“I hang out with the pain as long as I can take it.” This is how Tina describes her life with tooth pain. We met Tina on one of our Medical Teams International Care & Connect Mobile Health vans, where she is a frequent visitor. She doesn’t want to have to have all of her teeth extracted, but the pain is unbearable and the risk of infection spreading is high.

One year ago, she had perfect teeth. After eight back surgeries from an initial ruptured disc, she had to be on pain medication to even get out of bed. A side effect of this essential medicine is dry mouth and rotting teeth. Because of the debilitating pain, there is nothing she can do about it. With ten teeth extractions so far, she said there are moments of bliss after an infected tooth is removed…but the pain-free time in her mouth doesn’t last long.

With only one molar left, Tina cannot eat normal food. Food gets stuck in the holes where her teeth used to be, and chewing takes a lot of work. Her tooth pain is all painful. Often, she doesn’t even want to eat.

Tina is depressed and discouraged. She used to love to shop, laugh, and smile and now she doesn’t want to be seen in public. Moreover, she avoids stores and hides her mouth. She hates that this is happening to her.

The clinics offer relief for Tina’s tooth pain

Our Care & Connect Mobile Health clinics are her last hope. She is very grateful that she has somewhere to go. On Medicare she has very limited dental insurance and it would be impossible to get all the dental work she needs. Thanks to supporters like you, Tina can get the help she needs.

“Without this van, my quality of life would be nothing,” Tina said. She wants people to know how important these vans are for people like her. “I hope others appreciate it as much as I do.” People don’t realize the difficulty of rotting teeth until they go through it: horrendous pain, not being able to eat, and embarrassed to even smile in public.

Tina doesn’t know where she would be without these Mobile Dental Vans. She wants to extend a big thank you to everyone who makes these  clinics possible. Thanks to your support, we can provide relief for Tina and others like her.

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