My Moulds are In!

 Here are some before pics of the moulds Westdale took

 And what the lab created to be the after (minus the crowns that will cover my teeth entirely)

Excited to get started with this super long process!!

Next appointment is on Feb 28th where I will get a much needed cleaning
Then March 9th Surgery for 2hrs to have extractions, fillings, root canal(s), bone graphing etc
March 23rd - Whitening
Then 3 months of healing before getting the implants

Westdale really IS creating more beautiful smiles all around!!

So happy... Kurwin my 16yr old son went in for his appointment for sedation and fillings...plus a unexpected root canal... while there I mentioned his past incident of chipping his tooth and how the dentist added a tooth portion that was 5mm shorter than the tooth next too it along with a line of discoloration... front two teeth so very noticeable... it has always bugged him.
They fixed it!! They did all the other planned work and fixed it... I was in SHOCK how great it looks... the discoloration is gone AND his two front teeth are the same size and length!! So excited for him...everyday he talks about it and I know it has done a lot for his self image already!!

Thanks again for everything!!

Side note: Still waiting for the lab with my reports to be processed, still haven't heard the plan of action for my own teeth but I am still excited and the plan is to go in tomorrow to hear all the details!!

I will try to post an after pic of Kurwin... (getting him to LET me is the challenge!)
But for now here is the BEFORE pic!

Getting anxious!

I went in on Tuesday for my "report" (see last post) the "report" was going to be sent to Dr. Al for his review and for him to create a plan of treatment, care, action what have you...
Lindsay graciously agreed to give me a run down via email prior to me coming in on Saturday to discuss the full plan in detail... but with busy schedules and great Canadian "snow day" I have not gotten that run down as of yet and my nerves are everywhere!

I worry they changed their minds, worried it can't be done, just worried in general.
My last appointment I got to have a brief peek at the veneers colour chart...so exciting even though we are a long way off from that part.

I definitely would like to be at a 030/020.. nice and white but not top of the whiteness chart, I am not worried about my teeth looking fake at all... not crazy white fake... but if they look to good to be true than sign me up...!

 My front four teeth are healthy as well as my bottom four front teeth... I learned the bottoms may just been whitened with no veneers... I HATE my bottom teeth and I am worried about keeping them au'natural  the one on the outside next to my long time missing tooth has risen... a good amount... they are not even at all, I hope I am able to get veneers for these as well for that "PERFECT SMILE"  I watched "PITCH PERFECT" last night and two of the main actress' had veneers but only on their top teeth and it was very noticeable... the shades were off and they were far from perfect. (I can not seem to watch ANY show without analyzing actors teeth... having bad teeth...it became my focus)

Anyways... stressing a bit... hope to hear back about my consult tomorrow at Westdale... have to work tomorrow and have some personal family things to do too... crossing my fingers all is well and workable!! EXCITED!!!

Tooth for Thought - Random

A few things I can NOT WAIT to do once I have new teeth...

1. Learning to smile and laugh without the negative thoughts of the past 
2. Eating anything really chewy, crunchy, cold or hot... Steak, ICE CREAM, and a chocolate bar...woot woot!
3. Getting a family photo session done, with me in the pics, SMILING and not looking angry like I always do in pics as I do not smile.
4. I can meet my kids teachers/friends with being nervous that my kids are embarrassed
5. I will now be able to be confident enough to do workshops for high school photography class and/or mentoring teens who want to become photographers.
6.

Westdale Appointment #1 - "Reporting"

I seriously couldn't be more excited to wake up early and get to the Westdale Dental Centre by 10am...so excited that I was actually 20 minutes early to my reporting appointment 
(early to a DENTAL appointment, who knew!)

"Reporting" is basically a report card of your teeth... the good the bad and the ugly, it is all done in a verbal and written "dental code" that us patients can't really understand. ;)
Being the person I am I like to know what is happening before it happens...I want to know if it is going to hurt, be uncomfortable etc, I was encouraged to ask questions, so I did; anytime my mouth was not being x-rayed, photographed and molded. 

Now one thing I learned today is that when a dentist says he/she is going to "PROBE" you, relax... it does not mean what you think it means. It is that thing where they use a tool to lift your gum slightly to measure your tooth connectivity (i think that is right) anyways, if you have bad teeth like me it can poke a bit here and there but overall is pretty painless.
Either way "probing" a patient is a slightly scary term to us patients and it should definitely be ridden from "dental code" lol.

I am super anxious to hear back about the "game plan" once all my reports are sent to Dr. Al who is the amazing dentist who is doing all the work on my teeth. I will be going in on Saturday to get the full run down.

Once the fabulous Lindsay, from Westdale Dental has a moment and sends me the pictures and x-rays that were taken today, I will swallow my pride and habit of hiding my teeth and post them here for all to see.

 But until then I have posted this cute free use image instead :)

My panoramic x-ray from today's appointment

My Past Present and Future Smiles - Intro

Present-

What is your biggest insecurity? 
Imagine one day someone tells you that they will fix it, it will be PERFECT, in my case specifically, the words
"you will have a perfect smile"

Imagine then you wake up and the one thing you couldn't change, the one thing that has driven years of self loathing is well, simply .... gone.

This is exactly what is happening to me!

I will be attempting to blog here as often as needed to document my journey to a perfect smile for the next 6 months or so. I will be including text and images of all things in progress... I may even VLOG (no promises)

Thank you to the wonderful people at Westdale Dental Centre in Hamilton Ontario, for giving me such an amazing gift.

Past-

My BIGGEST insecurity is and has always been my teeth. I am 35yrs old and without the financial ability to see the dentist regularly over the last 15 years, I am now missing 3 teeth, in the front portion of my mouth.

I also have several more broken teeth down to the gums along with countless other issues that cause horrible pain on and off.

The feeling of being stuck like this forever with gross broken teeth and all the stereotypes that go with having missing teeth... I run two businesses full time, one being TDF Photography having to "act" confident and social while working with clients in this condition was extremely challenging. Also, knowing by the time I was 38-40 I would not have any teeth left to chew with took it's toll. Having visibly missing teeth has caused me to have low self esteem, prevented me from being who I want to be in life, as a mom to five kids and in business.
It took away the ability to enjoy life moments, smiling / laughing along with everyone else, from reaching out... all the things that make life enjoyable.

While the process has just begun and with a given 6 month start to finish time limit, I will need to be patient but I am so eager and excited for all the changes a new smile will bring!