When my dad was a young man he lost all his teeth and had to get dentures. Now, they are damaged. My dad saved and  got new dentures made a year ago but he is unable to tolerate them in his mouth  after 40 years of a worn down denture plate. One dentist said it’s psychological and another said they just won’t fit.  He is now 62 years of age.

What he needs are dental implants. The cost for these here in Australia (Western Australia) is $30,000 which includes a bone reconstruction and teeth that will be very much like his own teeth, the teeth he lost as a teenager.

My dad lost his real parents when he was four. He was raised by adoptive parents organised by the state and grew up in alcoholism and poverty. He struggled a great deal with his loss and developed a duodenal ulcer around 9 years of age. As a child he never told his adoptive parents about the illness that often left him crippled in pain and he would hide under the house, until it passed. He didn’t eat much and often hid his food to dispose of it because it made him so sick.

Sadly the bile he brought up constantly as a child helped erode his teeth. All his teeth were removed at 19 years of age and replaced with dentures.  For any teenage boy this was a cruel blow. 

This pain persisted and was left untreated into adulthood and was very debilitating for him. When he was 40 the ulcer finally burst, he was rushed by ambulance to hospital and had emergency surgery and survived!  He finally received treatment.

I am so proud of my dad for the way he chose to live his life. He met a wonderful woman (my mum) and both my younger brother and I were raised with love and hope. My dad works as a computer technician. He is self-employed and earns an average wage. My parents rent a house and cannot afford to go on holidays. My dad works hard every day to provide for our family.

I recently completed my Bachelor Degree in Nursing Science and now work as a nurse in a major hospital. My dad always encouraged my education. Raising my girls on my own there’s no way I could have done this without the financial and material help from my parents.

Please help me help my dad. I want him to be able to smile like the rest of the world.

Thank you for considering donating to this cause and for your kindness and understanding.

Link (a) for more information on dental implants and approximate costs. Note that costs for bone grafts and anesthetic procedures are extra to the costs shown here.

http://www.aardent.com.au/faq_cost.htm