There is no question when it comes to the importance of ensuring that you regularly visit the dentist. Oral health is just as important as any other form of health. Yet, there are many people out there who suffer from anxiety each time they go to the dentist and therefore put it off for as long as possible. There are others who are simply too lazy to brush their teeth twice a day.
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A trip to the dentist is feared by enough people that there is actually a term for it: “dentophobia.” For some, this fear is very real. The young boy in the above picture is an example of someone who suffers from dentist anxiety.
Life-Changing
While getting braces can be a scary experience for most, the tooth-straightening that they can lead to is life-changing for many young people, who often suffer from a severe lack of confidence beforehand. If you have dodgy teeth, it is impossible to hide it.
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Despite how uncomfortable and unflattering braces can be, it is always worth it when you see the finished product and you finally have a perfectly symmetrical grin. This was a feeling that this young man had craved for a long time. Not all of us are lucky enough to have teeth that are simply a little crooked and therefore easily fixable…
Normal Young Boy
Evan Hill, is one young person who had spent most of his life praying that one day he might suddenly wake up with normal teeth. When strangers saw Evan for the first time, they would struggle to hide their shock. His teeth made him look like a cartoon character. Fortunately for him, he would not be stuck like this forever.
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Evan was a happy 12 year old boy who lived an otherwise normal childhood in the suburbs of New Zealand. He loved hanging out with his pals and attending school. There was just one detail of his life that made him stand out more than anyone else. You may be wondering, from looking at these pictures, whether these gnashers are real, or whether they have been edited with Photoshop. We can assure you that they are very real.
Abnormal Teeth
When Evan reached the age of 10, he began to realise the gravity of his situation. A lot of his friends had started getting braces, but for Evan, it wasn’t that simple. Many kids have buck teeth and look quite endearing with them, but for Evan, this wasn’t the case. His were extremely oversized.
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Your average person has teeth that rest at a 2° angle, but Evan’s teeth jutted out at an angle of 12°. He also had a gap of 2cm between his upper and lower teeth. This was an extreme dental deformation that would cause major problems for his mouth. His appearance was, in fact, the least of his worries.
Difficulties
Evan’s overbite was so extreme and his top incisors so big, that he couldn’t actually keep his mouth shut. As a result of this, he struggled to speak. He had a speech impediment which meant that he was unable to pronounce many words properly. Since communicating was such a laborious task for Evan, he was often too scared to speak in class.
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For Evan, even eating was quite an ordeal. This is something that most of us take for granted, but for him, it was extremely difficult. Fortunately, he was able to get around this problem. He simply cut out the most challenging foods from his diet, specifically those which require the work of the front incisors. While these two issues were very inconvenient, there was one which made them seem mild.
Bullies
As you can imagine, Evan was bullied relentlessly due to his buck teeth. This wasn’t something he could hide. It began with people laughing and pointing at him but soon escalated to the point that he became one of the school bullies’ main targets. They even had a very unoriginal nickname for him.
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He became known as “rabbit boy.” It wasn’t until the bullies had started drawing attention to his teeth that Evan really had a problem with them. Up until this point, he had liked that it made him more unique than other kids. However, this strong sense of self that Evan had, was quickly destroyed when the nickname was coined.
Misery
Evan had not experienced much negative attention growing up, so it came as quite a shock when the bullies at school began targeting him. He lost his positive spirit as a result and he began to associate school with being miserable and feeling utterly humiliated. He reached the point, unsurprisingly, that he no longer wanted to attend. For his parents, it was difficult to see their lovely little boy suffering so much. It pained them to know just how badly he was being treated.
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The bullying and constant ridicule meant that he now despised his teeth. While, previously, his mother’s attempts to make him feel better by telling him that his teeth were amazing had always worked, now they were completely futile.
Enough Is Enough
Evan’s mother, Barbara Hill, could no longer bear to witness her son suffering in this way. No child deserved to go through this, especially not one as compassionate and empathetic as Evan. All he wanted was to be accepted. Barbara and her husband decided that enough is enough. They began forming a plan to help their beloved son with his troubles.
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It was clear to Mr. and Mrs. Hill that urgent action was necessary at this point. They decided that they would use Evan’s upcoming dentist appointment to explore the possible solutions to Evan’s problem. One thing was for certain, his teeth needed reigning in.
