When I was a child, I had very crooked teeth. I also had a large gap between my two front teeth and the two teeth on either side of them (eye teeth) were small and pointed. The dentist called them peg laterals. I was so embarrassed to even smile. Many times I would cover my mouth when I smiled or laughed. At school I was made fun of for the way my teeth looked. I was called squirrel, buck tooth, mouse, vampire, and many other cruel names because of the way my teeth looked. When I entered junior high I got braces, and even though I was called metal mouth after that, I didn’t care because I was so happy that my teeth would finally be straight! I had to wear those braces until my senior year when I finally got them taken off. It was so weird not to have anything metal in my mouth. I kept running my tongue across my teeth amazed at how smooth my teeth felt. They were perfectly straight and I couldn’t stop looking at them. I loved the way they looked but my orthodontist told me that I needed to get veneers over my peg laterals if I want to look pretty. Veneers are thin porcelain shells that are bonded to teeth that may be unsightly for various reasons. They can last anywhere from five years to twenty years depending upon how well you take care of them. However, before they can bond the veneers to your teeth they have to shave off a good portion of your teeth. The orthodontist told my dad that it would be one thousand dollars per tooth and we didn’t have that kind of money. I didn’t care though; I thought they were totally beautiful without veneers.
Recently I decided to go to the dentist to get a cleaning. Because I recently filed my taxes, I realized that I had some extra money to spend. I asked them about veneers and the different options I had. They cleaned and examined my teeth, telling me that I had very little wrong with my smile and even though my eye teeth were small and pointy, I looked normal. The dentist also said reminded me that if I changed my mind after I got the veneers, there was no way to change my teeth back to the way that they were. After thinking long and hard about my options I set up an appointment to get veneers. Finally on last Tuesday I went to my first appointment to get veneers. I sat down in the dentist chair, shaking vigorously from nervousness. The dental hygienist came in to prepare me for the doctor. She put one of those crazy blue bibs on me and told me to lie back while she got the dentist. He came in and greeted me and told me that he was going to numb my mouth on both sides above my laterals. I said “Oh how are you going to do that?” he replied “You don’t want to know!” He was right because he then poked a needle above each one of my teeth into my gums and we waited for it to numb. My mouth began to tingle and a few minutes late my mouth was so numb I couldn’t even feel my nose! The dentist then gave me a pair of tented safety glasses and put a towel over my neck and chest and said “It’s about to get a whole lot wetter in here!” He then began to use a drill that produces water to shave away my teeth. I couldn’t feel a thing! After they were done shaving away part of my teeth they took impressions of my upper mouth so they could construct my teeth, which would take three weeks to create. After the impressions they quickly created some temporary teeth to put over my shaved teeth so I wouldn’t be walking around looking like Christopher Walken in the movie Sleepy Hollow. After the temporary teeth were glued onto my shaved teeth to cover them she handed me a mirror so I could admire them. She said that the temporary ones would give me an idea what my permanent ones would look like. I didn’t want to look in the mirror because I was so scared of what they might look like. My boyfriend came to pick me up and told me to smile but I refused. He convinced me to show him with his flattering words of persuasion. When I smiled he was amazed at how different I looked and he told me that I had to look at my teeth! I reluctantly looked in the mirror and discovered that I had a beautiful, full, smile that I had been waiting for over ten years for and these were only the temporary ones! I actually cried because I was so pleased! So far I suggest veneers for everyone who is considering them. I was so scared for no reason at all! I didn’t feel a thing, except some minor, tolerable discomfort when the medication began to wear off! I can’t wait to see what my permanent veneers look like!
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