A Toothy Fairytale

Once upon a time there was a teenager who needed root canals on each of her two front teeth. Her dentist suggested it may have been due to having braces, but her orthodontist got pretty defensive about this (he was worried about a lawsuit maybe?) and insisted it was because of the five years she had spent playing the clarinet. Regardless of the reason, the girl trusted her pearly whites to her beloved dentist, and the work was done.

Years went by, and with the passage of time, the girl noticed something strange. Whenever she saw herself in photographs, she noticed these same teeth getting darker and darker. It wasn't something she thought about all the time, just in the occasional picture. After a while, though, it began to bother her, and she wondered if that was all people could think about when they saw her smile.

More years passed, and while she had regular dentist appointments, she had not yet found someone she could trust as much as the dentist of her youth. Then a young, newly married couple entered her life. As their friendship developed, she discovered that the young man happened to be in dental school. Of course he noticed her teeth, and they talked about treatment options. It seemed far off, though, and was put on the back burner.

Eventually this young man graduated from dental school, trained with knowledgable dentists, and opened up his own practice. The idea of fixing this girl's teeth started to become more of a reality, since she had finally found someone in whom she could trust with her teeth. Appointments were scheduled, teeth were bleached, impressions were made, and two weeks of fluoride treatments ensued. And the day finally arrived.

The girl spent four hours in the dentist's chair, had multiple shot of novacaine, felt her two front teeth whittled down to stubs. She watched as her dentist friend designed her new teeth on the computer, and waited for him to add his artistic touch. At last she looked in the mirror, a bit skeptical about how big of a change there really would be. She was amazed, excited, and overjoyed to see the result. Her custom-made teeth were so natural looking and brightened her whole face. She was so proud of her friend and the work he had done. She left that office with a lighter step and stole several looks at her new smile in the rearview mirror on the way home.

So now this girl will no longer wonder what others are thinking when she talks or smiles. She won't cringe at pictures of herself and lament how dark her two front teeth are. And even though she may not always put on makeup or fix her hair (especially on days when there is more than a foot of snow outside and she won't be leaving the house for two days), she will now have the self-confidence that comes with a bright, beautiful smile. CinderAmy has found her Fairy GodDentist.