Hi, I'm Andria Yuu. I'm a transgender woman, a disabled veteran of the U.S. armed forces, and the mom of a ten-year-old rabbit named Vanilla, whom I've had since she was seven weeks old. I'm asking for help because my teeth have stopped being just something I'm embarrassed about. At this point they hurt — most days, in some form, and some nights badly enough that sleep just isn't happening.

What this actually feels like:

It's hard to explain dental pain to someone who hasn't lived with it for years, so I'll try to be specific instead of just saying "it hurts." There's a baseline ache most days that I've gotten frighteningly good at ignoring —the kind you learn to talk, chew, and function through because stopping isn't really an option. Then there are the flare-ups: a sharp jolt when I bite down wrong, a throb that starts after eating and doesn't fully quiet down for hours, sensitivity to anything too hot or too cold that catches me off guard even when I think I'm being careful. I've started avoiding whole categoriesof food — nothing too cold, nothing too chewy, nothing on one side of my mouth at all — not because I don't want them, but because I've learned exactly what triggers a bad night. The nights are the part that wears on me most. I can't count how many times I've been lying in bed, exhausted, unable to sleep because of a tooth throbbing in a way that only dulls instead of actually going away. I wake up tired even after a full night inbed, because it wasn't actually restful. There's also a soreness that sits in my jaw itself, from clenching without realizing it or chewing carefully on one side for so long that the muscles there stay tight all day, and some of that turns into headaches by evening —the kind that don't respond to much, because the actual source of it is still sitting there in my mouth, untreated. I've gotten short-tempered on days that are really just pain in disguise, and it's exhausting trying to explain that to people, so mostly I don't. None of this is dramatic or an emergency on any single day. It's just constant, low-level, and it adds up in a way that's hard to describe to someone who gets to take a functioning mouth for granted.

How I got here:

I served in the armed forces, and I came out the other side with a service-connected disability. (I can provide documentation if anyone needs to see it — I know it's fair to ask before trusting a stranger online.) Something a lot of people don't realize about VA benefits is that a disability rating doesn't automatically come with dental coverage. Mine doesn't cover what I actually need, which is part of why I'm here asking instead of getting this handled through the VA, the way people assume I could. Since then, my income has stayed tight enough that it barely covers the basics: keeping a roof over my own head, helping keep my mom housed too, and making sure Vanilla has everything she needs to stay healthy and fed. Dental care fell to the bottom of that list a long time ago, the way it tends to for a lot of people getting by on a limited, fixed income — and by the time I couldn't ignore it anymore, the damage wasn't the kind fillings could fix. This didn't happen overnight. It's been getting worse for years while I kept telling myself I'd deal with it once things settled down financially, and they never really did. I've tried to manage it on my own in the meantime — over-the counter pain relief on the worst days, being careful about what and how I eat, putting off anything that wasn't a full-blown emergency. None of that actually fixes what's wrong; it just buys a little time before the next flare-up. What I need now is implants, not another temporary patch. Implants are anchored into the jaw itself, so unlike dentures, they won't shift or rub against areas that are already sensitive, and they stop the ongoing bone loss that's part of what's been driving the pain and the loosening in the first place. Dentures would be cheaper, but from what my dentist has explained, they wouldn't actually resolve the underlying problem for someone in my situation — I'd likely be dealing with irritation and refitting for years, still in pain, just a different flavor of it. 

Why I'm asking now:

I'm not asking because I want a nicer smile for its own sake, though I won't pretend that's not part of it too. I'm asking because I'm tired of planning meals around what won't hurt, tired of nights lost to throbbing I can't sleep through, and tired of the low-grade exhaustion that comes from being in some amount of pain almost constantly and just not talking about it. I'm tired of losing focus at bad moments because a flare-up decided to start, and tired of being less patient than I actually want to be with the people around me because I'm quietly gritting through something they can't see. I want to eat a meal without doing math about which side of my mouth can handle it. I want to sleep through a full night without waking up because something in my jaw decided to flare-up at 3 a.m. And yes, somewhere further down the list but still there, I'dl ike to be able to smile in a picture with family without it catching on something that hurts.

The plan:

I've done the research, and I've already chosen who I want to do this work: Smile Now Denver Dentures and Implants, a practice led by Dr. Soren Paape that focuses specifically on dental implants, dentures, and extractions rather than general dentistry. That focus matters to me — I want this handled by people who deal with exactly this, every day, not as a side service. They also do their lab work in-house rather than out sourcing it, which keeps turn around faster and costs lower, and they offer a free consultation to start, which is where I'll be heading once this campaign is far enough along. 

Smile Now Denver Dentures and Implants12031 Tejon St Ste 100, Westminster CO, 80234https://cost.smilenowdenver.com/

Full-arch implant treatment through them startsaround $14,995 per arch, with the final number depending on what a full evaluation shows I actually need. That range is exactly why I'm asking for help instead of trying to grit my teeth, so to speak, and save toward it alone — on my income, saving that kind of money from scratch isn't realistic, and I don't think my mouth has years left in it to wait and find out. They do have financing options for patients who need them, and I'll likely end up using some combination of financing and whatever gets raised here — but financing still means a monthly payment I have to afford afterward, on top of everything else, so the more this campaign covers up front, the more realistic the whole thing becomes long-term. Every dollar raised here goes directly toward my treatment at Smile Now. If I'm fortunate enough to raise more than the final cost, I'll put the rest toward the cleanings and check-ups implants need down the road. I'll post updates here as things move forward — the consultation, the treatment plan once I have a final number, and eventually the results. I'm glad to share the actual cost breakdown once Smile Now finishes my evaluation, so anyone who gives can see exactly where it went. 

What your support would mean:

I know there are a lot of causes competing for attention right now, and I don't take it for granted that anyone would choose to spend their time or money on mine. But if you're able to give anything at all — five dollars, fifty dollars, whatever you can spare — it adds up, and it gets me that much closer to a life where pain isn't quietly running the background of every day. And if you can't give, sharing this with even one person who might be able to helps just as much as a donation would. More than anything, I want to stop being in pain, and I want to stop organizing my whole life around managing it. I've spent long enough treating this as something to just push through quietly, and I don't want to do that anymore. 

Thank you for reading all theway to the end of this, and thank you, genuinely, for anything at all you're able to do.

— Andria