Podcast Rough Draft

Rough Draft

Filling in the Gaps

            For as long as I can remember, my sister and I have been sitting in dentist, orthodontist, periodontist, and oral surgeon chairs.  We were both born missing most of our adult teeth. A rare genetic birth defect (a gift from my grandpa and father) has left us with quite a mess in our mouths. Let’s just say that our smiles looked like jack-o-lanterns. Our parents began the long and expensive process of rebuilding our jaws and mouths when I was just five years old and thirteen years later the job is still not finished. While most of my friends were getting braces, I was already on my second set. I had already been through surgery for my jaw, had posts drilled into my bone along with permanent wires to hold together what was there, and had many false teeth in place to make my smile tolerable.

            This story is not about how awful it was for me, but rather a tale of how this process has defined a direction for my life.

            It wasn’t much of a surprise to learn that few qualified professionals are trained in treating this type of birth defect. This year I have been to my doctors office in Arlington Heights (a 45 minute drive each way) over 30 times for surgeries, which included bone grafts, ten implants, fifteen crowns, and prosthetics on over eight teeth. This work required three surgeons, a periodontist, and a prosthetic expert. My family and I were supposed to go to Atlanta for these procedures and fly back and forth between them, but we were lucky enough to find ONE office in Illinois qualified for the job. This is the crux of the story. The astounding reality is that there is a significant void in medical/dental practices that can deal with this condition holistically.

            My sister and I decided a couple of years ago that our goal would be someday to open our own dental practice in Chicago that would provide all of these services for patients in similar situations. We feel that given our own personal experience, we can offer a compassionate, qualified service to individuals because we have ‘been there’ and can relate to their needs.

            The plan proposes that I will provide the business expertise, and my sister will provide the dental expertise. My sister is two years younger so while she is completing college and dental school, I will be gaining business and communication experience through working and furthering my education.

Serving and helping others has been a natural mission for me my whole life. I am happiest when I feel that I have made a positive impact. I attend a Jesuit high school where service is at the core of our education and have participated in many service projects, which include trips to remote, poverty-stricken areas. Much of my high school service has been working at the Ray Graham organization as a mentor for Circle of Friends, an organization that creates friendships between disabled adults and students from Saint Ignatius.

If my sister and I succeed in opening this practice, my work will be fulfilling because we will be enabling others to get the beautiful smiles they deserve, while keeping it affordable. I don’t want other families to endure the cost and insurance fights my family has experienced in order to obtain appropriate dental care. Getting the insurance company to even look at our case has been a battle, but being denied by the insurance company multiple times has been especially exhausting. My mom is on the phone day and night trying to get some coverage for a procedure that will equal paying for eight years of college.

            Ironically, a genetic flaw has provided the roadmap to my future. Obviously, I would have preferred regular visits from the tooth fairy, however that situation not being the case, I am thankful my family has been able to provide me with a beautiful smile and an optimistic future.