A Beautiful Smile

My Mom has a beautiful smile.  She always has had that perfect toothy grin that everyone admires.  Every picture I have ever seen of her shows off her smile.  And I know she likes her smile.  She is not a vain person by any means, but she is very comfortable in her own skin.  In her high school days, she was considered very attractive and had many beaus.  The pictures of her show off a wonderfully clear and lovely complexion, her lovely smile, happy eyes, and her wow-like figure.  Her waist was so tiny.  I don't think any of us had as tiny of a waist has her... even when in elementary school.  She was the perfect example of 36" - 24" - 36".  And despite all of these wonderful qualities, it is still her smile that people notice first.  Thank goodness her love for tennis developed after she was married and had children who were well into their teens... and after their were vast improvements in cosmetic dentistry.

My parents played tennis on a regular basis.  They played doubles.  My Mom played with a women's tennis group while my Dad was at work, and we were at school.  She had a wonderful group of friends and loved the game along with her social network of fun girlfriends.  I will never forget the Saturday where Dad and Mom were playing doubles.  My brother and I frequently went to shag the balls for them and we would play our own version of tennis on another court.  Well, there was quite a lengthy exchange of volleys.  It was the kind of point that you just couldn't believe could go on that long, but hit after hit both sides just kept scrambling to return the ball.  And then my Mom raced to make a final last save and somehow her swing came right back at her and that beautiful smile... was missing her left front tooth.  Her racket had knocked it clean away!  Well, I guess not completely away.  There was a small crooked stub of a tooth protruding from the gum.  I will never forget how just one tooth can drastically change a smile.  We all just stood there in shock.  Of course, my Mom was mortified... and it was a Saturday so who were we going to get a hold of now?

We had lots of time over the weekend to gather recommendations and Monday morning she was on the fast track to getting her beautiful smile back.  Honestly, I can't tell which tooth it was and she is still the most beautiful Mom around.

I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for cosmetic dentist NYC and was compensated. However, the views and opinions are my own.