“You have horse teeth,” and, twenty-two months of orthodontic treatment later, “you have a beautiful smile.” In today’s society, almost all youth feel a lack of self-esteem because they are torn apart by other children on behalf of their flaws. Confidence is unfortunately primarily associated with appearance. The lack of confidence in the adolescent age group is a major problem, and I would like to play a role in solving it as I complete college and dental school to become an orthodontist. Working at Ahl and O’Connor Orthodontics has given me the opportunity to see the positive effect orthodontic treatment can have on insecure youth first-hand. Patients will come in not wanting to smile because they’re ashamed of their teeth. The office has …show more content…
I could laugh and smile without the concern of “I hope no one notices my teeth.” I have also had the opportunity of watching a friend make a full three-sixty with her confidence. Prior to braces, she had two teeth that never came in and gaps between almost all of her teeth. She never smiled and rarely spoke to someone she didn’t know well. She got braces, which has enabled her to get false teeth put in the spaces and close her gaps, and now she is one of the most confident people I know. She dyes her hair bright colors that definitely draw eyes, talks to a lot more people and also smiles often and gets compliments quite frequently on her appearance and confidence. One day I asked her what made her so bold and confident, her immediate reply was “braces.”
Boosting adolescent self-confidence is important to me because, as the saying goes, “a country is only as strong as its youth”. Low self-confidence is a problem the strikes my attention and that I would personally like to aid in solving because I have seen people become drained and unhappy. Low self-confidence can lead to depression, which can further extend to suicide, and drug and alcohol abuse. A country entirely composed of people with these problems would become