conversation: User (brothersdentalwork): "**Childhood**\n\nMy little brother (14) and I (22) grew up in a severely impoverished home with an absentee father and a mother addicted to methamphetamine. Among other things, the combination of evictions, soda-only diet, and no running water were catastrophic for our dental health. \n\nWhile we did not have regular cleanings, our mother would take us to the dentist when the pain in our teeth grew excruciating. At this point, the teeth in question would be abscessed and require root canals and crowns to save them. I am not sure about other states, but in Arkansas medicaid compensates very little and therefore only the worst dentist in town would accept it. I remember several encounters where I was inadequately numbed; the dentists would hear me scream from pain and tell me to shutup.\n \nNone of the teeth that really required crowns were crowned; instead they were given massive amalgam fillings. When I graduated from highschool, every molar was more silver than white; and my front teeth were all root canaled and bonded. \n\n**After College**\n\nAfter graduating with a BS in Computer Science from the University of Arknasas, I found a job as a Software Developer ($40,000) . I saved up $10,000 as an emergency fund, payed down $7,000 of my $20,000 in student loans, and got my mouth in a stable position. After a year, I left for another position that paid more ($65,000). After three months of consistent 10 hour days there, I quit and relocated to New York City for a startup job ($120,000). Even with the relocation bonus, the combination of first month's rent ($2,600), broker's fee ($2,600), and security deposit ($2,600) blew out my savings. After seven months I have brought it back up to $6,000 and was going to concentrate on paying down my remaining loans after getting that back up to $10,000.\n\n**Inheriting Custody of Little Brother**\n\nMy life was going smoothly when I received a call that my mother had been forcibly confined to rehab by the court. I had to scramble to fly my brother out and get temporary guardianship before he was sent to foster care. When he greeted me at the airport, my heart fell. The condition of his teeth was evident when he spoke. My brother's teeth were far worse than mine had been: top front teeth heavily chipped and rotted, and bottom front teeth ground-down stubs. I have him brushing and flossing every day, but he needed to see a dentist.\n\n**Taking Brother to the Dentist**\n\nI took him to the dentist for his first cleaning/checkup in years. Watching him flinch and wince from a routine cleaning was so pitiful it broke my heart. After the checkup, the dentist took me aside and confirmed what I already knew. His eight front teeth were all abscessed. They all need root canals ($1,200 each) and crowns ($800 each). Moreover, there was so little remaining tooth structure that they need posts screwed in to support the crowns ($500 each). $20,000 worth of work. I have him on my work dental plan, but it maxes out at $1,000.\n\n**Treatment Options**\n\nI immediately did something that I had never done before -- reached out to our remaining family for money. No luck. His medicaid and ArKids 1st insurance have a six-month waiting list for approval and only a few dentist accept it (all with horrible reviews). I considered dental tourism, but $6,000 will not cover two round-trip flights, hotels, and work.\n\n**Is my only option to take on $20,000 in additional debt?**\n\n**TL;DR:** My mother was incarcerated and I've gained custody of a 14-year-old who needs $20,000 of dental work.\n\n**Update:**\nHere are his dental X-Rays that were taken six days ago: http://imgur.com/AdbeiIi"
  Self: "good god, 22 and making 120k a year? what job do you have??"
  trees4thee (trees4thee): "How does he only have 6,000 in savings? seems like hes making a killing and what does a 22 year old need?"
  balathustrius (balathustrius): "I'm not OP, but I can guess that it's a combination of a very high cost of living in NYC and not enough time. Working as a dev for a startup, he's probably pulling long days, buying ready-made meals, and prioritizing time savings over money savings. It can be a stressful lifestyle, too; people can burn out if they don't entertain themselves.\n\nThere's also the fact that it's *expensive* to come up from abject poverty. Even if you go unemployed for only a few months, you start to realize that when you get a job again, your car needs work, you should make the rounds to your physicians, catch up on your school loans, etc."
  