Taking Matters into My Own Hands

For those who have not known the trouble I've caused my parents since the age of 10, here is a brief summary. On March 31st, 1999, a softball hit me in the mouth and Dr. Swenson was pulled out of the pasture to pull my broken tooth out. Since the age of 10, I've had many appliances with fake teeth on them, braces that held a tooth by a wire, and a Maryland bridge that was cemented to the back of my teeth. I still remember the day Emily & Shannon visited me in bed and my whole mouth was still very swollen. Needless to say, they were very taken back by my swollen lip and gap. For those who have seen me since February, I had braces for 9 months and a retainer since October. I had my implant surgery in August. After multiple visits back and forth from Victoria to EC to CS, it was time to fill the gap!

Since the Tooth Fairy and Santa failed me, I had to take matters into my own hands. Dr. Swenson and his amazing team ordered my fake tooth when I got home for Christmas break after finals. Well it came in last Tuesday and I went in to the office but it wasn't a good match. It's a very long process to make these false teeth that are supposed to act as great as a normal tooth but the color has to match as well. School started today and I didn't want to go back & forth during this busy semester worrying about my tooth. So Dr. Swenson talked to the lab and the next morning, Taylor Martin & I hauled ourselves & my special box to San Antonio to get a perfect match. After a long day of shopping, eating, and several color changes, we headed home. The next morning I was back at Swenson's and he permanately put my new tooth in! The shape looks great, the color is a little different but not that noticable. I'm using some good whitening toothpaste and am going to get a great electric toothbrush to try to get some plaque off.

I also got a mouthguard made because I participated in Ralph Hill's Eventing Clinic in Bellville this past weekend. Eventing is an english riding sport consisting of stadium jumping, dressage and cross country riding over 2 or 3 days. It was a lot of fun and it was a great experience. Aubrey hauled me down and I rode her awesome 21-year old QH, Strutt. He's a very safe ride and he taught me a lot. Here's some pictures:

Hopefully I can keep having fun like this throughout the semester. It's going to be a hectic and hard one but it's going to help me in the long run. I'll let y'all know what my final schedule is next week. Until then, have a great week!