A sense of hope...

At the end of April I went to my dentist for a cleaning and checkup. I had a new dentist who I really liked. Once again she told me how much I need braces. At this point, with my increased insecurity, I broke down. I started to cry sitting in the chair. I couldn’t help it. I told her how bad I wanted to have braces, but I just couldn’t afford them! She told me, "You know, Christina, I believe you suffered a lot of pain and confidence issues due to your teeth. I know of a program that may be in your reach." She looked up the program called “Smiles Change Lives” and downloaded the application for me; she gave me the information and told me all about the process. She said she thought I had great potential on getting accepted into the program.

I went home that day with a sense of hope. I e-mailed Kirsten Myers from SCL to ask her, since I am now 18, if I was still able to qualify for the program. She e-mailed me back and said, “Yes,” and that if I were to qualify after the screening I could be accepted! That day I finished my application. I remember talking on the phone with Kirsten and she told me she had a screening open in the beginning of March, only a couple days after I faxed in my application. I got the screening done with and then the wait began…