Have you ever had a tiny piece of popcorn wedge itself into a tooth and completely ruin your day, only to feel instant relief the moment you finally get it out with floss? That sharp, nagging pain that won’t let you think about anything else? We have a story for you about teeth, determination, and a student who refused to let pain stand in the way of her education.
In September of 2025, we met Sage.
Sage came to SHIP through her McKinney-Vento liaison, who noticed her attendance was slipping. Since moving to Frederick from New York, Sage had been missing two to three days of school each week. Her records did not show any major red flags. When asked, Sage shared that she often had headaches and stayed home when the pain became too much. Like many students experiencing homelessness, Sage had learned to push through discomfort and keep quiet about what she was really feeling. But she had a goal. She wanted to improve her attendance so she could pass her classes this semester.
Her case manager started by exploring common causes of chronic headaches among students who lack access to routine healthcare. One of the most frequent issues we see is undiagnosed vision problems. Many of our students need glasses but cannot afford an exam or frames.
So the first step was an eye exam. Sure enough, Sage did need glasses, and she received them through a community partnership. For a moment, it seemed like things were on the right track. But even with her new glasses, the headaches continued. During a case management visit, Sage finally described the pain more clearly. It started at her temple, traveled down her jaw, and sometimes made it hard to eat. That raised an important question. What if the pain was not coming from her head at all? What if it was coming from a tooth? Her case manager helped Sage schedule an appointment at our local dental clinic.
That visit changed everything.
The dentist discovered that Sage had eight cavities, two of them nearly beyond repair. Sage shared that she had not seen a dentist since she was eight years old, around the time both of her parents became incarcerated. For years, routine dental care had not been an option.
With the support of her SHIP case manager and our dental clinic partner, Sage began treatment right away. This fall, she had six fillings completed. Last week, she finished her final two fillings and was officially cleared. She does not need to return for another six months.
No more temple pain. No more jaw pain. No more staying home because it hurts too much to sit in class. Today, Sage is attending school consistently and is on track to meet her goal of improving her attendance and passing her classes this semester.
Sometimes it is not just a missing assignment or a late bus that keeps a student out of school. Sometimes it is a toothache that has been quietly wreaking havoc for years. And sometimes, all it takes is the right support, the right partnership, and someone who believes that relief is possible. Sage believed in her goal. We believed in her. And now she is smiling, pain-free, and back in class where she belongs.