Patient Spotlight

Richard’s Story

“I was one bite away — one mishap away — from dental pain.”

Extractions & dentures · referred through a community partner

Richard: before and after treatment at Mint for More — Before & after — Richard, a real Mint for More patient. Photo used with permission.

For years, Richard built his whole life around teeth he couldn’t get fixed. What he could eat. What he could drink — nothing too cold. Whether he could sleep. Whether he could face customers at work. The pain never really left.

The emergency room couldn’t help. He went several times; each time they sent him home with something for the pain and told him to see a dentist. The community clinic was out of reach — he landed “right under the threshold” for help, and at about $80 a tooth, every door said the same thing: too much money.

“Just self-confidence. I can already tell. I wanted to show my teeth to everybody like never before.”

So he hid. He wouldn’t open his mouth around his grandkids. He dreaded any job that put him in front of people. “I would have just waited until all my teeth fell out,” he says. “I had no other options.”

A nonprofit partner referred him to Mint for More. After extractions and a new set of dentures, the change was immediate — not just in his smile, but in what he could imagine next.

What changed

Years of painSleep, food, work — all shaped around it. Now: relief.

The ER dead endPain meds and “see a dentist,” with no way to. Now: real care.

Hiding his smileWouldn’t open his mouth. Now: “show everybody.”

New confidence“It’s definitely going to deliver more opportunity.”

Richard smiling after treatment at Mint for More

“You may not see it every day, but you’ve saved so many people’s lives by doing one small act of kindness.”

— Richard, to the donors who make this care possible

Mint for More provides free dental care to neighbors who lack access to a dental home. Stories like Richard’s are made possible by donors — and by the nonprofit partners who refer the neighbors we serve.

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