A blog about life experience and inexperience, written by Dallea Caldwell.
Do you remember when you lost your two front teeth? Maybe you mainly remember the cold hard cash under your pillow and blowing it on a wild night of binge-drinking soda pop and doing lines of sugar straws. The rest is probably a cheek-pinched blur.
But, if you’re lucky, it was just a phase. And you traded in your bike’s training wheels and got your big kid teeth. Because, at some point, having an irregular smile gets decidedly less adorable.
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get to enjoy my big teeth for long. I mean, I continued to have them… but there was no enjoyment. I was joyously playing “It” at the playground when I tripped, dragging my gleeful grin across the pavement.
So, I had 2 chipped front teeth. And unfortunately, in my working-class family, regular cleanings and other essentials had to take precedence over cosmetics. Throughout middle school and high school I learned to be insecure. I smiled with pursed lips or with my lower lip hiding the jagged flaws. I spoke little around strangers. And, I only nodded politely when complemented, fearing that if they saw my crooked smile, they’d no longer find me pretty.
Of course, I was still a happy kid. Teased, but who wasn’t? Self-conscious, but only about a million things from my nose to my feet… just like every other kid.
Still, it wasn’t until college that I discovered the difference a carefree smile makes. In my sophomore year my family finally garnered the means to take care of both basic and cosmetic dental needs. I was fitted for porcelain veneers and boy what a difference!
At first, I smiled less than before. By college I’d come to terms with my smile and convinced myself that it wasn’t that bad. After all, I had friends and a boyfriend. I could chat over lunch and everyone kept their food down.
My fear was that people who treat me so much better and be so astounded at my new appearance that it would spoil my delusions. It would prove that I was, in fact, grotesque.
But, when I did let go, the sensation was so addictive. Happy is so much happier and funny is so much funnier when you’re free to smile and laugh as big as your heart desires.
Now, my eyes and nose crinkle for every joke, greeting, and picture. My whole face is pinched under the weight of my big beaming smiles.
Thanks to new technologies like Invisalign and laser teeth whitening, it’s never too late to get the smile you’ve always wanted. Insecurity dampens every occasion and adds a bad punchline to every joke. So, visit www.talklocal.com to find a dentist who can correct whatever insecurity you want fixed. You won’t believe how happy your happiness will feel!
