There are always things we want to change about ourselves. Things we like and things we don’t like.
Well, since I can remember, I have hated my teeth.
Growing up, I had two big front buck teeth with a gap in between. It garnered me the nickname Bugs Bunny in junior high (super fun). Because my overbite was so significant, we’d need to do a jaw surgery before braces. As you might imagine, that is just as expensive as it sounds. And we had no money.
So before my senior year, my mom splurged and spent a couple hundred dollars to get bonding on the space in between my two front teeth to eliminate the gap. It was a ton of money to us then but she wanted me to smile in my senior pictures.
Ever since my senior year, I’ve had bonded front teeth. They are still oversized and I still have a big overbite, but at least no gap.
Well, over the past several weeks my front tooth had been hurting. I went to the dentist and she noted that since my root canal in that tooth was so old (it’s my only root canal, I got an abscess 20 years ago and had a root canal shortly after starting the practice of law), I really needed to visit an endodontist.
The endodontist said that bacteria had been seeping in through the base of my tooth and he would need to pack it with antibiotics, give me a new root canal, and then I would have to get a crown.
Yep, anyone seeing dollar signs again?
So for two weeks I sat with a front tooth packed full of antibiotics and went in yesterday morning to wrap up the work with the endodontist. Shiny new root canal largely paid for my dental insurance, thankfully.
But then came my visit to my long time dentist. Yes, she would give me the nice new expensive crown but she had another item she wanted to tee up: I have been wanting to fix your two front teeth for the over 15 years you have been coming to me. You wouldn’t spend the money on veneers and you can’t get braces without surgery. Well, now we are replacing this one tooth you absolutely have to get the other one down. They’ll be the same color and the same texture and if you leave the old bonding on the other front tooth it will be really conspicuous.
Y’all, seriously, it is my two front teeth. And I speak in public a lot. And am already utterly self conscious about my icky teeth and overbite.
So I called Bray. Pitched the fix. And we plunked down the payment.
Which means tonight I have a massive headache from having my mouth open to assorted doctors drilling and shooting. I have what I call little sock teeth on my front right now. You know they drill down your teeth to like half size, plus I hadn’t seen my gap in decades, so I looked at my mouth and flipped out. PTSD of sorts. But then they slide these little temporary teeth over your half teeth and cement them in.
Let’s all just say a little prayer they can expedite the process to two weeks instead of three weeks because otherwise I’m going to be hiking around Arizona and Utah with these little sock teeth in my head which make it very tricky to eat.
Aren’t you glad you read my blog? I mean really. Where else do you get to read about someone else’s dental drama? Sheesh – sorry crew, but you only have two more days until you get a break!
I totally understand being self conscious about your teeth. I got Invisilign braces after I retired.. I had $1000 in orthodontic insurance that I would lose once I stopped cobra payments. My front bottom teeth were really crooked and my family has awful bottom teeth that get worse over time. Some of my top teeth were also out of alignment as they came in sideways. I told the orthodontist I didn’t need the over bite corrected. Just the crooked teeth, and Invisilign worked great for that. An Invisilign retainer worn at night keeps them straight and I don’t care if I have to wear it for the rest of my life. Good for you for doing something to boost your confidence in your smile!