When I was a kid, my teeth were like a normal set of teeth, and after I turned 6 when my central incisors fell and it was okay until it took more time than it usually takes for permanent ones to grow. It was a big relief when it finally started growing because my relatives scared the hell out of me by telling me that sometimes it doesn’t come out and it leads to artificial teeth or no teeth at all. One of my uncles told me that it was taking time because I have rubbed my gums with my tongue and it led to the thickness and that’s what makes it hard for teeth to come out. He said if you wish then you can also make space by cutting a very thin layer of your gums with the blade. He was serious I am sure because he was ready to do it.

My new pair of teeth came out very different, it was different from all my teeth and from each other too. One of them has a tooth behind it which pushed it more outside in comparison to the other one. I saw the x-ray, it was jointed, one of my central incisors which has a tooth behind it is actually jointed together and that’s what made it impossible to extract it. My other central incisor is also turned but less than that one because it doesn’t have another tooth jointed to it. It was a matter of discussion for many years between my relatives. They could easily just say how pretty I was before. I was the one who got the weird teeth but the devastated ones were my relatives. Be it a dental camp in my school or my visit to the dentist, all they ever did was take pictures of my unique teeth. There were solutions but it was all too painful for me and it still is. The worse thing is that it was painful with or without it because there is a whole other story of me battling with hurtful comments during my school days.

For a long time, I had a habit of covering my mouth while laughing. I had so many nicknames but the one which lasted the longest was “chuhiya” One time I wanted to sing in a choir group for a school function, so, I went there and in a semi-circle with lots of girls I sang and the music teacher made a video. I was standing at the end of one of the sides of the semi-circle and the recording was from my side. When they were showing us the video I kept looking at my teeth and I was hoping that no one was looking at me in the video. Well after seeing the video I wasn’t selected and I thought that it was because of my teeth. I could easily believe my crap thoughts because of the people living in my neighborhood. There is one of my mum’s close friends and she still talks only about my teeth when I’m around. She said when I’ll grow up more than it’ll look even worse, so, it’s better to go for treatment when I have time. While she gifts us with her appearance, she never forgets to bring examples of people with buck teeth and also describes who got braces on time and who didn’t.

But now it’s all gone, not the people with crap suggestions but my crap thoughts. I don’t have any problem with this and I actually like it even more. I’m okay with this even if it makes me look like a Chipmunk or a Koala Beer.