Deep Adventure

I got my braces off last week, and many adults are relaying to me their childhood memories of that wonderful smooth-teeth-feeling from their post-braces days. Well, my experience is different. I didn’t get the disruptive two years of metal-mouth-misery. I got Invisalign. Benefits? I got to remove them when I ate; no one knew I had braces unless I told them so; they were virtually painless, very low maintenance, and (drum roll please) I got them off on schedule. It took only 9 months, just as I was quoted.

I had no intention of getting braces as an adult. My teeth had been crooked my whole life, and I saw no reason why it should matter. But when my dentist, Dr. Deep (no joke) wanted to trade one of my paintings for these fancy new braces, I had some thinking to do. Keep in mind, the painting was a large, time-intensive, very expensive piece with great sentimental value. I’d barely finished it when he offered the trade.

I polled adults and children. Did it really matter if my teeth were straight? Most people were undecided on the matter, but I did get some emphatic opinions from several women older than me. Some of my female students in their late 50s and 60s expressed their very positive take on the matter. GET THEM! They said that as you get older everything about you gets wrinklier, saggier, and lumpier. You need every last thing you have control over to look good as long as it can. So, since I am indeed getting wrinklier, saggier, and lumpier as we speak, I thought I’d take the advice of some wise (and still beautiful, I might add) women who have experienced the wrinkly, saggy, and lumpy years a little longer than I have. Besides, if nothing else, getting braces is a life adventure. I’ve had this habit my whole life of saying yes to most anything. I am insatiably curious.

So my Deep adventure is over. My teeth are beautifully straight, and I am very, very glad I said yes. I got to watch some amazing medical technology at work, my teeth are easier to take of, and most importantly, I have a nicer smile. The smile is a benefit I hadn’t thought of when I made the decision, but it’s obvious to me now that it is THE thing I profited in all this. I smile bigger, and that’s deep.