Jane's Story- by Jason Millis

In early 2018 Jane Smith was a recipient of an Agape scholarship through Affordable Dental Care. Because of this, she received a root canal at no cost to herself and has chosen to share her story.
    Jane has been in an abusive relationship for the last 30 years, but over the last 15 years has become increasingly conscious of the true nature of the relationship.
    “Everything is in his name,” Jane said, “the car, bank accounts.” Because of that she was unable to get transportation on her own, arriving at the clinic via an Uber ride provided to her by a friend, let alone pay for the procedure to be done. Besides this first procedure, additional follow-up procedures will be necessary and in the near future she will be able to receive them.
    She has done research on her situation and others similar to hers and has found that many of these abusive relationships often boil down to one person excising control over the other.
    Due to the fact that Jane is not married to her partner she is unable to get on his health insurance plan. When asked about whether she would marry her partner she said that, given the abusive nature of the relationship, she doesn’t want to make the relationship any more permanent.
    Since she is first and foremost a stay at home mother and puts the needs of her children first, Jane gave up her health and dental care after the oldest of her four children was born 21 years ago. Affordable Dental Care was able to handle the emergency procedure that she needed.
    Initially Jane had some doubts about the program, saying that Affordable Dental Care and the Agape scholarship program seemed “too good to be true”, especially since she had been told that a root canal would cost $1,300 at a regular clinic. She seemed to understand the importance of having the procedure though.
    “When the teeth start to go, the rest of your health tends to go next,” Jane said, adding that she needs to be there for her four children. “Without me they would be lost,” she said.
    The procedure itself went very well. Jane tolerated it well, trusting the two people who were performing this procedure. Afterwords she was sent home with a special medication to act as damage control to combat the infection.
    This root canal ended a year of physical pain, as up to now she had been relying on household remedies to keep the pain at a manageable level.
    “Every time it started hurting I put salt on it,” she said. “That is why I probably made it a year.”
    It was not only the pain that signaled the need for this procedure, she had seen for herself the damage on the tooth.
    “The inside of the tooth started to crack, I could see it in the mirror,” said Jane. She noted that when she saw a part of the tooth come loose, she took a pair of tweezers and pulled it out.
    Having this procedure done was the first step in Jane’s effort to put herself first and to work herself out of the situation that she is in. Jane has already begun to reach out, reconnecting with old friends and repairing relationships. She hopes that these efforts will enable her to regain control of her current situation.
    The help she has received thus far has really meant quite a lot to her. She described how tears came to her eyes as she saw the people there to help her.
    “We need to help each other, as humans,” she said. “If I was ever in a situation to help, I’ll be glad to...they say it takes a village.”
    Jane’s name has been changed due to privacy concerns.