Getting a whole new outlook/look in 2015

just call me the Copper Top!

So here's the low down on my smile in case you really wanted to know and are too shy to ask. No, I haven't had botox injections or a face lift. Thanks to the ones that did bite the bullet and ask that question. It has made me laugh so much!  I did start using a fantastic skin care product called Hydroxatone  http://hydroxatone.com/ and Bellaplex that has made my dermatologist Dr. Loria tell me that my skin is in better shape now than it was 10 years ago.  What I have done is got fitted with new dentures, I'm using a great skin cream, I drink a lot of water  and walk and work in the yard, and I have gone beyond the usual route to brighten up my hair color. I just flat out put a copper color on it! 

 A person's smile can a whole lot about them.    A small child is cute with a gap toothed grin.....a gap tooth grin on an adult is not. 

I always had big teeth.  not cutsey little pearly whites....I had big ole beaver teeth.  I loved my teeth, well not so much when I had to go to the dentist.  Dr. Waites, God rest his soul, had the chairside manner of a Tasmanian Devil, and he filled many a dental carie on me....and no nitros oxide to inhale to calm me down either. He had those big ole teeth straight and pretty in spite of a great deal of pain, but I had a smile that I wasn't ashamed of and I have the pictures to prove it.  That smile was with me until 2002.  By that time a life changing event was in control.

I was diagnosed with DCIS breast cancer in May of 2000.  I was very fortunate to have caught it in the earliest stages and it had not spread and was easily removed with a radical mastectomy.  I refused 6 weeks of traditional chemo-therapy and opted to take Tamoxifen pills daily for 5 years.  There are a few side affects with the pill therapy but nothing I could not handle.  Thankfully I didn't have many.  My hair did thin somewhat, but I have such a thick head of red hair, that was not an issue and not noticeable at all.  Two odd side affects did occur though....leave it to me that I would have the two that don't happen every day.

While taking the Tamoxifen for breast cancer, I had two of the rarest side effects. Cataracts and my teeth started dying. The cataracts were an easy fix after my five years of swallowing pills was over. The teeth were another story. They had to go to prevent other illnesses from happening. Sooo I have had dentures since 2003. At the time my insurance considered it vanity so it didn't pay a lot toward getting the best fit and a proper set.  The dentures that I have worn for 12 years were not my big beaver teeth and they never did fit correctly. My facial features changed and I  can't even begin to describe the smile but it was not my face or my smile. I didn't recognize myself in the mirror any longer.   I was 50 years old and I had lost my smile.   

Before my Mom was diagnosed with cancer, she and I had talked about going to get new dentures. She had worn dentures since she was young.  We were both saving up for some new chompers but put those thoughts on hold when she got sick.  Before she died in October, she made me promise that I would go and get my smile back.  And I did.

I made an appointment with Dr. Huggins at Oxford Dental Clinic. https://www.facebook.com/oxforddentalms ; http://northmississippidental.com/ I had seen photos of his work and I knew that he was very talented at giving people a beautiful smile.  I sucked up the courage and went in and showed him the younger pictures and I said I want my smile back. I want my big ole beaver teeth. He took measurements and made me gag many times with those impressions and I made many trips up there over the last 3 months getting things just right. When I saw my self for the first time I started crying because it was my face again. Sure it's 20 years older but it's my old familiar face I used to see.I was so excited about my new teeth that I posted a selfie from the parking lot!  Within 20 minutes my phone rang and my college roomie wanted to know if I had gotten a facelift or botox!  I just laughed.  These new teeth are better than a nip and tuck and a needle.   My features are realigning and every day I see subtle changes in my features as the correct shape is coming back. I recognize the woman in the mirror again and I like her. So does my husband and my daughters. You really do get what you pay for. And it also helps when you go see a dentist that has the eye of an artist and compassion for the person.  Thank you Dr. Huggins!  You are the best!

 So there you have it. Thank you Mama. I got my smile back.

Glamour shot in 1994,  41 years old. big ole beaver teeth

                                                                                   

Jan 24 at 9 am with the old teeth.  who is this old woman!
look at the square jaw and those non-existant teeth.
that is not a smile.

2 pm Jan. 24. I look like a 61 year old version of the 1994 me again!
Thank you Dr. Huggins!  I look happy again!