Thanksgiving gift: She needs $35,000 in dental work to smile, but will get it for free

Erlinda Vargas doesn’t smile.

With a mouth of missing and decaying teeth, Vargas is embarrassed for anyone to catch even a flash of enamel.

So on Wednesday morning, when Fresno oral surgeons and dentists surprised her with an announcement that she had been chosen the winner of a free dental makeover, Vargas received the news stoically – or so it appeared.

“I’m just so happy,” Vargas, 33, said. “I’m going to celebrate.”

Vargas also felt blessed.

The Fresno Oral Maxillofacial Surgery & Dental Implant Center reviewed 400 online applications for the launch of its Second Chance program to offer a $50,000 complete smile makeover to a resident of Fresno or Madera counties. The dental center winnowed the number of applicants to 40 people, who were brought in for a screening and X-rays. Vargas was one of 10 finalists who came for interviews.

The program is a way to give back to the community, the dentists said. Plus, tooth decay is epidemic in the central San Joaquin Valley and the Second Chance program is an opportunity to bring awareness of the unmet dental needs here, said Dr. Ardavan Kheradpir. “This brings to the limelight the importance of oral health.”

Kheradpir said Vargas is a hard working-mother whose story inspired the dentists.

Vargas, a Fresno a day-care worker, is the primary breadwinner for her family of five. They can’t afford day care for three children. Her husband stays home with Cali, 1, Michael 2, and Israel, 7.

The extensive dental work she needs is expensive. Vargas has 14 teeth remaining; most adults have 32 . The Second Chance program will give Vargas a full upper arch, with four to six implants; and she will receive rehabilitation of her lower teeth. The entire makeover will cost about $35,000, said dentist Shannon Barnhart.

Vargas said the tooth decay happened over time. In childhood, her family experienced domestic violence that prevented her from receiving regular dental care. And as an adult she has often been without health benefits.

Vargas is in almost constant pain. Only when she’s busy, caring for 1-year-old toddlers at the day-care center at Saint Agnes Medical Center, does the ache recede.

But more than her toothache swayed the dental center. “She’s full of life yet her spirit is a little dampened by her current oral health,” Barnhart said.

Vargas said she’s a social person, but having missing and decaying teeth has taken a toll on her personal life. “I feel so depressed. I don’t like to be around people. I don’t really go to family functions … I feel like everyone is staring at my mouth.”

Despite the severity of her dental problems, Vargas did not expect her Second Chance application to stand out – and she almost failed to complete it – because the process required a photograph. “I don’t ever show my teeth because I don’t like to smile,” she said.

But she wondered if she was meant to win the smile makeover? Vargas by chance had seen the advertisement for the Second Chance program while scrolling through Facebook. “I don’t even like the page so I don’t know how it popped up on my screen,” she said. “But I figured, maybe it’s a sign.

“And I’m here today. And I feel blessed and grateful they chose me.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Thanksgiving gift: She needs $$35,000 in dental work to smile, but will get it for free."