Looking After Your Teeth
Most people would confess that they feel a little nervous before visiting the dentist, while others actually feel panicked at the prospect of it. What we all need to realise is that it is a real privilege to be able to afford to go to the dentist. Without it, our lives would be a lot more painful. We all need to suck it up! If not, the results could be dire.
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Allowing any tooth-related issues to go unchecked means potentially setting yourself up for some truly painful procedures. If we take good care of our teeth, we can avoid the bigger problems. However, for Evan, this wasn’t an option. Despite all of his efforts to look after his teeth, there was nothing he could do to change them.
It Costs To Look Good
If you are an adult today, you might remember many young people you grew up with having slightly crooked or imperfect teeth. It wasn’t too much of an issue, was it? For young people today, this is a lot more of an issue. Their appearance is scrutinised a lot more and looking good is essential.
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Depending on how bad your teeth are, it might be necessary to spend a small fortune to get your teeth to where you want them to be. For some people, having a smile which makes them feel confident is a huge investment. Fortunately, many countries have a public health system which covers the costs of dental plans for minors. Evans’ parents were confident that New Zealand’s health service would help them financially with fixing their son’s teeth.
Quite An Ordeal
However, it wouldn’t be long before the Hill’s would discover a huge flaw in their plan. Evan’s case was quite an extraordinary one. It would cost far more to fix his teeth than just paying for the average set of braces, which the New Zealand government would be happy to pay for. Evan’s parents would have to fund this themselves, which would be very costly.
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If it had been just a case of fitting Evan with some wire braces, then his misery could have come to an end after just a few months. However, his were not your average crooked teeth and would need a good deal of work to be fixed. It would take several surgeries and treatments. In fact, the process could take years to complete. The family’s hopes and dreams seemed ruined as they discovered just how much money and time this would require and how much pain the boy would experience in the process…
Hugely Expensive
The Hills would eventually cast their fears aside. The most important thing was that their son was happy and they knew that having his teeth fixed would contribute massively to this. They knew that he would be subject to more bullying and humiliation if they didn’t do anything about it. Money was the biggest obstacle. Their dentist explained to them that in all of his 25 years working as a dentist, he had never experienced anything like this. He explained that they would likely incur a bill of around $12,000.
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When the Hills were informed of this, they didn’t know what to do. It was money that they didn’t have. Once upon a time, they might have been able to afford this, but not anymore. This wasn’t the first time that the Hills had been faced with an enormous payment.
News Feature
The Hills were faced with a difficult situation. All they wanted was for their beloved son to be happy and to resolve his tooth-related problem, but it was just too much money. They considered various options, including mortgaging their house. Despite all of the problems they were up against, this family remained strong in the face of adversity. Little did they know, their luck was about to change…
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The unusual nature of Evan’s case meant that people were interested in it and it wasn’t long before the media had picked up on it. Consequently, Evan ended up featuring on a segment of ‘Campbell Live,’ a special news programme in New Zealand. This meant that the public’s eyes were opened to this incredibly difficult situation. Many New Zealanders empathised with Evan and his parents.
Donations
Campbell Live’s audience couldn’t help but feel touched by Evan’s story. This prompted many compassionate people to phone the Campbell live crew and offer to help fund the dental procedures. Anything to help make this little boy happy again.
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The donations began to accumulate, so much so that they ended up with a whopping $100,000! This all happened over a period of less than a month and the Hills couldn’t have been happier. They couldn’t quite believe the extent of the generosity that they were being subjected to.
The Kindness Of Strangers
Suddenly, Evan’s story was one that touched the hearts of all New Zealander’s. This was a country that cared about it’s people. With so much money being sent in, Evan’s dream went from seeming almost impossible, to becoming an achievable reality. In spite of all of these donations, however, the Hills were not out of the woods just yet.
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Not long after the $100,000 mark was reached, Campbell Live ended the donation process. Both the show’s producers and the Hills were blown away by the amount of compassion people had shown. This is an incredible example of human kindness and the results that can ensue when this kindness is put to good use. The Hills were now ready to put their dental plan into motion!
