Something you shouldn't have to see....

So, about a month ago I was brushing my teeth and had the familiar sensitive shot of pain on the left side. Apparently my gums over one tooth over there are receding at an alarming rate. So I pulled back my lip and took a peek. And it freaked me out. There is so much tooth showing that I felt that it looked a little skeletal. So I looked at it again. Shuddered. Left the bathroom determined not to peel back that lip and look at that again for ages. Five minutes passed and I was back in there. It was like I was gawking at a car wreck. I couldn't help myself. But I eventually got a bit of leverage over the temptation, and I haven't had a viewing in a while. But then....a few weeks later I find myself diagnosed with TMJ and am convinced by my doctor to go get a splint made- a little clear plastic molded thingy that you slip over your bottom teeth at night and it purportedly stops you from grinding or clenching. Little does the doctor know that I have recently perfected clenching my jaw muscles with my teeth apart. I find myself clenched up, tell myself to relax, separate my aching jaws and take a breath. Only to find myself five minutes later all clenched up with my jaws apart. Oh well, I'm willing to give the spint a try. Perhaps some yoga too. So I go in to the speciality dentist and they put all of these foreign substances in my mouth, making a custom splint for me and me alone. After I've planted my teeth into a variety of plastics I'm free to go, if I pledge to return 2 weeks later when the splint is done and I can get it fitted. I return and have the dentist pop this little plastic thing into my mouth, I bite down for her and she tells me to take it back out. Only it's so tight I am absolutely sure that when I do eventually get it out at least 3-5 teeth will be stuck into it, pulled out by the roots. But I get it out. She files it, puts it back, I almost pull out 2 more teeth, and on and on we go. Only at one point, while I'm patiently waiting for her to file it a bit more I glance over to the counter along the wall. And what's there??? A model of my mouth!! Like a skeleton's mouth-with no nice lips to cover up the tangled, crooked teeth. Just my teeth in all their glory. And I'm instantly thrown back to the bathroom mirror and my glimpse at my root-y tooth. There it is, right above that one that wings out at nearly a right angle. And I think, now, no one should have to get a glimpse of their own skeletal teeth like that. I know that there are people out there with dentures who wake up to see their teeth smiling at them every morning. But I think that when you get fake teeth, at least they are straight. The one plus these faux teeth of mine had is that they were white. That much was appreciated. But I averted my eyes after the first glance. And this time I did not give in to the temptation to look again. I don't know, seeing your own warty teeth all on display with no live flesh around them, it's like getting a glimpse of your own mortality. Yuck. I will not be posting a picture.