Dental Containers

When I was younger..like A LOT younger...I desperately wanted to have braces.  In middle school, ALL of my friends had braces, complete with colored rubber bands and weekly orthodontist appointments that got them out of school early.   Something about that shiny, metal smile was hugely appealing to me.  (I know, what a dork!)  Every time I went to the dentist, I would BEG him to tell my mom that I needed braces.  He didn't.  And I never got them.  At home, I resorted to "making" my own braces by covering my teeth with aluminum foil.  Apparently I'm not the only person nerdy enough to think of that, though, because look what I found...

How to Make Fake Braces  (where was Google in 1982???) 

After my friends graduated from braces, they all got retainers, which I also coveted.  Retainers were even better because they came with cool little containers so their owners had someplace to put them during lunch! How did some people get to be so lucky???
 
But my life is officially complete now, because even though I managed to miss out on the entire orthodontic experience as a 6th grader, today I officially became the proud owner of my very own DENTAL APPLIANCE CONTAINER!

Nope, I'm not one of those people who gets braces in their 40s.  That whole metal smile thing has definitely lost it's appeal over the years.  And I don't have a retainer either.  But sometime over the last few years, I've started clenching my teeth at night.  It's not stress.  I'm not sure what it is, but I wake up with a sore jaw and a raging headache every morning.  When I mentioned that at my last dental appointment, the dentist said, "We can definitely fix that!"  Dentists are amazing, aren't they?  They can do anything!  

So two weeks ago, I sat very still while they poured bubble gum flavored, pink goop into a mold that they stuffed into my mouth.  And then this week, I went back to try on my new night guard.  Apparently this is going to be my new night time companion for the rest of my life.  Sexy, huh??  The cute little dental assistant reminded me that if I take very good care of it and don't leave it around where dogs and little children can find it and play with it (ew!!) it should last for at least 10 years!  And then he made my whole day when he handed me THIS... 

Who knew the solution to all my dental problems would also come with it's OWN CONTAINER!!  I don't know if I've already mentioned how happy containers make me!!

 I might still be a little bit of a dork.