X-years younger

By Lily Martin in In the news on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 @ 18:43

I absolutely hate those TV shows where the subject gets plastic surgery so they ‘fit in’ – the thought of it makes me squirm! However my dad’s going through the painful, drawn-out and unbelievably expensive process of having all his teeth replaced, in an effort to look and feel a little younger.

His motives are clear – he has a beautiful and lovely new partner who is 20 years younger than him, with whom he’s just fathered a gorgeous baby girl (although I am obviously biased!) and he’s clearly feeling self-conscious.

Whether or not I agree with what he’s doing, he’s got to be committed to the cause – the teeth-knocking-out process has taken over 18 months already, and I’m sure he’s already sick of soup and ice-cream, which is about all his temporary false teeth will allow! Before the team of dental surgeons can fit the ‘new’ teeth, he has to go through the slow process of surgically rebuilding the bone around the jaw to ensure the implants have a good solid base in which to be screwed. Of course, what they don’t tell you until you’re already committed is that the material they use to help build up the jaw is bovine-derived…. Moooo-arvelous!

This whole process could have been exacerbated by his initial plan to have the work done in Poland, where apparently the costs are significantly less. One of my helpful dental authors pointed out that he’d have to keep returning to Poland for further work and in case anything went awry, so that clearly would have been a false economy.

Leaving my squeamish side to curl up in the corner for a moment, for those who feel the need to look a little, or a lot younger, what’s clearly important here is the right to choose. And you never know what work any of us might need in the future!