When I was a little girl I had a gap in between my teeth that you could literally drive a Mack truck through. It was humongous! To make matters worse I fell and chipped my front tooth and I cracked it almost half off. I am pretty sure it was my sister’s fault, if memory serves she was chasing me for a goody bag of candy.

My school picture circa early 80’s

Nevertheless there I was with this crazy big gap and a chipped front tooth. I remember the dentist inquiring why my tooth was green. My mother had to explain that green was the color of her k linoleum floor. Apparently I dented the floor with my tooth and took some of the flooring with me. Dentistry is not the fine art is today and my tooth was shoddily bonded which only accentuated the gap.

For years people would try to console me and tell me how charming it was and how it gave me character. “You look just like Lauren Bacall” The problem was I was not a model or an actress so it didn’t really make me feel any better.

The only thing that did make me feel better is the knowledge that one day I could get BRACES. Unfortunately that was never to be. The dentist told us that braces would not fix my gap because my  jaw was set like that way. Of course I cried. I was hysterical I had been waiting forever for these magic braces to fix my smile. The dentist explained that even if he put braces on my teeth they would eventually move back and it would be even more heartbreaking.

It would be many years before I  met my wonderful dentist who fixed my teeth and who is ridiculously proud of himself. He often shows pictures of my teeth to other patients when I am there so they can admire his work.

So naturally he laughed out loud when I brought my children to him and they all had my teeth and gap, albeit not as big. Sometimes heredity is a bitch. He promptly gave me the number of the orthodontist and off we went.

Caroline Christmas Day 2010. First day with braces.

Caroline got her braces on Christmas Eve when she was in fifth grade. Quite a Christmas present for my kid, sometimes I am just an awesome Mom. I believe she also had strep throat which I ignored assuming her complaining was due to the new braces and not strep throat. On a side note I did not win Mother of the Year in 2010.

Yeah they are off!

On our way in…

Many thousands of dollars, hundreds of rubber bands, countless adjustments and three and a half long years later the braces are off!

Worth every penny to see her smile with teeth so straight. She did inherit my gap but now they attach the two front teeth together so her teeth will stay as perfect as the day she got them off.

Before & After

And they better after all the time and money…