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Axel came to Carris Health Dental Clinic in Willmar, Minnesota early in the summer as a new patient. It was his first time at a dental clinic in his seven years of life and he was clearly overwhelmed, too shy and anxious to speak. It was very challenging to complete his first exam and cleaning since he was in considerable pain and distress and had at least four carious teeth that required extraction. He was prescribed antibiotics which helped ease his pain, but Axel’s mother was understandably concerned about what would happen when the meds ran out and he still had bad teeth. She was looking for work and living with extended family, uninsured and not yet in the position to cover the care her son needed.
Carris' Grants Manager, Sara, turned to America's ToothFairy for help and received an In the Gap grant to help cover the care that Axel so desperately needed.
"We were able to quickly set up a referral to a nearby pediatric clinic, Caring Hands, which specializes in difficult and emergency cases," she reported. "Not only was Axel able to sit through his entire exam calmly, but he was also able to have three of the carious teeth extracted with relative ease. Axel is now able to see that the dentist’s chair is not such a scary place after all. Between Caring Hands, Tri Valley Head Start, and us we now are working out his treatment plan to finish an additional extraction, as well as a fixed bilateral space maintainer, as soon as possible. None of this carefully coordinated care would be possible without your generous funding, which we were able to stretch quite far for this especially concerning case."
Thanks to our donors' generous giving, Axel and other kids like him have greater hope for a brighter future. Without their support, our member clinics would struggle to provide the urgent care that relieves pain and restores smiles.
When Sara spoke with Axel’s mother, Lourdes, she said “Thank you, thank you. My son is not in pain now. He is much better now. Please tell [America's ToothFairy] my family thanks them.”
Axel received treatment because of contributions from caring people like you! To learn more about helping kids like Axel, check out our More Smiles Campaign or click here to contribute today.
