My daughter Talena has had medical issues since she was born. She was born without an eardrum in one ear and the other ear had only a partial eardrum. She has endured many surgeries between the two ears and has worn a skull-implanted hearing aid known as a BAHA unit for over ten years now.
Her jaw has never accommodated all her teeth. She never got in her last row of teeth due to the size of her mouth. As a child with frequent tonsil infections, they were never able to remove her tonsils due to the size of her palette.
Talena’s teeth have always been a problem both physically and emotionally. Physically, her baby teeth would not let the adult teeth come in until very late in her life. Her jaw was too crowded to allow the teeth to grow accurately. Therefore her teeth are pushed in all directions just to have a place to go.
We love her dearly no matter what she looks like. However, it goes without saying that in the real world, one's appearance does matter more than it should in some cases. Talena has been bluntly been told that she will never be taken seriously or offered the kind of position she is qualified for, because of her teeth. Not only is this devastating to her as a lovely young woman, but also to her career possibilities. As a young girl Talena was mercilessly teased by other children. They made her feel as though there was something wrong with her.
We have never had the finances to delve into the kind of procedures she needs to make her more "normal," but it has been a dream of hers, her whole life, to be able to look into the mirror and not see her teeth as they are now. Although not a vain person, it is a perfectly normal human wish to have her mouth fixed. I am sincerely praying that this miracle will finally happen for her. She has always tried to good for others and it is wonderful to see that some of that will now come to her.
Thank You,
Sabine Lyons (Talena’s mother)