When I was younger, I was goofy. Like really goofy. My two front teeth really stuck out and whilst I was lucky enough never to be properly bullied for them, I did get a bit of a ribbing about them. Like lots of children, I ended up with braces to sort them.
My problem was caused by overcrowding – I had too many teeth at the top which pushed my front ones forward. When I was in year 6, I had two teeth taken out under general anaesthetic, and a few weeks later I had a removable brace. Being in primary school, I was the first of my friends to have a brace and they all thought it was pretty cool, especially as I could take it out! I can’t remember exactly how long I had it for, maybe three years or so? It did the job and my top teeth are now nice and straight.
My bottom teeth, however, are a completely different story. They are horrible. Again, I have too many teeth, and really needed two of the ones at the front taking out. As a self-conscious teenager who had already worn a brace for years, was very tall and skinny, in the top groups for all the subjects at school and had sticky out ears, I already stood out like a sore thumb amongst the ‘cool’ crowd at my rather bitchy all-girls school. There was no way on earth that I was walking around with two of my front teeth missing and a fixed brace on my teeth. Not a chance. Anyway, it wasn’t THAT bad. My mum and dad tried and tried to persuade me to get it done and told me I would regret it, but I absolutely point blank refused.
Fast forward fifteen years or so and I realise they were right. They did get worse, and now two of my front teeth sit far behind the rest of them. They look really uneven and it’s really hard to get to the ones that have been pushed back, so they’re not quite as white as I would like them to be.
Thankfully, as far as regrets go, it’s not a bad one because I can still do something about it. Braces for adults are a big thing now, and so many adults choose to sort their teeth out with invisible ones. My sister-in-law, Kim from Life of An Auntie and Mum wears braces to make her teeth perfect for her upcoming wedding and you can’t tell she has anything on at all!
This year is the year I look for more information about getting these gnashers sorted once and for all! Hopefully, in a few years, I will have the perfect set of straight teeth that I should have had years ago!
*Collaborative post