Les Dents du Bonheur
The gap-tooth has such a negative connotation in American society. Perfect teeth are meant to be white, shiny, and completely straight without anomaly. I remember growing up I constantly thought there was something off about my face. I never thought I was ugly, I just thought something needed to be fixed. I remember going to the dentist and being told I needed braces, not because of my overbite but to fix the gap in my teeth. I was constantly whitening them with paste, and lemon, and peroxide, thinking if they were whiter maybe people would notice the gap less. One day my aunt told me that she had grown up with a gap tooth and that hers eventually closed and so would mine. Well I’m 21 and it hasn't closed. I’m 21 and I don't want it to close. When I was 15 my French teacher told me that the French call a gap tooth “Les Dents du Bonheur” which translates to “The Teeth of Happiness”. I think that was the moment I fell in love with the French. I had carried around this insecurity about my appearance for so long and knowing that people were out there that thought my insecurity was beautiful finally convinced me to embrace it. This year when I traveled to Paris the most common remark I heard when people looked at me was “Les dents du Bonheur, tres beau”. Instead of the usual comments focused on my eyes or my hair, Parisians told me what a wonderful smile I had, something I’d never been praised for. So instead of worrying about my teeth and spending thousands of dollars to force them into an American standard of beauty, I will smile more, fit a straw between my teeth, and forever love the gap-tooth.
