Sometime in my elementary school years, I managed to break my two front teeth. It has been a blessing in disguise, as the periodic dental care needed on these teeth puts me on the other side of the hand-piece.

The best time to see a dentist is just after weʼve had our own teeth worked on. Itʼs kind of like walking a mile in our patientsʼ shoes.

I digress.

Recently, my dentist (who also happens to put up with me every day) decided that my front crowns needed to be redone. I live with a woman who looks at teeth every day. Plus, Iʼm a dentist who believes in cosmetic care. I should have pretty front teeth.

Donʼt get me wrong, I look in the mirror when I floss and brush my own teeth every day. I also look at other peopleʼs teeth and make recommendations (upon request) on how they can improve their smile. Remarkably, my views of my teeth in the mirror did not coincide with what was really there. My dental trained eyes were ignoring my own smile.

I thought my crowns were doing fine. Then, I asked one of our team members to take a picture of my upper teeth in front of a black backdrop. I looked at the picture on a large computer screen and the truth hurt.

So every once in a while, my wife is right.

Those old crowns were U-G-L-Y. They were not that way originally, but my diet had faded them a bit and they were stained. Plus, new porcelain systems are now available that were not around back then. Technology improves all the time.

Yes, it was time for some new front teeth.

The moral of the story is this. When you look at something every day, you tend to start to ignore small issues and blemishes. Thatʼs okay…unless you are a dentist who really should have pretty front teeth.

A picture is truly worth a thousand words. If you really want to know what shape your teeth are in, ask your dental team to take a few pictures and explain them to you. Youʼll be amazed at how well a few pictures can help to demonstrate painless problems that should be fixed before itʼs too late.

You may even want to do something about those old front crowns…

Until next week, keep smiling.

-Please send comments to Drs. Parrish at www.ParrishDental.com