Just... ugh. Beauty issues.

[Zoni]

Well, there's something that's been bothering me.

When I was two, I was living in Europe. Tumbled off of a stool I was sitting on and whacked my mouth pretty good on an oil furnace at my babysitter's house. As a result, my teeth are horribly out of line. I've got a tooth in the middle of my mouth, practically zigzags of teeth for my bottom row and rather prominent "fangs" on the top row. They're all out of line, and it's quite noticable. You figure my parents would have fixed this when I was little, but they didn't. It's the sort of smile that makes you keep your mouth closed constantly. At seven months to go, there's still (a little) time to get dental surgery to correct it, but I just don't have the funds. Erg.

I'm also considering getting my ears re-pierced. Not a terribly bright idea, considering I've had very severe allergic reactions both of the times they were pierced before. It's something I'd really like, but I'm afraid of a repeat. I also wouldn't begin to know where to look for a place that uses gold posts and might be a better bet than the local Claires.

Last but not least, acne. I have cystic acne. Anyone else had to deal with it? What'd you do?

[BriansBride07]

I hear you on your teeth problem I to have bad aligned teeth that should of been fixed when I was a child but unfortuanlly they didn't get fixed. I am on 6 mo. till the wedding and also have the fear that my smile will ruin the pictures.

I do however go to the dentist and he did suggest getting the bottom 2nd row pulled and amazingly it does look alot better on the bottom that is. There is not all these teeth when I talk. Unfortually the top has to stay the same. HE did however fix the front two teeth and put on a crown. and that did make them look better but for the other ones beside that this is my prob. my eye teeth stick out and my teeth beside the eyeteeth and the front teeth are pushed backwards. My trick is to pick one side of your mouth that doesn't show it all that bad and try to stand in a way that your body is straight and your face is slightly turned so you will almost be masking your smile to make it look better instead of straight on. Ex. look at my avator. that does work. Don't smile b.c you have misaligned teeth you will not look so happy. Like my FH and family members tell me that they don't even notice and I need to stop being so self consious about it.

As for your acne have you ever tried proactive. That does work wonderful if not see if you can get a referall to your local dermontoligist (sp) and see if there is a prescription that will work for you. I wish you all the best.

As for your ears getting done did you ever try and just buy the gold posts and ask the rep's if they would pierce them with the ones that you have chosen. I don't know about your area but where I live we have a few salons that will pierce your ears with the posts that you bring into them.

[kevinsbride2B]

Well here's what I say...
As for the teeth, your right VERY expensive!!!! Although there are ways of having things done that aren't as costy or as severe. I would go in to your dentist or a dentist and tell them the deal. There are so many improvments int he dental industry. There must be soemthing that can make you feel a little better...
For getting your ears pierced i would go to a nicer salon. It may be more money or so on, but they have the good equiptment. You could also probably buy good earing befroe hand and have them pierce them into you. Talk to a place and ask them if this would be possible and if so the sizing and so on.

[Zoni]

Thanks for the advice, guys!

I have no idea where to look for ear piercing salons. o.o;

[ladymelissa]

I have no idea where to look for ear piercing salons. o.o;
Check fine jewelers they may know of some. You could also ask a body piercing parlor for their advice.

Talk with your doctor about your acne, they can put you on oral and topical antibiotics to try to clear up your skin.

I don't know much about dental work and you are cutting it too close to the wedding for braces. Maybe the invisalign system would work and they may even be able to put you on a payment plan.

[StaceyMc]

I don't have any advice on the dental thing, except, SMILE! You're going to look beautiful!

As for the piercing - look for a "Piercing Pagoda" or "Silver and Gold Connection" in your local mall. I used to pierce ears there. You can purchase a huge array of earrings, gold, titanium, hypoallergenic, etc. there and the staff is very knowledgeable. Talk to someone there. Also, I would not suggest buying a pair of earrings and asking someone to use them to pierce your ears. The piercing tools are set up to use piercing earrings (at least at the Pagoda). Piercing earrings have a sharper tip on them than normal earrings. I can't even imagine shoving a dull tipped pair of earrings through my unpierced lobes.

