I had bad teeth. Whenever I looked at myself in the mirror or in pictures, my teeth would always stand out somehow. One of my maxillary central incisors protruded out and my two canine teeth looked dracula-ish. Whenever I tried to lick my teeth with my tongue, I couldn't reach that particular tooth which was way too front. I looked at my brother's teeth and honestly, jealousy gripped me as he could smile with so much confidence, and he looked really nice in pictures. I too gave my best smile in pics, but in the end I felt my smiles weren't so appealing. Due to the disorderly arrangement of my teeth, food often got stuck in between them. I had so much trouble dealing with them.
So in August 2004, I managed to get myself registered in the government hospital to fix my braces. Only then I knew that I wouldn't get them straight away as there was a long list of other poor people like me who had bad teeth and wanted to get braces too. And so I waited and endured this crooked teeth for another 4.5 years. After SPM, I finally put on my braces.
This journey of wearing braces have been bittersweet. I miss those moments of showing off my coloured bands, enduring the come-and-go and come-and-go-again pains, brushing teeth almost after every meal, 'toothpicking' food stuck in teeth (esp green leafy veges, hate it) and many more. Well, as much as how I miss them, I would not want to go through it all over again. I prefer them to remain as memories treasured in my heart.
I'm thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to experience ugly teeth. Only then, I got to experience what it was like wearing metals for 2.5 years. And only then it reinforced in me the interest to do dentistry. It was all planned so beautifully. Like a piece of Sonatina, the ups and downs of life helped me perceive life a different way. I'm now all ready to India!
(Nevertheless, beauty is skin deep. I still hold on to the belief that physical appearance isn't as important as our inner beauty)
QUIZ: WHO HAS THE BEST SMILE???
Yup, you guessed it right!
Yea, you guessed it right again! LOL
Yup, you guessed it right!
Yea, you guessed it right again! LOL
5 comments:
*like* nice pictures!
answer for "who has the best smile" is me is it? hahahaa..
And the Yoo Ah In-like pic,i noticed u were standing in front of fahrenheit 88 :P
Tell me, don't you have more confidence to smile widely unlike last time when smiling was a matter of making sure no teeth are shown? ;p Congratulations for taking off your braces!
Wahhhhhhh :)
perasan la this guy...><" haha! dont go around india scaring ppl with ur mischievious grin k...XP
HI Edwin, your mum gave me your blog address. Interesting reading your braces experience....that's something that I wanted to do but was told I was too old for it when I asked my dentist in uni at the age of 24. But later, I saw my colleagues doing it in their mid to late 20s and wondering why I couldn't???? Well, I never went to see her dentist, come to think of it, I should have. I have quite bad cross bite on one side, food stuck there...I also had very bad wisdom tooth that this dentist in uni "saved" me from further damage, but too late. It affected the next tooth, I think you call it molar tooth? Later the molar tooth was gone for good because the cavity was simply too big and the filling only managed to hold it for a few years...later, had to go for root canal...and then, it got swollen...and was advised by a dentist in Japan to have it removed. I was so relieved, but not for too long...because i was told later that I needed to do a bridge...resisted for a while because I thought so sayang to cut off the next good tooth to just make that bridge, but eventually had to relent....I can tell you 1000 and one story about my teeth...next time when you come back...
Enjoy your study and sojourn in India!
Aunty Kit Yoong
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