New Artwork That Will Hopefully Help Me Out: I'm Kinda Mad at 14 Year Old Me

Your Smile Makes Me Giddy and Stuff-New Art! Find me HERE!

I really didn't want to make my "blogging come back" with a post like this. I really wanted to make a cute collage of fun etsy picks or perhaps some awesome DIYS that I have found on other blogs that I wanted to share with you all.

I went to the dentist last week for an emergency visit. I had taken a bite out of a peach and noticed little pieces of my front tooth left behind on it. I panicked and called the dentist. When I got there I was given the news that I knew was coming but hope I could avoid.

I need another dental implant.

Back track: When I was 14 years old I had fainted face first down a flight of stairs. My poor mom witnessed the entire thing. She screamed my name and I wanted to say back to her  "I'M OK MA!" but I was completely knocked unconscious (side note: I am a firm believer that people in a coma can hear you since I was able to hear everything my mom was saying to me even thought I was knocked out) she thought I was no longer "with her" (if you catch my drift) because she had found me unresponsive and in a pool of blood. I came to, put my hand to my mouth and in my hand was my front tooth. Now, I don't mean that little nub that you see when you smile, I mean the ENTIRE tooth that is rooted into your jaw (its about and 1-1/2 long) there was a giant hole in my gums and my teeth were really loose. Till this day doctors have no clue how I didn't snap my neck right there and die, so I would like to think I am here for a reason.

She rushed me to the dentist where I had gotten 72 stitches placed into my mouth. They attempted to root canal my tooth back into my head but my jaw rejected it. I had to get 2 dental implants on my front tooth and the little one next to it (if you are not sure what a dental implant is basically they rip your teeth out of your jaw and literally screw a  long screw into your jaw that then gets a little fake tooth glued to it) the process is painful, scary and expensive. Insurance companies do not cover dental implants because their reasoning is that this process is "cosmetic". I do not know who in their right mind would willingly put themselves through this torture. I literally had no teeth in my head and they were claiming I was doing this to "improve my looks" (HA!)

Since then I have had so many issues with my jaw/mouth. My jaw is constantly popping since it was knocked out of place (if you look closely at my face my jaw is actually tilted towards one side). Last year my jaw locked up on me and I couldn't open my mouth more than an inch big, I had a hard difficult time eating. My gums are receding upwards and food is constantly getting stuck in there causing it to be a breeding ground for bacteria. Sometimes my face goes numb which doctors believe is caused from nerve damage when I took that spill down the stairs.

Flash forward to today, my other front tooth that was perfectly fine has started to fail on me 15 years later. It is super brittle with a giant hole in the back. Soon it will snap in half completely and I will be left with no front tooth there.

I had a hard time accepting this news, I know it might sound silly or vain to you but I had a hard time dealing with having fake teeth at age 14. I was happy that at least ONE of the front teeth were still real, was still "a part of me". Now I have to have a piece of me ripped out and replaced with a fake. My smile will change and I will always know deep down inside that i was not given these teeth.

Maybe you think I'm being overly dramatic, maybe you understand where I am coming from, but I am having a really hard time with coming to terms that I will soon look different. I never understood people that willingly get plastic surgery to dramatically change their features, why would you ever mess with that?

Long story short this is coming at a really bad time. Bub and I just purchased a home and we had to fork over a lot of money at closing up front (I won't tell you how much because that is tacky and neither here nor there but let's just say we could've bought ourselves a reaaaally nice car with the money we handed over in one lump sum)

As I said before insurance will not cover this process for me and will end up costing me around 6,000-7,000 dollars. I would never ever ask anyone to "donate" money to help me pay for this because I am no more deserving that anyone else out there. I am no better that anyone and am not entitled to anything like that.

Instead I am releasing a new print into my shop where 100% of the profits will go to my "Leonora Needs A Decent Smile And Not A Hole In Her Mouth" Fund. Please, do not feel obligated to purchase this artwork. Even if you just share it on your facebook, twitter or blog that would help me tremendously. I am going to be selling 2 versions: 1 as an 8x10 for $20 and 1 as a more affordable 5x7 for $9. Also I personally love the colors I picked for this print, but I am also selling one in black and white to go with any home decor. Any little bit will help me and I thank you in advance for any and all support you can give me.

find me ovah here!