Hi my name is Melissa and I'm from Lubbock Texas. My fiend is in need of extreme emergency dental work. Here is her story in her own words. When I was a kid I sucked my thumb I guess till I was like 5 and it cost me to have an overbite, that was the first starting of my teeth going bad because my bite wasn't lined up. From there I got pregnant at an early age I was 14 and my teeth started deteriorating from that moment. I did get made fun of throughout all my teenage years because of my teeth they started to turn black a couple years after my fourth kid was born. Mind you I did not do drugs nothing to that assort, it's something about being pregnant that can mess up your teeth and it did and like I said the overbite didn't help either.

       In October of 2007 my husband that I had just married that July committed suicide right in front of me. From that moment. I sent my kids with their dad because there dad was dying of cancer in which the day we signed our divorce papers was the day we found out he was terminally ill of cancer. They just lost their step dad too which was pretty much their best friend. We were going through a lot and suicide was on my mind non-stop at that point that's when I picked up a drug habit I started smoking methamphetamines and it took my teeth from bad to extremely worse like my teeth were black in the front they were breaking and falling apart and I certainly was not proud of any of it and I was on a downhill path of nowhere while my kids were staying with their dad cuz I had nowhere to go I didn't know what to do. I quit my job because it reminded me of my husband that was the love of my life that I watched die and I haven't been the same since. 

      In 2015 I got out of jail and started turning my life around I ended up at this guy's house that I kind of knew but I didn't really know and his house was in turmoil, needless to say you couldn't even walk through it so he offered me a place to stay in exchange for me to clean it and get it back to normal living conditions. So I agreed cuz I had nowhere to go.  Me and him ended up together in a relationship. His dad and his stepmom lived in South Korea which we went to visit them that Christmas and his dad offered to pay to get my teeth fixed while we were there. Dental is way cheaper in other countries and he offered to get mine done since his son was getting his teeth fixed as well before his parents moved back to the states. We stayed for 7 weeks and did all the dental work that we had time for. I should of back then had the implants put in but 7 weeks wasn't enough time to do the work not to mention it would of meant another trip to Korea to finish the procedure and we didn't have time and money for that since his parents were fixing to be back in the states.  Thought things were great but they didn't speak English and I kept trying to tell them that I knew I had a real bad periodontal problem that I feared would get worse which would result to me having more problems in the future. 

          In 2022 had already started fearing the worse. My bite was no longer lining up as it should and it seemed to be fading faster than I expected it would. I was watching my gums disappear at a rapid speed. My gums hurt so bad. First I lost my filling in my bottom tooth and the pain was excruciating. Following that I lost my top crowns that I had gotten in Korea. I sat and cried for days. I started using fixodent to keep them in as best as I could so nobody would notice but it was getting to the point that I had nothing to stick them to because my top teeth that were underneath were now fading at a rapid speed. My bottom front teeth were getting loose and those were my real teeth, soon after my bottom two front teeth had fallen out already at the root. The two that were next to those teeth are now extremely loose and about to fall out at the root because my gum line is almost gone. I have so much bone loss I'm scared of it getting into my bloodstream. I'm at complete loss of what to do. I'm getting to the point I can't eat at all anymore even soft foods are hard to eat cuz my gums hurt so bad and so does my teeth, what teeth I have left. The inside of my cheeks hurt all the time. 

         I went to a couple dentists and they have told me that the only solution that is right for my mouth is to get implants, whole mouth implants because dentures will not fit in my mouth right because of the bone loss and the gum loss. Plus there's not really much for them to stick to if I were to have dentures due to that. They will probably only hurt my mouth worse. If anybody can find it in your hearts to help me I would be so much appreciated of you and enterally grateful and thankful for y'all's kindness and for yalls  help so I can live a happier better life. I work at the front desk of a hotel where I'm talking to people all day long, it's extremely embarrassing especially when people I know come in. My son is having a baby and he's in Missouri and he is one that's always made fun of my teeth and I don't want him to see my teeth the way they are now but I want to see my grandson be born or at least see him after he's born that's my goal. But it scares me what.he might say. My confidence is shot, I'm ashamed, and I'm so emotionally embarrassed to say the least.   I pray everyday for a miracle that God will help me through all this. Anybody who reads my story I just want to thank you for just taking the time to read my story whether you help me or not it means a lot that you took the time to read it and i hope y'all share so maybe I get much needed help. Lord knows dental work is so expensive that they estimated me $55,000 just for my dental work and that was 2 years ago before my teeth got this bad so I hope and pray it hasn't gone up much more cuz that's so ridiculous in price that not many in this world could afford. I know I probably won't even come close to that goal so maybe I can at least  go to Mexico and get it done which would be a lot cheaper at half the cost of the US prices, but that's even if I can come up with that much cause that's still alot. 

          For anybody who does help thank you and God bless, for anybody who shares my story to those who may be able to help also thank you and God bless, and for those who just read my story thank you for taking the time to read it and God bless to you too. And if there's a dentist out there that would be willing to help that would be an absolute blessing. This is something I'm not at all proud of doing, asking people for help is so hard to do and for anyone that has any suggestions on how to get it done another way im open to them. 

                                                  Internally Greatful 

                                                           Jessica

          As Jessica's high school friend that all these years I can tell you she is an awesome person with a big heart. She's been through a lot and really needs help. I hope the world can find it in your hearts to dig deep and help her get the surgery she needs. Please my friend is in so much pain mentally emotionally and physically over this and she deserves to smile again.