[ROUND 2 · ALL 10 AGITATES]
[4A · INVISALIGN V1]
I don't blame them.
Every place they'd been just pushed the same number at them,
like there's only one option.
Five grand, take it or leave it.
Nobody showed them anything else.
So they leave still needing the thing they came in for,
just more sure than ever they can't afford it.
[5A · INVISALIGN V2]
A lot of people tell me the same thing.
I don't really smile in photos anyway, so what's the point.
Or, I'm married, nobody's looking.
But then I ask if they've stopped getting in photos with their
own kids, and that's usually where the conversation actually starts.
[6A · WHITENING V1]
Strips, charcoal, whitening toothpaste, you've probably tried a few of them already.
Some of it does a little.
Most of it does nothing, or it whitens unevenly because it was
never built for your mouth in the first place.
And there's always that one worry in the back of your head,
that any of this is quietly wearing your enamel down.
[7A · WHITENING V2]
Most people wait until a week before a wedding or a big
trip to even think about whitening, then panic-buy every strip and kit
at the drugstore trying to catch up.
Half of it barely works in time, and none of it was
ever built for your teeth.
[8A · IMPLANTS V1]
You cover your mouth in photos.
You avoid chewing on that side without noticing you're doing it anymore.
Enough time goes by and it just becomes part of how you
live, not a problem anymore, just a fact.
[9A · IMPLANTS V2]
It's the not knowing.
People picture the worst version of the surgery in their head,
so they just don't ask.
The gap sits there another year, then another, and nothing about it
gets easier by waiting.
[10A · DENTURES V1]
Sore spots.
Avoiding certain foods.
That little bit of shifting when you talk or laugh that you've
gotten used to covering for.
Most people just assume that's what a denture is supposed to feel
like.
[11A · DENTURES V2]
A denture that doesn't fit right doesn't just hurt,
it changes how you live.
You skip the foods you used to love.
You sit back a little at gatherings instead of joining in.
Most people just quietly adjust their whole life around it instead of
asking if it can be fixed.
[12A · CHECKUP V1]
I meet somebody new every week who hasn't had a checkup in
way too long, and they always say the same thing.
I just never got around to finding a new one.
It's not that they don't care, it's just easy to keep putting
off.
[13A · CHECKUP V2]
A lot of parents wait.
They wait until a tooth hurts, or until the kid is old
enough to behave at an appointment.
But that means the first time your child sees a dentist,
something is already wrong, and that's exactly how the fear starts.