As Long As I Can Chew

The idea of braces as a teenager bothers a lot of young people in that time in their life, so for one of those people to become an adult and then purposefully and, only for aesthetic reasons, to decide to get themselves braces is an anomaly to me. However, I personally met someone who decided to do it. As they tell it, it will fix their smile and once they are removed and they’re teeth are whitened by the dentist, they will have nearly perfect teeth. I realized, by the way they talked, it was more about feeling increased confidence because they had improved their appearance than it was about “perfect teeth.” I think we can all relate to this. We all have something that we feel a little insecure about and wish there was a way to fix it, but I think if we were to ask someone that we trusted to be honest with us they would say that we look fine. Even in this person’s case, I could understand if they had snaggletooth and were trying to get it fixed, but under the braces, by what I could tell, they had relatively average teeth. A perfect smile for a world full of imperfections. Most of which should be fully embraced because imperfections make us individuals. If everyone had perfect everything we would all look the same. Even Hollywood, with all its want for the perfect body and perfect hair and perfect facial structure, etc. years ago had casting directors begging for slightly flawed teeth so they could portray a knight in the Middle Ages or a Viking. Hollywood also realized that celebrities with slight imperfections are more recognizable. i.e., Cindy Crawford and her beauty mark, Joaquin Phoenix and his lip scar, even Michael Strahan has a gap in his teeth. So, I guess my one piece of advice is embrace your flaws because you may get cast as a Viking. Moreover, Trident gum belongs in your mouth, but it should be chewed not used as dentures. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.