Is Perfect Worth It?

With the exception of the most confident among us, women can be very critical of their own appearance.  Personally,  I don't like my stomach, my butt is too flat, my nose is very prominent, and I have always battled with my curly hair.  

However, I think we all have at least one feature that we take pride in.  For me it's always been my smile.  I was fortunate and didn't need braces in my teens.  Actually, after paying for braces for two kids, I think my parents were the lucky ones.  We could have gone on several world tours for the amount of money that went into those boys mouths. But back to me :).

Up until about 5 years ago, my teeth were perfectly straight, and I felt confident flashing a big smile.  But then things started to go a little crooked, and my front top teeth began to overlap. My dentist told me it has to do with gravity, causing my facial muscles to change and my teeth to shift.  Really, gravity again?  Other than holding us down on this planet, I'm starting to think that gravity is evil. 

My once perfect smile is now a crooked mess, and I'm very conscious of my teeth all the time. I'm not a very vain person - I don't tend to look in the mirror that much, but my smile is my thing. 

Even though he says he loves me just the way I am (can we all say awww...), for my birthday hubby gave me Invisalign!  Hallelujah - such a thoughtful gift.  I've had several friends straighten their teeth with Invisalign.  It took about 12 months and they had great results.

I eagerly went to my consultation appointment, excited to find out how long until my perfect smile was back.

Womp, womp, womp.  The tragic turn to our story.  Guess who has an overbite and a misaligned jaw?  Okay, fine - Invisalign can still fix that, right?  Womp, womp, womp. The answer is no.  Guess who Dr. S wants to put in traditional metal braces for 30 - 36 months?  

Oh heck no.  I have never had any pain, chewing problems or issues with my jaw. If it's not broke, why fix it?  I've read about people getting braces at my age and never getting used to the new "geography" of their mouth.  I can't even imagine wearing them for the next 3 years.  I would be 50 before they came off.  The boys think it's hysterical that I might have to go through what they did with their treatment.  Ungrateful children.

All I want are my straight teeth back, but now I've opened up a can of worms.  I have an appointment next week to have x-rays and impressions, and then Dr. S will give me his final recommendations.  He did tell me that if I insist, he can just do Invisalign to fix my front teeth, but he feels he would be doing me a disservice by not addressing the underlying problems. 

Maybe I should just concentrate on all of the things I have to smile about instead of what that smile looks like.

I'm going to have to decide if perfect is worth it.  Right now I have no idea.  I guess I'll wait and see what Dr. S has to say next week.  Stay tuned...