Growing up, I wanted
braces. My parents couldn’t afford them. Luckily, eventually, my teeth mostly straightened
up. Sadly, I have too much gum. I could have that taken care of now—with laser
treatment. It sounds a teensy bit scary and slightly costly. Therefore, overall,
I’d say my teeth/gums/mouth are fine. I mean, let’s face it: I’m in my 60s.
Wrinkly-ish. Chubby-ish. Ain’t nobody gonna ask me to be on the cover of Vogue.
TLC had an “appliance”
when she was five years old. Then she wore braces two different times—from nine
to eleven years old and then again from fifteen to seventeen. She has my mouth
and teeth! Did y’all know a child has one of her, or his, parents’
mouths/teeth? It’s true. TLC has mine. After all the years of wearing those
stylish wires? Her smile looks exactly like mine. Me thinks MSH and I could
have saved some big bucks—if only TLC had been a teensy-bit patient.
A couple of years after I
went through chemo treatments for breast cancer, I convinced our family dentist
(We absolutely adored him…sadly, he passed away about ten years ago at a too
young age.) to let me “bleach” my teeth. I accused the poison/chemicals of
making my pearlies yellow. I guess I should own up to the possibility it was
the eight years of smoking I engaged in prior to getting pregnant with TLC. (I
quit on June 14, 1983 and have never had another cig since—YIPPEE ME!) And/or
red wine. I don’t indulge in red wine—or really any liquor—much any more. When
I do allow myself a glass of wine—approximately every four to six weeks—I’m a
Pinot Grigio Gal.
I’ve only done the
bleaching-tray process once. TLC and My Sweet Hubby haven’t done it at
all—ever. Now you can have whitening done by a laser or something fancy, right?
None of us have looked into that. We all have used, two to three times in the
past several years, the little “white strips” you can buy over-the-counter. For
the cost? They’re not bad. Then, I find if I use a whitening toothpaste at
least once a day and a whitening rinse, also, once a day, I can keep my teeth
fairly dazzlin’.
Here’s a new toothpaste
I’m currently testing:
I saw Alison Sweeney
(formerly of Days of Our Lives and the long-time host of The
Biggest Loser—I think she ROCKS) advertise this. When I finished my
previous tube (A Crest whitening
paste) last Friday, I started on this one. I like that it says it’s “Enamel
Strengthening,” I can’t actually report whether or not my teeth look more
sparkly—not yet, anyway. I can tell y’all I don’t mind the taste of this—or the
texture. Kind of gritty—from the baking soda. Grit is good!
(If I run into a Hollywood-like agent somewhere in the next few weeks—who wants to
sign me right up for some magazine, television or movie work—I’m going to bet
it’s because of this toothpaste. Wink.
Wink.)
Try it out! Let me know
what you think if you do…
ta-ta for now, Sweet Peas…
