hi everyone!
thanks for taking the time to check out this page. like many creatives i've thought about starting up one of these pages a few times in the past, had a lot of ideas, and never followed through. well, they say necessity is the mother of invention, so here we are. i want to start by giving you some background on why my dental bill is sky-high, and then i'll get into the rewards in the next post.
to make a 35 year history of my mouth as short as possible, i'll start by saying that i've always been low-income and throughout my life had inconsistent dental care. sometimes there was money and braces, other times i waited 18+ months to access a low cost college dental clinic. in 2016 i broke a tooth (my lower R back molar) and because i couldn't afford to save it, i had it removed. then again in 2018 i had an old filling break out of a tooth and i delayed dental care until i had an abscess and again, had that tooth (lower L back molar) removed as well.
fast forward to now and i am fully self-employed (as a therapist, art is my side-hustle) and i don't have extended health because it's not very affordable for what you get as a solo person. additionally, i don't have a lot of consistent income or what looks like a stable job. i am in a situation where i not only have several cavities that need filling, but i am at risk of losing my two lower back molars on the bottom again, unless i can spend $5000 having them repaired with crowns. because i have a history of grinding my teeth and inconsistent dental care, the Dr. has recommended gold crowns, which last longer because they are more durable, and they have a lower upfront cost as well.
because my debt-to-income ratio is already high, the only loan i qualify for is at 18.5% financing, which brings the total cost of the initial work that i need done to just shy of $8000. there is also a good chance that i will be looking at another gold crown on my L upper sometime next year (another $1500 - $2000).
i have explored all of my options. sadly, low-cost dental care is not something that really exists in 'canada,' and due to the fact that the teeth in danger of breaking are right next to the where i am already missing teeth, i am feeling a sense of urgency around this. as such, i have decided to take the high interest loan even though the payments are unaffordable for me at this time.
so this is me, asking my community for support with my medical bills. the one upside is that i can pay the loan off as quickly as i want, which would mean paying less interest overall. i understand there's a lot going on in the world, and a broke white girl with busted teeth may not be your top priority, so i completely understand if this isn't for you.
i've set up multiple ways that you can support me, from one-time donations to monthly memberships. all the levels come with fun perks, including personalized snail mail from me. the top two tiers come with seasonal hand-made care packages.
i'm also really open to creating whatever content here you'd find valuable, so please let me know if there's something you've been wishing i would offer, maybe painting videos, art lessons, writing, meditations...?
i appreciate any and all support you can offer, and encourage you to check out the perks i'm offering for members <3