STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Marzia was just 6 years old and hiding with her family from the Taliban in Afghanistan when a targeted, violent Talibani ambush took the life of her father and brother.
Though she survived the firearms assault, bullets shattered her upper jaw, destroyed her right eye and left her with few remaining teeth. Years of pain, bullying and seclusion followed as she hid with her family in her impoverished village while the war in Afghanistan raged on.
But inside the cheerful offices of Staten Island Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Bloomfield, the beautiful 19-year-old girl received the life-changing surgery that gave her back her smile — just in time for Christmas.
“I feel great, and I’m very grateful to all the doctors,” a smiling Marzia, who asked that her last name not be published, said when she returned to the office on Dec. 22 to show off her grin and thank the staff.
”They had to do a lot of work and in the end they found the solution,’’ she said. “There was nothing there. There’s a big difference.”
Not having upper teeth was difficult, but she’d learned to adapt, she said. But now, after a few days on a liquid diet, Marzia was happy to hear she can soon again eat her favorite food — Ramen noodles.
Monica Montengro, the implant coordinator who days before had placed the teeth in the girl’s mouth, suggested she read, even sing, aloud often, to get her tongue used to the teeth and make speaking feel more natural.
On Dec. 16, Marzia was in the dentist’s chair as one of the last life-changing procedures took place.
Just in from the waiting area, her older sister beamed, tears streaming down her face.
“It’s perfect, Marzia,” she said to her younger sister. Then, turning away, she said to an onlooker: “She’s whole again.”
Oral Surgeons Dr. David Hoffman and Dr. Lydia Lam were able to restore Marzia’s upper jaw and teeth, after learning of the child’s plight from Elissa Montanti, founder and CEO of the Global Medical Relief Fund in Arrochar and a 2011 Staten Island Advance Woman of Achievement.
Sander Polanco, a master dental technician, created a digital version of Marzia’s smile to create teeth that fit perfectly.
Her story
The GMRF connects children from around the world with birth defects or who are victims of war or natural disasters with medical care in the United States.
Marzia had previously come to the United States for surgery on her nose, mouth and to receive a prosthetic eye.
“All the children who are victims of war, they have no resources in these countries‚’’ said Montanti. ”If I have the resources, there’s not a reason on this earth why my charity should not help.”
Montanti’s organization, which has helped more than 500 people from 67 countries, often brings the children back to the United States again after they grow and need additional surgeries or larger prosthetics. A majority of her cases involve orthopedics, since many of the children need prosthetic limbs, she said.
Two years ago, Montanti reconnected with Marzia, who still had only part of her jaw bone and very few teeth, she said. She arranged for her to be smuggled from her remote village to Pakistan, where the United States has an embassy, and she was brought here to begin the bone reconstruction procedures in her jaw to prepare it for the dental implants.
After several exams and treatments, the two surgeons thought it best to remove her surviving teeth and perform what they call a “Teeth in a Day’’ procedure, giving her a full set of teeth, or an ”all-on-4‚’’ changing her smile forever and giving her a full smile for Christmas.
The classic holiday song, “All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth,” by Spike Jones and His City Slickers, came to Hoffman’s mind as he treated Marzia, he said, musing with the young patient about it on Monday and showing her a video of his grandson singing the song in a recent holiday concert.
Lam and Hoffman have treated a great deal of patients with facial trauma, some from the New York area and others that were brought to the United States from around the world, Hoffman said.
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New front teeth just in time for the holidays
Lam said she enjoyed helping Marzia.
“Her story, in particular, was really heartbreaking,’’ said Lam, noting she has seen new teeth change more about a person’s life than just their appearance.
”She was beautiful before‚’’ Lam said. “But the patient’s self esteem changes. They smile more. They’re more sociable. We take it for granted, but we have to put ourselves in their shoes. It’s so nice to give them that right away. She’s a young, beautiful lady and I’m glad that we could help her.“
Hoffman’s office walls are filled with photos and news stories about the lives he and Lam have changed: A 30-year-old Ukrainian war victim whose jaw they reconstructed in April 2025. A pre-teen from Africa whose face bore a tumor. An African baby with disfiguring facial burn wounds. He’s also traveled to South America and Eastern Europe performing similar surgeries for decades.
“When people ask me why I do this, my answer is, ‘Why wouldn’t I?’,” Hoffman said.
Through his “Teeth in a Day” program, a type of immediate load dental implant procedure, he uses the all-on-4 system. It allows patients to have extracted teeth replaced with new, functional teeth secured on implants all in one visit.
The need for replacement teeth is common among the everyday population and across all age groups, he said. ”We do two, four patients a week. But situations like Marzia’s are particularly rewarding,” he said.
From the left are: Dental Technician Sander Polanco; Monica Montengro, implant coordinator; Marzia; Dr. Lydia Lam; Dr. David Hoffman; and Elissa Montanti, CEO and founder of the Global Medical Relief Fund, based in Arrochar.(Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)
Hoffman gave credit for Marzia’s smile to Lam, who performed the surgery with him, and Montanti, for the amazing things she does for war and disaster victims all over the world through her GMRF.
Montanti has other ideas: “He’s a saint,’’ she said of Hoffman.
Global Medical Relief Fund
For 27 years, Montanti has ensured that children receive life-changing prosthetics and medical care that are out of reach in their impoverished or war-torn countries.
It started for Montanti in 1997, when she helped with a fundraiser for children in Bosnia, collecting toys and school supplies. Soon, she was meeting with Bosnia’s ambassador to the United Nations, who told her they had bigger things to focus on than pencil cases and erasers.
He showed her a heartbreaking letter from a little boy named Kenan, she recalled. The boy had lost both his arms and a leg to a landmine. From there, her life’s mission played out before her, she said.
Today, Montanti’s nonprofit has expanded to include its “Dare to Dream House“ in Arrochar, where the children and their guardians live while they receive treatment. Around five families live in the house at one time, all from different countries.
Montanti is pictured here with Marzia.(Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)