Doing It Right This Time :) - Baton Rouge, LA

For as far back as I can recall, I've had "issues" with my teeth. I can vividly remember practicing my smile in the mirror the night before school pictures. Hoping that somehow I could create an illusion of a smile that I could live with. Thinking that if I parted my lips just enough and showed a perfect sliver of enamel, that I could manage to look natural and not rehearsed as it was. Growing up in a lower middle class family with two other siblings, closing the spaces in my teeth wasn't exactly a priority to my hard working, penny saving, beauty is on the inside, preaching parents. The fact that "the gap" is an hereditary trait on my father's side of the family, probably put fixing it in even farther down on the list of must do 's. To be honest, I can only remember being teased or spoken to negatively about my teeth a handful of times as a child. The crazy thing though, is that I remember those few incidents like they happened yesterday. Kids tease each other all the time, but when someone is teased for something that they are already self cautious about....ouch. It made me feel like my insecurities were valid. I'm not trying to paint the picture of a depressed or withdrawn child. In fact it was just the opposite. I was a cheerleader, I sang in talent shows (even though I couldn't hold a tune in a cup). My teeth never held me back from doing anything I wanted to do. I just smiled less and was probably misunderstood as a result. Fast forward to 2002. I was 21 years old, in college, and also starting my career as a professional cosmetologist. A client came into the salon that had recently closed the spaces in her teeth with composite bonding. As she talked about the procedure, it's price and simplicity, I became more interested in this easy fix. The next week I had a consultation and one week after that...a new smile. The bonding did close "the gap" but my new teeth didn't look natural. They were big and somewhat bulky. The color wasn't a perfect match, and I always had a fear that I would break one. Now I'm 33 and while the bonding has held up a lot longer than I expected, I know that it's time. Time to finally fix my teeth the right way. I've worked really hard, and have dedicated my life to serving others. I deserve this, and the $1000 off coupon that I found is a sign from the heavens, right? The only thing is, the coupon is only good if you have your consultation and commit the same day. On May 1, 2013 I went in for my consult where I was told that I was in fact great candidate for invisalign. I would however have to have the bonding removed and some scaling done before my impressions could be made. BIG LET DOWN! I'd read where invisalign could be done with the bonding in place. The process is a little more complicated because the bonding is progressively removed and trays might have to be altered throughout the treatment, resulting in more cost $$$. My dentist wasn't willing to do the treatment this way. So on the 6th of May, I was to go back to the dentist office for bonding removal, scaling, and records. The entire appointment took over 4 hours! They started with the cleaning, followed by the bonding removal, then the impressions, x rays, and pictures. The putty they used to make the impressions wasn't so bad at all. I'd read that some people wanted to gag while having impressions made. I didn't have such an urge, thank God because I had to attempt the impressions about 6 times before we had a viable sample. It turns out that I have all four of my wisdom teeth and a huge mouth. The trays didn't go back far enough for the putty to cast over my wisdom teeth. The kind female dental assistant was very apologetic and determined to get it right. I didn't mind as the gas I was given during the cleaning was still working. She also brought me a blanket and made me a pea nut butter and jelly sandwich before we started, so I was very comfortable. Once everything was done the dentist handed me the mirror and I saw theses teeth that a I hadn't seen in 12 years. I wanted to cry:(!!! How was I going to explain to my employees, clients, and boyfriend what happened to my teeth. They knew about the invisalign, but they didn't know about the bonding. I was not mentally prepared to face them all. On top if that, my dentist doesn't seem to know the answer to any of my pressing questions. How long before my trays come in? How long will my treatment take? He didn't know the answer to either of those questions but he did know the price! $5,200-$1000= $4,200.

As I was checking out at the dentist office on May 6th, I was able to get a time frame for the arrival of my alligners. The receptionist said I should expect them in 3-5 weeks. Wow, 3-5 weeks of "the gap"!!! How am I going to deal with this? Going to work on Tuesday was like pulling teeth, lol. Anxious was not the word to describe how I was feeling. In case you couldn't tell from my first entry on this site, I'm a talker. In fact I probably talk too much. This Tuesday was different though. I found myself not wanting to talk, smile or laugh. The funny part is, most people opt for invisalign because they want to be inconspicuous. I have told any and everyone that will listen about my invisalign. Party because I'm bursting with excitement and partly because I find myself wanting to explain "the gap" before anyone asks. Ironically, most people say they didn't even notice. How could they not? I notice everyone's teeth! Especially now! So I went on about my work as normal as possible. Still feeling sorry for myself and hanging my head low. I decided to go to my local Merele Norman store to get some new makeup. While I was there I had a major breakthrough. An elderly woman came into the store, asking for a particular sales rep. She went on to explain that she needed help styling her wig. Her unit was blonde and kind of ratty looking. It hung right below her chin but I'm not confident it was on correctly. Anyways, she said she was looking for the sales rep because she was so kind as to help her style her wig "last time". She said the wig had been in a box for two years and she didn't think she'd ever need it again. She put her hand up to the wig, and in one swift yank, it was off. There she stood, right in the middle of the store, bald, proud, and strong. I immediately took notice and darted over to help her with her wig. I learned that this was her second bout with cancer. Your talking about feeling small and insignificant. Here she was fighting for her life, yet she was still smiling. And there I was, doing something elective and feeling like it was the end if the world. The Lord has a funny way of doing things, and let's just say he whipped me into shape that day. Thank-you God.