How a Smile Can Change a Life, Change a Family

I didn't have braces growing up as a kid. We were military and they were expensive plus my teeth weren't all that bad but a few things definitely needed to be fixed. I didn't like my teeth very much but I didn't let that stop me from being outgoing and living a fun life.

In my early 20's, I got serious about my teeth and got myself some braces. Wearing braces as an adult is still kind of funny to me. I had the clear ceramic braces and while they were not completely hidden, they looked good. It still makes me laugh that for every single checkup, they asked me what color rubber bands I wanted or do I want to do my school colors. I am still going to chalk that up to looking so young. 🙂

But here is why I did that. I learned through a psychology class that I took is that people look at others teeth and  make assumptions about them. Whether this is right or wrong, it still happens. I was planning to go into the business world and frankly, I wanted perfect teeth.

And perfect teeth I had after four years in braces. Now less than 20 years later, my teeth still look pretty good. There are a few spaces that I would like to fix but they are still generally straight and I am still glad that I went with braces even in my 20's.

I love my husband and he has been fairly successful in business. But he won't smile. Well…I should rephrase that…he won't smile with his mouth open because he hates his teeth. The top teeth are slightly chipped and one is discolored. The bottom teeth are stained. The picture above is the perfect example.

For years, I have thought about getting him veneers but the cost was just too much. In our family of five, there was always some place else that money needed to go. This year, I decided to just start saving for his teeth, without telling him, until we had enough money to fix them.

My husband is a wonderful father. No one could honestly say that he does not love his children. He does and will continue to do whatever he can for them. I think as parents, we tend to put the things we need off to the side and always take care of our children first. That is my husband.

But for the past several years, I have noticed something about him. He NEVER smiles with his mouth open. In fact, he has completely changed the way he talks so his teeth show less and I am not even certain that he has noticed this.

Sometimes it makes me sad because subconsciously he has changed something about himself that he does not like. I never see the smile of the man I married. This guy:

He needs to get his teeth fixed for a variety of reason. But most of all, I think that he needs them fixed for him. Here is why:

I want him to laugh unabashedly and never worry about who might be looking at his teeth.

I want him to find a joke so funny that he cries laughing and not once does he think about his teeth.

I want him to smile and never think twice about keeping his mouth closed because of his teeth.

I want him to feel joy and not have to think about it. Not have to think “is that person looking at my teeth?”

I want him to shake someone's hand, look them in the eye and when he says hello all they see is a flash of white teeth.

Most of all, I want him to be the confident, amazing, intelligent, uplifting person that I know 100% he is on the inside. Now it is time for the outside to match. His teeth are where we start. I want his teeth to change his life because his smile could change our family.

I found out about this amazing contest from Lumineers at an event a few weeks ago. What is most ironic is that I have already done my research and decided that we were getting him Lumineers as soon as we saved enough money. We were asking by brand name.

WHAT ARE LUMINEERS?

Lumineers are ultra-thin (approximately 0.2 mm), highly translucent and replicate the natural appearance of enamel. While traditional veneers are much thicker, requiring the grinding down of your original tooth structure, Lumineers are so thin that little to no tooth reduction is necessary. Additionally, the durability of Lumineers allows them to resist wear and remain resilient to last over 20 years.

HOW DO LUMINEERS WORK?

That is a great question and one that I often wondered about.

ARE LUMINEERS PAINFUL?

The Lumineers procedure is a completely pain-free way to reshape and permanently whiten your teeth. Because they are ultra-thin, in most cases you will get a perfect fit without shots or grinding down of the original tooth structure. Once the procedure is completed, there is no post placement discomfort or sensitivity, which means Lumineers will look natural and feel comfortable from the moment they are placed.

If you really want to see how well Lumineers can fit your life, check out their Before and After gallery.

Lumineers is giving one lucky person a smile makeover. I am entering for my husband. This was a hard post to write. Our basic human need for acceptance in ingrained in the majority of us. And something like having our flaws pointed out to us in a blog post, no less…well I can only imagine my husband's reaction.

So forgive me, honey. I did this for you. And if you don't forgive me, my hope is that you might just have perfect teeth while holding a grudge against me! I am ok with that.  😉

I was not compensated for this post. However, I wrote this post as entry into a contest from Blogher13.