My daughter, Selena, miraculously survived a 100 foot rock climbing fall in 2004. She did break her back (she's in a wheelchair now) and has some damage to her jaw. This has caused her jaw to not open fully.



She's done remarkably well since the accident and has the greatest attitude about her situation.



She has uncontrollable muscle spasms which have caused excessive teeth grinding. This has resulted in such a deteriorated condition that endodontics have stated that she will need to have all of her teeth removed and full dentures. They state that the dentures will need implants as there will be nothing to anchor them. They also have said that the limitation of her opening her jaw fully will require a specialist in order to do the proper job.

If you hadn't noticed on the page there are a number of pictures that you can scroll through. The first is Selena when she was at New College, Sarasota, FL. The others are images of her teeth. They might be hard to look at but we wanted you to understand how desperate her situation ahs become.



She loves tutoring children which she can do from her home. She would love to continue with this and getting her beautiful smile back will be an asset to her relationship with the kids. More importantly she will not have as many infections as she has been obtaining. These infections have caused numerous trips to the hospital.



The endodontic has told us that the denture work alone will be $45,000 and the surgery and implants will be much more than that. So, conservatively we are looking at close to $100,000. We haven't even gone to a surgeon yet as we aren't sure how all this can get paid. Since I've never needed any significant dental work I was in a state of shock hearing this figure. Since then I've learned that a single tooth implant can cost $5,000. This work will take about three months as the oral surgeon must remove her teeth and set the implants. Temporary dentures will be made and put in place. It will take some time for all the gum swelling to subside and the orientation of the implants stabilized. Once that happens the final dentures can be made and then applied. We are told that her lower jaw will be permanent dentures that won't be removed but her upper will have removable dentures that will help allow her to clean properly.



Selena is 34 years old and still has a lot of life in her. She is on Medicaid but the sad truth is that Medicaid doesn't pay for any dental work. Dental insurance will only cover $1450 annually. Most of her teeth have already been worn through the enamel and much of the softer dentin. Many of the teeth are only 1mm and close to being totally gone with root exposure. Fortunately, she isn't in much pain but her loose teeth make it very difficult for her to eat.



I will have a separate bank account set up for her funding. She is not allowed to receive the money directly or it will affect her eligibility for Medicaid. Anything that you can contribute to her cause would be greatly appreciated.



Any contributor will get personal replies from Selena with updates on her dental situation. She is incredible with teaching mathematics up to all levels of high school. She can tutor you or your children remotely and would love to offer this to you.

Please consider adding 3% to the amount you would like to donate to selena in order to account for crowdrise fees.

Any amount is welcome.

Please help Selena SMILE.