Well, I’m a little nonplussed with how to go about asking this. But I’ll forge ahead nevertheless.
I’m hardly an oversensitive person. In fact I wear a decently thick coat of Dura-Skin[sub]®[/sub]. And I don’t easily detect being particularly vain in the course my life has steered (if I were inordinately vain, would I know it?).
In fact, I prefer the low-maintenance approach to life.
So, recently, two (Not one! Count’em! Two. Two!) females very close to me (one a sib, the other a close friend for over twenty years) have made unsolicited (i.e., out of the blue) comments to the effect that my dead front tooth is a major distraction.
Dammit! I can’t find any good Dopefest pics that convey this.
Well, in 6[sup]th[/sup] grade in Japan I became one with a roughhouse on a schoolbus, and the tooth bought it. I soon had a very rudimentary Japanese root canal and the tooth, one of my front teeth, is blackened and chipped. I believe there are Dopefest pictures that show the dead tooth.
Are they right? Is the black tooth turning’em off left and right?
How shall we wrap this up, TM?
Should I say fuggit and fergeddem, or go for cosmeticcs?
After having a molar extracted this week, I’ve been researching implants. Expensive, but so far, it seems to be a very good thing.
Teeth are one of the first things I see when I meet someone. So, your sister and friend may be on to something. It’s not something that would make me run like hell but it certainly could be distracting.
On the other hand, perhaps it gives you “character”. If you decide to remain au natural, wear it proud.
Hubby has a tooth that’s going grey from an incident years ago. I’m not going to leave him over it and I’ve not even mentioned it, but yes, it’s a little distracting.
It seems (from the blossoming number of products to whiten teeth available, from celebrity teeth, etc.) that here in the US these days we are quite obsessed with perfect straight white teeth. So I would say that yes, apparently teeth are important to a lot of people (the market for these products) and thus a glaringly dead front tooth would be a distraction.
I would say go for the change, but mostly because I personally would be weirded out by having a dead tooth in my mouth, for non-aesthetic reasons also. I assume you can afford the change, if not I would say it’s not such a big deal as to be worth bankrupting oneself over or something. But from your attitude I daresay you don’t take it that seriously anyway.
Ringo, I noticed it at Chicago this year (I don’t remember back to NYC of last year), and honestly I figured there was something wrong with your tooth but it didn’t bother you. As you were decently intoxicated for a goodly bit of the time we were in Chicago, I didn’t know if I’d get a coherent answer if I asked you what it was from, and besides it’s nunnamybizniss:)
If you think it may be hampering some aspect of your life upon which you fancy improvement, by all means fix it. IANAD, but I do not believe it would be difficult to correct. However, it is not exactly something I personally was fixated on:) I was vastly more interested in exploring your theory on the effects of alcohol upon differently-borne accents.
Althought I have never noticed it in our meetings, if it bothers you that much then get it fixed. It shouldn’t be to difficult, and it will make you feel better about yourself.
Now quit being so vain!
[sub]Maybe if you don’t get it fixed, then Bea Arthur will look you up… wink[/sub]
I had a repaired, root-canaled, chipped front tooth that was going gray. One can get used to it, so it’s not as noticable to the sporter as it is to everyone else. You should do what you want, but I’m happy that I got a crown on mine. Nothing wrong with a little vanity!
And if you decide to do it, make sure you get a good dentist because I’ve seen some pretty crappy teeth jobs.
Has it gotten darker recently? Maybe that’s why you’ve gotten those comments lately. Maybe yer tooth’s gettin’ ready to make its escape.
Personally, a single crooked, chipped or discolored tooth doesn’t bother me. Character and all that. Multiple funky teeth, though, is too damn much character.
And if this rebel tooth of yours makes you smile less, well then you might as well fix it. Can’t go through life without smiling.
If you can afford it, go for cosmetics. Now that you have been made aware of the impact it has had on two (not one but two ) others, it’ll bug the shit out of you until you do something about it.
However, having said that, there is a ‘home remedy’ that might just help a bit. I know this sounds gross, but put a few drops of some heavy-duty bleach on the end of a cotton-bud (I think they’re Q-tips in your lingo Ringo), and rub it on the tooth for a couple of minutes. Keep your lips well away from the evil substance, and make sure you don’t swallow: just apply the bleach-soaked tip to the tooth. Rinse and repeat a couple of times a day until you either notice an effect, or decide it was a bloody waste of time and bleach!
Now mostly this works for simple staining and yellowing, but it might possibly have a lightening effect for a blackened tooth as well.
If you decide to give it a try, let me know how it goes OK?
Personally, Ringo, I never noticed this on any of the occasions I’ve met you. But I’m sure you’re more concerned about whether women are noticing it than whether I did.
But I would be concerned about the fact that your tooth is apparently posting under the name 5-HT. This can only lead to trouble.
Ringo, I met you and didn’t notice, but I am certain I would have if 1) I hadn’t been somewhat inebriated and 2) we had spoken for a length of time in a non-darkened area. One of the first things I noticed about my boyfriend was, I swear to Jebus, his perfect teeth. I have issues with teeth.
My incisors were both chipped for a long time because my parents couldn’t afford crowns. They just got worse and worse until I had them fixed myself a couple of years ago. I was very self-conscious about them and am still trying to shake the picture-phobia I have as a result (I was always careful about smiling so that the chipped bottoms didn’t show). I don’t know how much other people noticed them (one guy I dated actually liked them chipped, but he was a little touched anyway) but the snaggly teeth bugged the shit out of me. Anyway, moral of the story: if it doesn’t bother you, that’s great, but other people will notice, and it might bother them.
My mother used to have a bad tooth. It died when she was in grade school but didn’t fall out until she was in her 40’s. I was really glad when it did and she replaced it. It was just hard having a parent with obviously imperfect teeth (of course I was in High School at the time and very sensitive to uncool things.)
Ringo, I never noticed the tooth. I work for a dentist and teeth are usually one of the first things I notice. Of course, it was dark and a number of beers had been consumed and you were absolutely charming.
There are a number of procedures that can help. IF you decide this is something you want to change. The work can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to over three grand.
I have been known to fixate on actors’ crappy dental work, so much so that I have missed important plot features in movies. That being said, IRL I tend to forget the teeth and just focus on the person.
Hey 5-HT, where’ve you been? I’ve been looking all over. It’s lunchtime, man; you’ve got work to do.
Thanks for the comments, y’all. The tooth croaked 39 years ago and I hadn’t thought a lot about it since. But observations from two females whom I trust did get my attention.
Well…I’m not a trusted female friend, but here’s my 2 cents. I met you in New Orleans last November, and when I read this thread, I honestly couldn’t remember what you were talking about. Your personality must have stood out alot more than the tooth, because I don’t remember anything distracting. If it bothers you, yes by all means, get it fixed. However, if it bothers some shallow woman that’s not getting past your tooth, well…I’d find a new woman.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
