Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
— Victor Hugo
A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you’re at home. ~Author Unknown
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
— Mother Teresa
After seventy years, my husband’s uncle presented himself as a new man. Still the soulful, joyful man who always exuded warmth, his smile now reaches from his head to his toes. After decades of incredibly crooked teeth, he invested in having all of his teeth fixed.
I spoke with our family friend orthodontist yesterday about this, and he used the verb, “haunted.” It was a powerful description, but remembering myself and how I felt in 8th grade, I’d say this is an accurate portrayal.
Paging through weathered scrapbooks, it’s impossible to find one smiling picture, where my teeth show, from approximately 1st grade, through 8th grade. As adult teeth generally grow down (yes, gravity is a great thing), my front tooth protruded past my lips, and that’s an understatement. Even pressing my lips together when I smiled revealed the abnormality. Lest you think my childhood memories expand with time, my three older brothers actually gave me a ceramic mold of gorilla teeth one year. By wrapping it up as a beautiful present, and then declaring the orthodontist gave them the cast of my teeth as a keepsake, they thought their prank rather hysterical. (Don’t worry, no detrimental emotional scarring occurred. Boys will be boys, albeit mean boys sometimes.)
With our eleven year old daughter now patiently awaiting her Invisalign treatment, I’m attempting to reiterate the importance of smiling. Even though she’s self conscious about her teeth, there are so many benefits to sharing a warm smile. Not only does smiling contribute greatly to someone’s first impression of you, it also completely changes your mood. It’s not just about choosing joy, to offset negativity, but did you know studies show that smiling three times in succession releases happy hormones, such as serotonin and endorphin from your brain? It also reduces stress, which lowers blood pressure, not to mention smiling takes years off ones appearance.
Who couldn’t be drawn to this perfectly imperfect smile?
Sure, a few teeth poke out here and there, but desiring to instill confidence, assuring her of the beauty within, regardless of appearances, is my goal. Once her teeth have been straightened, it will just be icing on the cake.
One of my favorite companies to work with, Invisalign Teen, is bringing an unbelievable contest to you about the importance of instilling confidence in children. Invisalign Teen is offering the chance for one lucky mom to win a new smile for her child. Yes, a full Invisalign treatment worth $5500. How amazing is that? Click here and go to Blissfully Domestic to enter.
A beautiful post and I love the picture of your daughter.
Oh…..I took had horrible teeth until my mid 30’s … I mean seriously, they were called vampirish … my eye teeth were WAY up in the gumline and then my other teeth were crowded behind … even my kids are appalled when they see pictures of me when I was younger. However, at a very young age, I remember hearing someone say something about the smile reaching the eyes. And that if there were no teeth shown on that smile, it was not a warm smile meeting with the eyes. So regardless of the HORRIBLE (yes, even I cringe when I see old pictures) smile and teeth I used to have, I smiled with all my teethy glory. BIG GLORIOUS TEETH! Know what the number one thing people remember of me when they meet me? My big smile with the nice big teeth (that were perfectly aligned and have since gotten a wee bit crooked) and the way my eyes twinkle. It’s true 🙂 Everyone, smile as if you mean it! (and I’m now going to dig out my retainer from the purse and put them on)
@jan, I actually came across my last retainer when we were clearing out drawers a few months back. After a good cleaning I tried to put them on, and they didn’t even fit my teeth anymore. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing! 😛
Her smile is beautiful. 🙂
My poor husband has had bad teeth his whole life, and maddeningly enough, his parents did not really seem to care. Heck, they tell stories about how they kept getting the opportunity to get him braces, but decided to use the money for other stuff. Instead of braces they poured new concrete for their driveway… bought a big screen tv and surround sound system… and got braces for his little brother (who has always been the favorite in the family because he is into sports :/).
We’ve looked into him getting braces now or sometime in the future, but because he is an adult it won’t be covered at all by our insurance. If his parents had done it when he was a kid, it would be hugely cheaper. Ugh.
