Big smiles: Pasadena woman receives 'unexpected blessing' of a lifetime

One of Houston's most respected dentists will take on deserving woman

HOUSTON – It’s a typical Wednesday morning and a Pasadena woman is making breakfast, but it’s not what you’d probably expect.

You see, every day, Sharon Tillotta must pulverize her food into a soggy, lumpy mush just to be able to eat it. That’s because her mouth is a disaster area.

In fact, she only has two teeth left in her upper mouth.

“I don’t have any," she said as she started to cry. "My teeth -- I have no teeth. I can’t eat hardly any food."

Tillotta is in desperate need of some serious dental work. But for the last four years, money has been tight.

That’s because four years ago, Tillotta's husband, Tony, began fighting severe kidney failure.

He was forced to leave his job as a master electrician and has spent an enormous amount of time since then in a hospital battling kidney disease and heart disease at the same time.

“My husband is such a wonderful provider," Sharon Tillotta said. "He worked so hard his whole life. He wants to work still, but he can’t right now."

With Tillotta taking care of her husband full time, there hasn't been money left to pay for her dental work.

“Financially, we are dead in the water," Tillotta said.

Now living on just about $1,800 a month in Social Security disability payments and unable to get her teeth fixed, that’s when Tillotta wrote to Spencer Solves It.

Right away, we brought her to see Dr. Terri Alani, one of Houston’s most respected dentists.

She has a special passion for cosmetic dentistry and has been transforming the mouths of thousands of patients for the past 30 years.

Alani examined Tillotta and determined she will need oral surgery, plus dentures, plus partials.

The work will cost somewhere between $8,000 and $9,000, but Alani is doing this absolutely free.

“So, what we can do is we can do a full upper denture and then a lower partial, to replace those missing teeth in the back," Alani said. "So this woman can finally eat."

The work will be extensive and take time, but all Tillotta can think about is how lucky she is to have this great help coming her way.

“This is truly a blessing -- an unexpected blessing," she said. "I never really believed this would happen. Thank you, Mr. Spencer."

And we at Spencer Solves It want to send out a gigantic thank you to Alani for all she is about to do.

Alani knows this will change Tillotta's life, and we do, too.


About the Author:

Emmy-winning investigative reporter, insanely competitive tennis player, skier, weightlifter, crazy rock & roll drummer (John Bonham is my hero). Husband to Veronica and loving cat father to Bella and Meemo.