My beloved diastema - aka I love my gap tooth!

[parsleysage]

Hey all, I'm a newbie here, currently getting my teeth and gums healthy and will hopefully be getting braces at some point! (Whether months or years from now is yet to be determined! hehe.) Currently learning as much as I can about life in braces. :)

I do have a question for anyone who had a front tooth gap before they had braces. I have a reasonable-looking one, it's not large enough to make me look goofy but it's very noticeable. The gap has never bothered me, and in fact I am rather partial to it. I know that if I get braces it will likely need to be fixed along with the other spacing issues. I'm a little sad about that.

I know I'm a little weird - most people want perfectly straight, even teeth, so I guess I'm a little crazy for liking my gap. Even so, does anyone else have this experience? Anything about your smile that braces changed and made you a little nostalgic?

[Chicken]

Glad my gap is gone. Unfortunately the older I got the wider it got. I was becoming more embarrassed, self conscious and smiling less. I am very happy it has gone.

[parsleysage]

[quote="Chicken"]Glad my gap is gone. Unfortunately the older I got the wider it got. I was becoming more embarrassed, self conscious and smiling less. I am very happy it has gone.[/quote]

That is understandable. Most people don't like their gap. I'm not sure why I like mine so much. Have the braces changed anything else about your smile that you liked before?

[nikkibabie19]

I do have a question for anyone who had a front tooth gap before they had braces. I have a reasonable-looking one, it's not large enough to make me look goofy but it's very noticeable. The gap has never bothered me, and in fact I am rather partial to it. I know that if I get braces it will likely need to be fixed along with the other spacing issues. I'm a little sad about that.

Hi!! you should check out my posts...
You sound like me...
I LOVED my gap....and mine was HUGE!! All i wanted was straight teeth (I had protrusion in my front upper teeth) and the gap could have been reduced a bit...but i never wanted to get rid of it at all..

However my ortho told me that if he didnt close it up completely, the teeth would be more likely to move back into their original places even with a retainer....SIGH

So atlas! My gap was closed..And i got over it...eventually...after a few months....
I tell u its a strange feeling NOT having a space in between ur front teeth after having one since i got permanent teeth....
But u get used to it....

Check out my post in my signature to see what i was working with...lol

[MrsCharisma]

I started ortho treatment with a 5 mm diastema. I never hated it, but I knew what was coming.

My dad had maybe a 1-2mm gap at like age 20. By age 40 it was like 5 mm. Now at 57 it's like 6-7 and his dentist wants to remove them (I don't know if they're rotting or what).

I'd rather have it all correct and keep all my teeth for as long as possible.

[parsleysage]

I LOVED my gap....and mine was HUGE!! All i wanted was straight teeth (I had protrusion in my front upper teeth) and the gap could have been reduced a bit...but i never wanted to get rid of it at all..

[snip]

So atlas! My gap was closed..And i got over it...eventually...after a few months....
I tell u its a strange feeling NOT having a space in between ur front teeth after having one since i got permanent teeth....
But u get used to it....

Hi Nikki! I'm glad I found another gap-lover, lol! I looked at your pics, and wow, the braces really changed your smile! Your gap was definitely much larger than mine. Here is a pic...



That is current (just took it). Teeth are not as white or pretty as yours, sorry.

I am pretty sure when I go in for a consult they will say the same as your ortho... needs to close up... tear!! I'm gonna miss it!!!!

[parsleysage]

I'd rather have it all correct and keep all my teeth for as long as possible.

Oh wow! Now I am curious to see if my gap has gotten bigger as I've gotten older. Hmmm....

You are so right MrsCharisma, I want to keep my teeth for at LEAST the next 75 years (that's if I make it to 100!) and I will hopefully get over the emotion of losing my gap in exchange for preventing any further problems and decay!

[Matilda]

I dislike gaps but one of the very few people who I think looks extremely cool with one is Vanessa Paradis. She must think so too as she never corrected it.

[nikkibabie19]

Yes we are two peas in a pod @parsleysage.

And what some one said before is tru. My gap did get bigger over time. It was never that big. I think it started off closer the the size of urs. And little by little.....

Dont worry about ur teeth not being "pretty" more than likely u'll have to go to ur dentist before u start braces to make sure u r n good oral health.

@Matilda
I like the girl from CSI. Forgot her real and character name but she is the one who was married (I think) to Grissom. She has a gap and I think she tried braces to close it up and it reopened so I guess she never bothered to fix it again. (Prob didn't wear her retainers as prescribed) lol who knows?

[Chicken]

Glad my gap is gone. Unfortunately the older I got the wider it got. I was becoming more embarrassed, self conscious and smiling less. I am very happy it has gone.

That is understandable. Most people don't like their gap. I'm not sure why I like mine so much. Have the braces changed anything else about your smile that you liked before?

I probably wouldn't have minded having a smaller gap because I have had one all my life. I can't whistle through it any more like I used to. I will have to learn to whistle the proper way when they come off. My braces have improved my smile all around. I am glad I have them. My over bite has improved. In fact my whole bite is great. I am able to chew properly now and food is not missed in the gap. I am able to take a complete bite of a sandwich.

[Chicken]

My dentist explained that if you smile a lot that will cause the diastema to widen due to the muscle that caused it in the first place. I had a
frenectomy to remove the muscle. And I do smile alot.

[parsleysage]

My dentist explained that if you smile a lot that will cause the diastema to widen due to the muscle that caused it in the first place. I had a
frenectomy to remove the muscle. And I do smile alot.

WOW! I did not know that! A frenectomy sounds awful, lol, but I smile a lot too! I will need to find some pics of my smile from many years ago to see if all the smiling and laughing I do has widened the gap!

[Matilda]

@Matilda
I like the girl from CSI. Forgot her real and character name but she is the one who was married (I think) to Grissom. She has a gap and I think she tried braces to close it up and it reopened so I guess she never bothered to fix it again. (Prob didn't wear her retainers as prescribed) lol who knows?

Hey Nikki! I don't watch CSI so I have no idea who this actress is. By the way, today I was browsing through some fashion magazines and noticed that gap-toothed models seem to be very popular in the modeling world at the moment.

[nikkibabie19]

Here name is jorja fox. Google her.


And in my country the gap is not a big deal.

Actually I kno guys who love a girl wid a gap. As in they only date girls like that. Its a turn on for them.

So I was never self conscious abw that. Just the bucked teeth.

[ceramic mouth]

Hi Well, you are not alone... i was kind of sad i will be saying goodbye to my crossbite which, i thought, would mean saying goodbye to the different way my jaw looks. although the shift of my bottom jaw used to kind of bother me as a teenager, (i didn't really hate it but it was just unnatural looking to me) when i went to have braces, i kind of felt i like my jaw shift .. it felt part of who i am and part of what makes me different. happily, i got rid of the crossbite, but the shift didn't completely go away, since i am an adult now i am worried about the crossbite returning after braces
Good luck with your journey.. keep us posted.