Someone once said to me that when a person with not perfect teeth smiles, you know its a genuine smile for you, not that they are just smiling to show off their perfect teeth. I always remember that and it is even more poignant now I have a tooth that is discolouring and the ones corrected by braces in my teens have slipped back.
Your daughter is beeyootiful! I know there are important health issues with goofy teeth-i threw a fit when my preteen dentist said “braces” so my folks gave up. I paid for my own at 31, it took 3yrs cuz I was a VP Sales & had the porcelains(which cut the inside of your face to shreds) and now they’ve mostly moved back&the TMJ is not pleasant. Ahhh those hormones(I “bloomed” early)…refusing to eat or come out of my room for almost a week workd on strict parents,but I damaged *me*. YAY for invisalign&a cooperative child. 😉 too bad I can’t enter me,haha. -s-
You are SO right!! My 12 yr old son had a major protrusion of a front tooth. It prevented him from closing his lips properly, and it severely overlapped the other front tooth.
Last August, he got his upper and lower expanders in. He has to keep them for a year, and now has braces on the 6 front top teeth as well. After the year is up, he will have full braces, top and bottom for a year. It has been a huge investment of money for us.
But his teeth are already pulled in line, and even with the braces, his smile is so beautiful now!!! He isn’t afraid to smile. It has been so worth it!!
Your daughter has a gorgeous smile…I never would have even noticed her teeth were out of line! She is beautiful!!
IT IS REALLY FUNNY THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT BRACES TODAY. I TOOK MY 12 YEAR OLD TO THE ORTHODONTIST TODAY AND HE HAS TO HAVE BRACES AND OUR INSURANCE WON’T PAY FOR IT. HE HAS IMPACTED CANINES AND WILL HAVE TO HAVE 4 PERMANENT TEETH EXTRACTED. GOT TO WAIT ON GETTING THEM WE HAVE TO TRY AND GET UP THE MONEY.
YOUR DAUGHTER IS SO PRETTY.
She has a beautiful smile!!
DH and I both had braces (me, twice actually b/c my underbite was so bad they had to fix it before the rest of my teeth came it, and DH had his on for 5 or 6 YEARS!)… just make sure she wears her retainers!! It’s been 11 years since we got ours off and we still wear ours at least once a week! My siblings never did and to this day you wouldn’t be able to tell that they had braces. They don’t tell you these things at the office…
The one advantage for me having crooked teeth was that you couldn’t tell I was missing one of my front ones (the one next to my main front teeth). I just never had the permanent tooth for whatever reason (they have xrayed my whole face just to make sure it wasn’t hiding anywhere, lol!). My teeth were so tight that the one next to it grew in its place so at least for those few years I didn’t have a big gaping hole or anything… The odd thing is, DH’s sister had the same thing with the same tooth! Our kids are doomed!
Your daughter is beautiful! Our daughter had huge spaces between her teeth and a space front and center she could squeeze her tongue through. We got her braces and while we were waiting for her surgery that all together cost us about $11,000 someone actually had the nerve to suggest waiting until she was married so that it would be her husbands problem and not ours. People don’t always realize what they say is hurtful or even none of their business. We made it happen because she is important to us.
I think she is beautiful. I had aweful teeth as a kid. older kids passing by in lunch rm would call me bugs bunny and put me in tears. I still remember it quite well.
Jen, what a beautiful young lady she is, and I know she’ll be pleased to have her “big teeth” corrected. My DH and I both have non-perfect teeth – his overbite is quite large (and our youngest son inherited that) and my right eye-tooth is raised up above the other teeth, and a little pointed. Neither of our families ever had the money for braces, and you know? I never minded. My extra tooth has been with me since 5th grade, and I always kind of liked the unique-ness of it. If my kids want braces, I will do it for them (if we can afford it, with no insurance) but I will also try to encourage them to think of themselves as amazing and wonderful, no matter what their teeth look like. Your daughter’s lucky to have you, and I’m sure she already knows how wonderful she is. 🙂