I'm having some face problems right now too. Check www.paulaschoice.com (http://www.paulaschoice.com) Her products are great and the information on her website is fabulous!

[jeni740]

Fh has very bad acne, he was using Proactive, but it stopped working, I actually just picked up his new prescription from the pharmacy today, his new Dermatologist put him on Minocycline HCL 100mg and also Tretinoin .025%Cream. Hopefully this will help, you can only get it from your doctor though. As far as your teeth, you most likely are not a canidate for Invisalign, it is usually for moderate cases, it costs about 4000.00. Maybe you can talk to you dentist about crowning your front teeth. Or maybe a bridge, it is very expensive I hope you have dental coverage. I have seen some dentist when a person has fallen and broke a front tooth in half remake the whole bottom of the tooth so it looks normal, maybe they can reshape yours with composite filling material? I also cannot wear any earings at all ever, the holes are still somehow open from 5 years ago and every once in awhile I will put earings in for one night and deal with the infection for a week. Thats what I am going to do at my wedding, just wear them one day. Hope some of this book is useful lol. Good luck!!

[MissJakob]

I also had a nasty 2 year bout of acne which was triggered by Mary Kay foundation (I will *never* touch their products again, ever!). I feel for you because no one should have to go through acne, wedding or not! After 1.5 years of having topical and oral meds which would lose effectiveness after a few months, I just threw in the towel and went on Accutane. It's a powerful, potentially dangerous drug with some unpleasant side effects, but used correctly can completely get rid of acne. I went on a very low daily dosage for 7 months, had no side effects, and by the end my skin was sooooo clear and smooth and it felt *wonderful.* That was 2 years ago and it was one of the best things to happen to me. I suggest you research it further and talk with your derm. If you begin now, by your wedding day you could have clear skin!!!! What better gift is there? Good luck!!

[Zoni]

My only real problem now is that I am currently unemployed. I am prospectively being hired this Friday at Limited Too (unless they decide to reverse the decision. Gods, I hope not!) as an assistant manager, but my benefits won't kick in for sixty days. Right now FH is taking good care of me, but there's no way either he or I could ever afford expensive bills and such. I'll have to wait for my benefits to kick in.

My teeth are most definitely not a moderate case. I don't HAVE a doctor or dentist right now, as I am unemployed and just moved to Delaware about a month ago (from Ohio. FH and I were an internet couple for a long while =) ) and certainly no way to pay for visits. I do not feel confident smiling. Considering that my teeth are bad enough that they cause my speech to be slightly slurred and with a bit of a lisp, it's definitely not something that can be taken away by a just "You'll look great". I'm honestly quite baffled why my mother didn't have my teeth fixed when I was younger, as I was fully insured at the time. =/

I've heard good things about Accutane, despite the side effects. I fully intend to ask a dermatologist about it when I've got benefits. I'm currently on Tetracycline, but it's given my skin a slightly greyed tone and stops working after about a month of use. So, I have to take breaks =/ Miss Jakob, can I ask what sort of side effects you experienced?

[ladymelissa]

Congrats on the job!

I don't know what else to say about your teeth. Your FH apparently loves you and wants to marry you, no matter what your teeth look like. I suppose you may just have to revisit this when you have benefits and if you do not want to get married with your teeth in the condition they are in, you may want to think about postponing your wedding date. B/c even with benefits, braces would take a few years, so even if you could start tomorrow it's highly unlikely you would be done by August.

[MissJakob]

Honestly, I didn't really experience any side effects, probably due to my very low dosage (20-40 mg/day). The only thing was that my cholesterol went up from 115 (normal) to nearly 200, at which point my derm reduced my daily dosage even further. Obviously, you may have a different dosage amount, which may cause you to experience more prominent side effects. From what I remember of my research, side effects include dry, cracked, lips, dry eyes and nose, nausea, stomach pain, dizziness, cholesterol increases, and deformities to fetuses - you CANNOT get pregnant!