New smile

Once upon a time, back when I was eight years old, I crashed my bike pretty badly while riding without a helmet and broke my face. 

No really, my jaw in two places and three of my teeth - two of which were permanent (the front two!).

Before and after getting my jaw wired shut. My trusty dog Tammy stayed by my side at ALL times.

And thus began the epic journey of dental trauma and triumph that lasted all through my teen and adult years up until now - and included caps, veneers, braces, root canals, infections, two sets of crowns, a cracked root, extractions, surgeries, one bazillion shots in my mouth, and the likes.

That journey officially ended YESTERDAY.

That's right. The latest and final installment of my new front teeth has been completed and I now have the smile I always wished for, thanks to the technology of today that can create amazing dental implants using material like ceramic zirconia, which I know little about except that it is as strong as the dickens and costs an arm and a leg. And the other leg too.

I had a GREAT dental team that worked together over the past year to do an amazing job, and the best husband in the world that didn't care about the money but rather the end results and what I would be the happiest with.  And I can tell you - I am very happy.  Especially when he asks me about 20 times in a 24 hour period to smile at him and then grins and tells me how beautiful it looks.

And now for the most uncomfortably close view of my mouth that you'll probably ever see:

Please ignore the unflattering parts of this picture (which is every part besides the teeth) and just focus on those pearly whites. The front four uppers are all new crowns, and the middle two are over new root implants that were put in surgically last June.

I suffered for those 4 teeth I tell you. I had no front teeth for over SEVEN MONTHS. Instead I had a lovely little device called a flipper - which looks like a retainer except with fake teeth hanging off the front. It was a pain and a half; I couldn't sleep with it in, or eat that well, and I lived with the constant fear that I would go somewhere and forget to put it in. Which happened. TWICE.

Also, sometimes someone would pop by without warning while I didn't have it in and let me tell you, trying to hide your mouth inconspicuously until you can pop in your teeth is nothing if not awkward for all parties involved.

I'm so glad those days are over. And that I live in the day and age we're in where the lengthy and sometimes grueling process I went through was even an option. It was SO worth it.