My Crooked Tooth

I look in the mirror and my tooth bothers me. It’s out of place; my teeth used to be neatly aligned; they were straight up until a few years ago. Then they shifted, mostly the top right lateral incisor.

I wonder how bad it really is, because sometimes I look at my reflection and think that things look worse than they really are. For example, I occasionally have somatic delusions that make parts of my body look warped, and for which I have even gone to the emergency room, only to be told that such distortions couldn’t possibly happen, and that my anatomy is normal.

Maybe the tooth isn’t so bad. A few months ago, somebody complimented me on my smile. I said, “No, my teeth used to be nice, but now they’re crooked.” She said, “One tooth is a little out of place, but I like your smile.” I tell myself that perhaps she is right. Symmetry is one of the hallmarks of beauty, but it’s also been said that the slightly asymmetrical is what we find more beautiful than perfect symmetry.

The last time I went to the dentist, I pointed out to the dental assistant that my tooth had shifted. “A little bit,” she said. I might console myself by thinking that it really is just a little bit off.