Help Me Get My Smile Back

My name is Maksim Dovečar and I'm a 23 year old student of Agronomy studies from Maribor, Slovenia. I never expected from myself, that I will start a funding page for myself. I am a person, who hardly asks for money because I always feel guilty when I do. But I came to the point with my health related problems, where I decided that I will give it a shot. I was also encouraged by my loved ones, that it is not wrong to ask for help. So, here is my story.

When I was 10 years old, I had a bad rollerblading accident. I went out after school every single day, to go rollerblading. On the day of the accident, there was so exception. I wore all of my protection gear - on my knees, elbows, wrists and a helmet. I went off to try and ride down a new, renovated sidewalk. It was exciting because the ride was smooth and easy, since there were no cracks or tiny stones like everywhere else, that made the rollerblading difficult. As I skated down the sidewalk, there was suddenly a huge pile of stones and sand on the sidewalk, that wasn't there before. It was supposed to be used for construction, but there was no sign or warning for construction work. I couldn't react and stop in time, so my rollerblades stopped, when the stones got trapped between the wheels and I fell face forward on the pile and it dragged me further for a few more inches, due to the strength of the impact and the speed I rollerbladed in.

The protection gear protected everything but my mouth. I ended up knocking my front (adult) tooth out. But not on the way you think. I knocked it out from below my nose. So basically, since I fell with such strong force, my tooth crushed upwards through my gums, my jaw bone and then it fell out below my nose. I had a broken jaw bone and there was a deep hole in my gums along with an obvious hole below my nose, where the tooth came out. How did I manage to get such an injury, I still question myself today. In the gallery, there is a demonstration on the picture, how I got injured.

Immediately, I was taken to the emergency for an emergency surgery. There, they stitched the wound below my nose (if I remember correctly, there were around 20-21 stitches). And while in surgery, my dad went to search for my tooth at the accident area. When he found it, it was grey as the stormy skies. Since it wasn't found early enough and put in liquid with calcium (they mentioned milk, to keep it ''alive''), the roots died and the tooth turned grey. Since I was still little and had some baby teeth in left, they couldn't give me a new tooth. So, they forced the dead tooth back in (they didn't know I had a broken jaw yet, since they didn't do x-rays). The surgery lasted around 3 hours. I had no anesthesia or local numbness during the surgery, so I remember crying and screaming through the entire procedure. After the surgery around midnight, I had to hold my tooth in by myself and head off to Ljubljana, where they attached the tooth in with a wire, similar to the braces. I remember mum keeping me awake, as I was exhausted and in so much pain.

But due to how deep my injury was, they had to force my tooth up even deeper, which left the two front teeth completely uneven. Also, imagine smiling and have one dark grey tooth in the front along with the uneven shape. I was the victim of bullying and I was called names such as crocodile teeth, shark teeth, ugly, bug mouth, disgusting, that I have horrible hygiene, etc. And I was just 10 years old. After the surgery, I wasn't allowed to eat any solid food for the remaining time of the school summer break (the accident happened at the very end of school). I mostly ate mashed potatoes, mixed spinach, baby food, yogurts, čokolino and soups. And when I returned back to more solid food, I had to cut all of my food into small chunks and put them to the back of my mouth, so my front teeth wouldn't touch when I chewed. Due to the lack of chewing and losing the sensation to solid food, I developed a short term oral aversion. I couldn't get myself to swallow solid food. So, I would store food up in my cheeks (my family called me a hamster), excuse myself and then go spit the food in the napkin. Because of that, I lost significant amount of weight and ended up being underweight.

I had another surgery after a couple of months, where they spotted the damage to the jaw bone During that surgery, they fixed the damaged part and also attached my tooth into the bone. The surgeons told me that once I grow up and all my baby tooth are out, they will give me my smile back. They would remove the dead tooth and give me a brand new tooth. I had to go on daily dentist visits, who made sure that my other front teeth were holding onto the dead one, since I was told straight up that one day, it will fall out. But did the promise happen? It didn't. Almost 14 years later, there's still nothing. I switched 3 dentists when I started my mission to get my smile back. Nobody did anything. No surgeons, no dentists. It was like they didn't even know what to do. When I went to a doctor for my jawline in Ljubljana two weeks ago, he mentioned that it is indeed time to start getting this done, because the tooth is becoming loose. So once again, we took manners into our own hands and scheduled a consultation at a private dentist.

So in order to get my smile back, I would need at least 3 surgeries. The dentist said that there's a lot of work to be done. She said that my tooth is loose but that it is so strongly attached to the jaw bone, that would need lots of time and work to fix it. They would have to pull my tooth out (after a 3D x-ray to see the jaw bone and tooth) and then wait 2 months, so that it would heal along with a round of antibiotics. Then the surgeon and her would discuss about gum replacement surgery, because my gums moved far away from my teeth. After that, they would start working on a new tooth and reconstruction and in the end finally, beautify everything with whitening, evening it with other teeth and other adjustments. It would take months, but they said they would get the job done. Here's the catch.

The PRICE. At the first meet up, we assumed it would cost between 400 to 500 euros. Which didn't sound a lot for such a surgery. My parents saved money for 6 months with a lot of difficulty. They both have minimum wage of payment (less that 900 euros) at work per month, so they aren't left with lots of money after they pay the bills. After the dentist saw the x-rays and the amount of work they would have to do, it would end up costing between 2000 to 2500 euros! Which we CAN'T afford. All of us left disappointed with the thought, what can we do? We're back on the beginning again. Nobody outside the private practice won't do anything. But the private practice would, yet the expenses are too high. We just think it's unfair because I was supposed to get this done by the surgeons, that worked with me since the injury happened. Period! Not search for other options by ourselves again and even to pay so much!

My parents don't have a lot of money. I have - 250 euros on my bank account as I can't work (I'm a full time student + chronically ill with worsening health which means I can't work at the moment). Plus with the COVID-19 situation, it's almost impossible to get a job, especially one that will listen to your requests (such as your school schedule). I also didn't receive any scholarship yet, because the CSD still didn't respond to our request for scholarship since August. There are high chances that it will be denied (if accepted, I would get around 130 euros or less per month). After yesterday's news, I could see how desperate we all are to get one thing fixed. So, I seriously started thinking about getting this funding page done, where I could achieve some financial help. I know it sounds desperate and wrong. But I agree with my mum. I shouldn't be left waiting anymore. I have been waiting for 14 years. I should have this done without having to pay a single penny. I went through a lot of emotional scars, bullying and self-esteem problems due to my smile. Besides my weight, my smile is my biggest insecurity. And i just want to get my smile back and love myself.

Any cent, any euro will come in handy. I appreciate help from every single one of you. Even if you just share my story, it would mean a lot. I know it's hard to achieve such a goal, but I will give it a shot. Hope dies last. Thank you so much everyone, for taking time to read my story. I truly hope that one day, I will be able to get my smile back.

XOXO,

Maksim Dovečar