I had some weird experiences with my teeth, starting in the 2nd (or was it 3rd) grade. I was in a fight during recess. What was it about? Who can remember and who cares? It continued back in the classroom while the teacher was still absent. An area was cleared of desks but he had help too. One person put out their foot and someone else pushed me from behind. The first thing that hit the floor was my mouth. Crunch! My front, top two teeth now had a space that looked like an upside down V. It really hurt for a few moments too. I first went to the Principal's office where I waited for my mom and then went to the dentist to assess the damage. I was OK as it was a clean break but probably did more damage to my psyche than anything. I slowly came to hate smiling as I felt like a freak with the laughing, finger pointing and it didn't help with the ladies (well, girls at that point). Eventually I stopped brushing just them.
The fourth grade brought further changes. I was an all star baseball player (no brag - just fact. I had a few trophies to prove it.). I missed a ball coming at me and instead it hit me in the chin. My teeth clenched and now another tooth gone at the gumline next to the other two. I can't imagine what everyone thought looking at THAT toothless grin. Needless to say I didn't smile much and hoped I could somehow get this fixed.
When I was 11, the dentist said the teeth had become abscessed and needed to come out. A set of false teeth were in my future but they sure cost a lot. I contributed what I could from my paper route and lawn mowing jobs. I even sold raffle tickets at my dad's bowling alley but that was short lived. The three front teeth were then pulled and two weeks later I had falsies.
The teeth felt like I had a whole pack of double bubble in my mouth. I had to learn how to talk and eat all over again. My Sssss sounded like Shhhh and it took a little practice but I got it. I still didn't smile much and now didn't talk much. My psyche was going into underload.
I also learned later that with my mouth changing (I was 11 after all), the plate would need adjustment every few months. I went to the first one or two adjustments, but with the cost considerations I blew off going more than once a year and then just once every few years. I started taking out my dentures at meals. I was pretty slick and could put them in my napkin with a simple motion and back again when I needed to speak. Speaking became a challenge too as they would pop out unexpectedly so I tried to limit any in public. I also gave up eating things like apples unless I had a knife handy. I never thought if others considered me weird. I was just adjusting the best I knew how.
My next adjustment (just painful really) came after I enlisted in the Air Force. My wisdom teeth were impacted (3) and they wanted to remove them. They removed two, then waited two weeks and removed the other two. For about 3-4 weeks I felt like that cartoon character with the kerchief tied around the head and jaw just waiting for the pain to subside and go away. 
Needless to say, not a fun time. Also, when the Colonel was removing the scalpel from my mouth (I did say impacted) he cut the side of my mouth! I didn't find out for several hours as the Novocain wore off. Quite the paper cut! In those days, they only gave you a couple of pain pills and there was no such thing as Advil or Ibuprofin. Thanks Doc you @#$#@!!!
My next leap forward was getting a permanent bridge which involved removing two more teeth and applying braces to bring my protruding upper teeth back into my head and straightening my lower teeth. Two more teeth needed to come out and after 2 1/2 years my mouth was ready for the bridge.
Finally, after 25 years, I was able to bite into an apple and didn't have to use no sticken' knife! I could also speak with confidence to my friends and started leading training groups on what I had been learning about computers. It really started opening up new worlds for me! It was AWESOME!!!
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