Earlier this year, my husband experienced a bout of dental events. A capped tooth began to disintegrate, ending in the eventual loss of the whole tooth, a front incisor. A dentist, an oral surgeon, and some big bills later, he had a bone implant so that he can now wait many months for enough new bone to hold a post. Most of you aren’t interested in dental drama, but I am guessing a few of you (or your loved one) have gone through something similar. The current result is having to wear a removable dental prosthetic or more often, being a toothless wonder!
Initially we were happy for the custom-made dental appliance which maintained his natural smile. After a while though, he didn’t care for eating with it, and even felt it made talking seem weird, so he sports a new look. It’s been an adjustment for me. In processing this, I considered the many adjustments spouses, or family and close friends, make. Hair loss from chemotherapy, slurred speech or a limp after a stroke or accident, altered appearance, communication, or behavior due to dementia. The list could go on. What is constant is that people change; life and age take their toll. Commitment calls us to gird up. We stay devoted, even for a broken smile.
My other nearly immediate learning was the commonness of dental problems. It seemed every couple of days I saw someone with a missing tooth. Was it always this way or was I now noticing because of my husband’s situation? Twice, it was guys about the same age, and I figured they did not have the money to take care of it, or they decided they had better ways to spend that kind of money at this stage of life. But I have also noticed more than one young woman bearing a smile with a gap, and my heart felt for them. It’s not a pretty look for a young lady. She’s likely embarrassed, and treatments are prohibitively expensive!
The Lord knows the heartaches of women: Leah with the weak eyes (Genesis 29 v 17), Hannah, the childless ‘other’ wife (1 Samuel 1 v 2). The prayerful cry of Hagar, Abram and Sarai’s castoff servant girl was, “the God who sees me!” (Genesis 16 v 13) Yes, He sees what is hard, and He helps us see the heartaches of others. In some cases, we will be the one to supply the need. For me, it is the mercy to accept toothless as wonderful, knowing that Jesus “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1 v 4)
Yes, our bodies are aging! My wrinkles are abundant and my belly is roly poly. I remind myself that it is a blessing to get to be older and that beauty is who we are on the inside more than how we appear. That we can continue to improve! Thanks, Brenda, for sharing this slice of life!