Issues With Your Teeth? Here’s How to Fix it
Brace yourself — A journey to a confident smile
Growing up, I never imagined that having crooked teeth would be a source of regret in my adult life. I always had a gap in my teeth in the middle, you know, a little like Arnie.
Like many, I wished I had done something as a kid. Now, as an adult, I find myself longing for a straighter smile. Even though I’m confident, I’d have even more confidence with straighter teeth.
It’s always made me self-conscious about my smile. It’s not that my teeth are severely crooked, but they’re noticeable enough to make me think twice before grinning in photos or meeting new people.
As an example for you, when I was a kid in high school (the worst place for having something wrong with you) there was a girl I liked. One day on the bus, someone decided to tell this girl that I liked her. When she heard, she crushed me by saying, “Urgh, he’s minging.”
For those who don’t know, ‘minging’ is a derogatory word for someone ugly. You might have guessed that already I suppose, but it wasn’t the immediate effect that got to me. No, I could handle a little embarrassment. It was how it made me feel afterward that really got to me. I was ugly, and, I kind of blamed my teeth for it. The gap in my top middle teeth made me feel embarrassed. Nobody else had that, so why did I?
This impacted me growing up, and even now, it gets to me. Now, if we want to do braces as adults, the process is expensive and inconvenient, so I typically just suck it up.
Over the years, I’ve considered getting braces, but the idea of wearing them as an adult seemed daunting, maybe even silly. I worry about how they will look and how they will affect my daily life. You know, would I look handsome with them? or more like a school kid?
But as I’ve grown older, my desire for a straighter smile has only grown stronger. I see other people with perfectly aligned teeth and envy it. I wish I had taken the opportunity to straighten my teeth when I was younger when braces were more… normal and accepted. But hey, I went to a school where that sort of thing would have been laughed at.
I know that wearing braces in my adult life will be challenging. It will require commitment, patience, and a willingness to embrace change. But I also hope… know that the end result will be worth it. A straighter smile will not only improve my appearance but also boost my self-esteem and change how others perceive me.
According to the American Association of Orthodontists, millions of adults are currently undergoing orthodontic treatment, proving that it’s never too late to invest in your smile.
To anyone else out there who, like me, has ever wished they’d worn braces as a kid, I want you to know that it’s never too late to make a change. Embrace the chance to straighten your teeth and discover the confidence that comes with a beautiful smile.
Let’s hope I take my own advice.
~TW~
I call on you to share your teeth stories with me.
