #1: Extract remaining baby teeth and failing dental implant. Perform bone grafting and leave it to heal for 2-4 months while wearing a custom made temporary retainer with fake teeth in it.
SURGERY #2: Depending on how much bone comes back from surgery 1, I will have 3-4 posts placed into my jaw and leave it to heal for 3-4 months. After the posts have healed, I will then have my final 5 porcelain crowns placed.
Now here's the catch. My dental insurance is saying this entire process is completely cosmetic and they do not want to cover a single penny of it. I have called and tried countless times to speak with them over these 6 years and they refuse to accept that this is not a "cosmetic surgery." Anybody who has seen this can clearly see and empathize with me because this is not cosmetic, it is my health and unfortunately, this is the card I have been dealt. The beauty in this whole situation is that I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel with these two dental specialists helping me. This is not cosmetic, this is my health and well-being. If you were missing 10 teeth genetically, you would be thinking the exact same thing.
This whole process is going to cost around $26,000 out of pocket for me. I am planning on having the surgery next month in September.
I am about to graduate from University in December with thousands of dollars of student debt and I also have a car loan that I am paying off. Like many Americans during this pandemic, I am also on unemployment so funding is extremely tight right now.
If you could find it in your heart to donate anything even a small amount, I will sincerely appreciate it because you would be giving me the chance at having a real smile that is healthy. You would also be giving me the gift of being able to eat normally with confidence.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart <3
Here is a chart for me to explain visually what was described in the story above.I currently have 5 implants in # 28, 26, 23, 20, 7
I currently have 5 primary/baby teeth in # 30, 5, 6, 10, 11
Organizer
Marisa Nicole Lowe
Organizer
Burbank, CA