The half way point and other people's teeth!

This week, I visited my ortho and he inserted Tray 8 which officially takes me to the half way point, well for the uppers at least! I'm past it for the lowers. He gave me sets 9, 10, and 11 to take with me and when I got back into the car I just couldn't believe that with the exception of one or two more visits, the regular part of my treatment would be done. How time flies! I don't have any more dramatic results happening as I did with Tray 5 but I suspect that I will begin to see more of that as I progress further along with my treatment. For now, I'm still plugging away.

What I do notice more is how acutely aware I have become of people's teeth. I had always had this sense of noticing other people's teeth because mine were always crooked and I longed for straight teeth but, never to the extent that I do now. Whether it's at work, at a party, or even shopping, I inadvertently look at people's teeth and make mental notes like: "nice and straight, crooked tops, crooked bottoms, slightly slanted, overbite, too yellow, too white, wonder if he/she ever wore braces, they look like veneers" etc!

To illustrate further, throughout the whole coverage on Michael Jackson's death, when all the commentary focused on cause of death or his cosmetic surgeries, I always searched for any comment that mentioned his teeth. Every picture where he smiled (and they're few and far between, let me tell you!), I looked at his teeth and wondered whether he too had had any work done on them, whether he had to wear any sort of braces, or whether he was blessed with straight teeth. I even looked at his pictures of younger years to see what his teeth looked like! In case you're wondering, there is no mention that I found regarding any work on his teeth! BLAH!

Obsessive? Maybe! Or, is it just a long time of me wishing to have my teeth straight and here I am, a mere few months away from this reality! Dare I say, I can cross this off my 'bucket list' in the not too distant future. I know that there may be the potential for refinements but the main part of the treatment will be over in 16 weeks (Tray 8-15)! The best part is that the main part of my treatment ends exactly on my birthday! It was not planned this way, it was merely the timing of Tray 1 to Tray 15 with each being worn for exactly two weeks! It's wonderful the way some things work out eh?