kristina ftw!
Well-known member
I wasn't sure where to put this
But here goes!
I've always had horrible self esteem issues because of my teeth. Obviously there are other things I don't love about myself, but my teeth have always been my number one issue.
Here in Norway, pretty much everyone gets braces when they're young, so most people have perfect teeth. I know it's like that in America as well.
The really sad thing is, in pictures from when I was about 10 years old and up until three months ago, I never smile with teeth. Not in a single one of them. I hated them. HATED them.
When I was about 11 I had braces for six months to fix a bad bite.
When I had them taken off, I still wasn't happy about the way my teeth looked (they weren't straight), but my dentist wouldn't do anything about it, because he said it "wasn't a big deal".
Well, it was to me. But hey, I was very young, and I knew it was expensive, so I didn't want to make my parents pay for more if it wasn't nessecary.
I've been bothered by my teeth ever since.
Already back when I was 10, I picked up the habit of holding my hand in front of my mouth when I laughed or smiled. I still catch myself doing that sometimes, old habits really are hard to break.
Now, fast forward 6 years, to three months ago.
I finally got to see an orthodonocist.
I was prepared to get braces again, even though most people have theirs taken off way before they're 17.
My new orthodonocist said that I probably only needed a retainer, since only two of my teeth are actually crooked (which doesn't sound like much, but it's VERY noticable, I'll tell you why later), and all I needed to do was to expand my jaw (it's crowded) and push those two back in place.
I had mixed feelings. On one hand, a retainer is less painful than braces, and you can take it off whenever you need/want to. On the other hand, I was afraid it wouldn't be effective enough, and that when my treatment was done, my teeth still wouldn't be straight, but my dentist would decide it "wasn't a big deal", and I would go through another 7 years of hating my teeth.
The problem with my teeth was that it's crowded, so one tooth (not the very front one, but the one next to it) is a lot further behind the other ones, and the front tooth right next to it is kind of overlapping the other front tooth, and sticks out more than the others.
I know this doesn't exactly paint a very vivid picture, but it was really noticable, and made it seem like all my teeth were crooked, even though they weren't.
Now, after only three months of wearing the retainer, this is what they look like:
Granted, this is my "good tooth side" (as in, was never awful, but not good either), but here's one from the front:
THEY LOOK ALMOST PERFECTLY STRAIGHT. I didn't even realize until I saw these pictures.
Now, I know it's hard to imagine without a before picture, but trust me, there is SUCH a huge difference. And after only three months!
And the best part is ... I was looking at pictures from my vacation to the US, and I'm smiling with teeth in almost every single one of them
I finally feel comfortable smiling, both in pictures and in everyday life.
They're still not perfect, and I still have a bit of a long way to go, but they are SO much better.
I AM SO HAPPY.
SO SO HAPPY.
It might seem stupid, but oh my gosh, this is such a huge thing for me.
Oh, and THANKS FOR READING ALL OF THIS. Haha. I was just so happy and wanted to share with someone.
OH, and since this is a makeup forum, I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the shiny face in the last one, haha!
ETA: Oh, and the treatment so far has been a lot more painful than I expected (must be the "expanding of the jaw"-part - I know - duh, right?) but it's so worth it, it's not even funny
I've always had horrible self esteem issues because of my teeth. Obviously there are other things I don't love about myself, but my teeth have always been my number one issue.
Here in Norway, pretty much everyone gets braces when they're young, so most people have perfect teeth. I know it's like that in America as well.
The really sad thing is, in pictures from when I was about 10 years old and up until three months ago, I never smile with teeth. Not in a single one of them. I hated them. HATED them.
When I was about 11 I had braces for six months to fix a bad bite.
When I had them taken off, I still wasn't happy about the way my teeth looked (they weren't straight), but my dentist wouldn't do anything about it, because he said it "wasn't a big deal".
Well, it was to me. But hey, I was very young, and I knew it was expensive, so I didn't want to make my parents pay for more if it wasn't nessecary.
I've been bothered by my teeth ever since.
Already back when I was 10, I picked up the habit of holding my hand in front of my mouth when I laughed or smiled. I still catch myself doing that sometimes, old habits really are hard to break.
Now, fast forward 6 years, to three months ago.
I finally got to see an orthodonocist.
I was prepared to get braces again, even though most people have theirs taken off way before they're 17.
My new orthodonocist said that I probably only needed a retainer, since only two of my teeth are actually crooked (which doesn't sound like much, but it's VERY noticable, I'll tell you why later), and all I needed to do was to expand my jaw (it's crowded) and push those two back in place.
I had mixed feelings. On one hand, a retainer is less painful than braces, and you can take it off whenever you need/want to. On the other hand, I was afraid it wouldn't be effective enough, and that when my treatment was done, my teeth still wouldn't be straight, but my dentist would decide it "wasn't a big deal", and I would go through another 7 years of hating my teeth.
The problem with my teeth was that it's crowded, so one tooth (not the very front one, but the one next to it) is a lot further behind the other ones, and the front tooth right next to it is kind of overlapping the other front tooth, and sticks out more than the others.
I know this doesn't exactly paint a very vivid picture, but it was really noticable, and made it seem like all my teeth were crooked, even though they weren't.
Now, after only three months of wearing the retainer, this is what they look like:
Granted, this is my "good tooth side" (as in, was never awful, but not good either), but here's one from the front:
THEY LOOK ALMOST PERFECTLY STRAIGHT. I didn't even realize until I saw these pictures.
Now, I know it's hard to imagine without a before picture, but trust me, there is SUCH a huge difference. And after only three months!
And the best part is ... I was looking at pictures from my vacation to the US, and I'm smiling with teeth in almost every single one of them
I finally feel comfortable smiling, both in pictures and in everyday life.
They're still not perfect, and I still have a bit of a long way to go, but they are SO much better.
I AM SO HAPPY.
SO SO HAPPY.
It might seem stupid, but oh my gosh, this is such a huge thing for me.
Oh, and THANKS FOR READING ALL OF THIS. Haha. I was just so happy and wanted to share with someone.
OH, and since this is a makeup forum, I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the shiny face in the last one, haha!
ETA: Oh, and the treatment so far has been a lot more painful than I expected (must be the "expanding of the jaw"-part - I know - duh, right?) but it's so worth it, it's not even funny
