Want to get married within the next 18 months but..........

Fluffpuff

I HATE my teeth! I never smile on photos so how am I going to smile at my wedding?

I had a brace for 3 years and they have started to come forward again, I have two teeth missing either side of my fang like teeth which shows when I smile (the dentist gave me a palate thing to fill the gaps but it hurt when I wore it and I whistled when I spoke). They are also not very white due to tea and coffee!

I would love a smile makeover but I just wouldn't be able to afford it in so little time.

Any ideas? Its making me want to forget the whole idea of a wedding because the thought of my teeth would just ruin the day.

My dentist doesn't offer any advice on cosmetic dentistry whenever I ask.

74jax

Would you not be inviting people to the wedding who have seen you smile anyway? Do you smile now when out with friends and OH?

I lost the same tooth you mention last year. Its horrid. I too had a palate thing which just seems so tight, and I can't eat with it, and it makes me lisp. SO my way round it is when we are saying our vows I am on the right and OH the left, complete reverse of a normal wedding but I don't care, no-one will then see.

I feel your pain to some extent, but I'm lucky in we're having a small wedding so I know everyone and everyone knows me well too (apart from a small few of OH friends).

Fluffpuff

They will have seen my teeth, and everyone says they aren't as bad as I make out they are but I'd love to just be comfortable enough to just smile on photographs. I know I would look back on my photos and hate everyone of them.

And as the gaps are on both sides they are hard to hide.

Kynthia

Maybe try a new dentist, as if you join a surgery that offers cosmetic dentistry then they will be able to give you advice. Also getting your teeth bleached is easily done. I had my dentist make me a mold and then bought the bleach syringes. I would then squeeze some bleach gel onto the mold and wear it for two hours every other evening. I was really pleased with the result after a month. The mold wasn't cheap but maybe you could compare prices with a few different dentists.

Thriftygifty

I feel your pain! My teeth are far from straight and are no where near being white, I dont think bleaching mine would do anything but I am beyond being scared of dentists had so much pain, I need to go in the new year to see if the dentist can do anything but am dreading it but i'm planning on smiling with my mouth closed in the photos (I know that sounds dumb).

Could you not wear the plate thingy just for the service/ceremony photos? Or like someone else said change dentists? (I've had loads now and still havent found one that understands how scared I am!)

Toothsmith

Don't rush into anything.

Is it the day, or what the photos will look like that worry you?

If its the photos (as everybody there knows you anyway) then a far simpler answer than getting your teeth chopped about and doing god-knows-what damage to them is ........... Photoshop!

A few minutes with the photographer and his computer, and there for posterity is the smile you dream of without any damage to our own natural (probably perfectly healthy and fine looking to everybody else) teeth.

No ongoing maintenance costs (and cosmetic dentistry is not a 'once only' purchase, but a commitment to repair and replacement for the rest of your life) no problems with chopped up teeth dying and breaking years later, no problems worrying about how much the next session is going to cost you.

We had a family photo taken a few years ago when my son had braces on his teeth.

For an extra £15 (I think) when the photos came to us, there were beautifully straight teeth, and no braces! Simples!

And let's be honest - the vast majority of he magazine covers, with the models with the smiles you're jealous of - have almost certainly been 'digitally enhanced' as well.

Think long and hard before messing about with what you have, and be fully aware of the ongoing likely costs, and likely complications before going ahead.

And certainly don't cancel your wedding just because of it! (Unless this is just an excuse for wanting to postpone it for other reasons!)