Teeth are a big deal now. They really are. As soon as somebody becomes a celebrity in any sense one of the first things they seem to have done is their teeth. Cheryl Cole, James Arthur, Joey Essex and that’s just naming a few. Of course, we aren’t all dreaming of a smile quite as blinding as Joey Essex, but these days, there is a lot of more focus in that area. If we see somebody on TV, we actually comment on what a nice smile they have, how straight their teeth are, how white their teeth are – how we would love our teeth to look like that. These are things that wouldn’t even have occurred to us 10 years ago. Of course, I work in a dental practice so I am surrounded by teeth all day long, so I am probably more aware than some, but so many people I know who don’t work in a dental environment in any sense are talking about teeth now. They say that if they had some money spare, the first thing they would do would be have their teeth straightened, whitened, crowns changed etc, or simply that they would pay privately to see an amazing dentist like Dave or Indy. Many also say how they wish they had taken the opportunity to have braces when they were offered it as a teenager.
When I was a teenager, my teeth weren’t great. I didn’t have any fillings or decay, and they weren’t a bad colour. But they were very wonky and out of line. The front two were crossed over, the next ones along stuck out and I had some major overcrowding going on. I remember being adamant that I would not have a brace, there were many heated debates about this in my family home. I simply was not going to have one, I didn’t see why I should. I remember saying to my Mum in the way that teenagers do “I’m not having a brace, you can’t make me, I don’t care about my teeth, nobody will notice them”. And she pretty much said tough you’re having one, you’ll thank me when you’re older! And so I very begrudgingly got my braces, these were proper traintracks and I remember being really embarrassed going to school with my “metal mouth”, but actually, I needn’t have been. Half my school year had braces or retainers and nobody even said anything other than asking what colour elastics I had (pink of course!). I had them for 9 months and when they came off, my whole face seemed to have changed for the better.
I didn’t realize that I needed to wear a retainer to keep them in that position though, and slowly over the years, they did lapse slightly. Luckily, when I started working here at Cathedral Dental, Indy quickly sorted that out with a Six Month Smile and now they are back in alignment again and I am very good and sleep with my retainer in every single night without fail!
I recently looked back at some photos taken when I was a teenager who was adamant they wouldn’t have a brace and I was so shocked! My teeth really were all over the place! At the time I didn’t realize just how much of a complete muddle my mouth looked back then. I have my no nonsense Mum to thank for the fact they don’t look like that now, and funnily enough I have actually thanked her for insisting with no room for negotiation that I had braces as a teenager, just like she said I would. We are so lucky that orthodontic treatment is offered to us when we are growing up!
However, if you did miss the boat when you were a teenager, or you were never offered a brace, there are so many great options now to rectify any problems you have. Cathedral Dental can provide FastBraces, Invisalign, Six Month Smile and the Inman Aligner, so don’t panic or think we can’t help, because we can!
And if you are still at that lucky age where straightening is offered to you for free, and you are offered orthodontic treatment on the NHS to straighten your teeth, grab that chance with both hands! When people say you will be so glad you did when you’re older, speaking from experience, you will be. Especially now that we live in a world where teeth are a massive thing, and a great smile is one fashionable item that will ALWAYS be in style.
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