Ready To Go
With the finances now covered, the Hills were able to get the initial appointment with their dentist booked in. It was time for Evan to get the help he needed. After the first consultation, Evan needed to wait a couple of weeks before they would be able to properly get the ball rolling. Evan was okay with this, the way he saw it, several weeks of waiting was nothing compared to the years of torment he had suffered at the hands of his teeth. He was very excited.
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The Hills, due to the overwhelming kindness of strangers from all over New Zealand, were able to comfortably fund the complicated procedure and everything that went with it. The Hills were finally able to afford a powerful new car that would be able to smoothly transport Evan to and from the dentist.
Progress
Evan’s dentist decided that the most important thing to correct first was the angle of his teeth. Evan was, understandably, extremely nervous when he first arrived at the surgery room, but the dentist instantly made him feel at ease. He successfully shifted Evan’s teeth 15mm (more than half an inch) along. However, there was a lot of work still to be done.
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Evan couldn’t believe how different he looked after the first operation. The dentist then fitted Evan’s teeth with wired braces in order to even out his teeth and to force the upper row back into its appropriate place. In time, this would correct his severe overbite and eliminate any overhang.
Helping Others
You may recall that Evan’s dentist fees were settled at $12,000. If you minus that from $100,000, you will still be left with a small fortune! The Hills couldn’t just spend that money as they pleased since it had been donated for a specific cause. They put their heads together to come up with something appropriate that they could spend it on.
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They eventually realised that there was nothing else that they could spend the money on which would be acceptable, so they did some research to find an appropriate charity to put the money towards. Naturally, they settled on a fund that would help children to be able to afford dental issues. They knew that there were many others out there who were in a similar position to them and they wanted to help those people. Evan was very happy about this.
Expression Of Gratitude
The Hills would never forget the compassion they were shown by so many incredible people. We now fast forward five years from Evan’s Campbell Live appearance. The family would always look back on the experience with immense gratitude. They wanted to openly express that gratitude to the public.
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Barbara, Evan’s mother, reached out to the press, saying: “I really don’t know where we would be without the generosity we’ve had. We did initially look at getting a mortgage, but this came up and blew us away.” People were intrigued as to how Evan’s son’s procedures had panned out and how he looked today. They hoped that he was living a much happier life.
Confident Again
Many people had come together to help Evan and they were keen to know whether their contributions had made any difference to his life. They were pleased to hear that now he was a lot more confident and he had got his self-esteem back. This was an obstacle that he wouldn’t have been able to overcome without this help.
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You’ll be pleased to hear that this story does, in fact, have a happy ending. Evan was finally freed from the difficulties that his teeth had caused him up until this point. He felt confident and had got back his positive spirit. This is a story that shows us just how much we can achieve if we work together. You never know how much of an impact a small donation might have.
Happy Boy
As the years progressed, Evan continued to frequently visit his dentist. He had spent so much time in the dentist’s chair at this point, that he no longer felt afraid of it. In fact, he felt quite comfortable in it. It wouldn’t be until 2017, that Evan would finally feel confident about his results from all of the treatment he had to endure.
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When this day finally came, Evan was unable to suppress his excitement. His smile was beautiful now and he no longer had any issues with his speech. He could open and close his mouth with ease. Evan was finally happy with the way he looked.
The Moment He Had Been Waiting For
Evan’s last day with braces finally came. His mother was ecstatic as she drove him to the dentist for his last appointment. In just a few hours, Evan would be free of braces forever. The years of relentless appointments and surgeries now seemed worth it. It was time to reap the rewards of his patience. Did it pay off in the end? We’ll let you decide…
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Evan’s dentist carefully undid the braces and scrubbed off the leftover glue. Evan was then asked to use some special mouthwash before being passed the mirror to see the finished result. This was the moment he had been waiting for. As he inspected his face, he couldn’t help but shed a few tears. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw his brace-less reflection.
Overcome With Joy
Evan was overcome with joy and excitement when he saw his new teeth in the reflection. He was so unbelievably grateful for all of the hard work that had been put in to reaching this point, from his family, the dentist and the public. He wouldn’t be here without them.
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He must have been the happiest boy in New Zealand at that moment. For a while, he had thought that he would be stuck with those teeth forever. How wrong he had been, and how glad about that he was! We can only hope that other children in Evan’s situation will one day have the opportunity to feel the same way.