Making A Difference: Moses

 

It’s very seldom that I do makeovers for teens below 16. I usually don’t purely because they are still growing and I’m unsure whether their face has entirely grown fully in size so their teeth might continue to shift.

Moses however was an exception. His mother Gurdip made the appointment and brought him because she said someone told her that I may be able to help him.

Moses had badly discoloured teeth due to very strong antibiotics which was given to him when he was a young child as he had been badly burnt and might lose his arm from an infection. The poor 13-year old was being teased badly in school and even his teachers, she said, were scolding him for not brushing his teeth!

 She went on to say she had been to many dentists and they all said there was nothing they could do for him and though he was a chatty young lad at home, he didn’t talk much or smiled when he was in the company of people he didn’t know.

As I examined Moses and polished his teeth, Moses didn’t say a word and kept looking at his mother to talk for him. He is such a handsome young boy too, but obviously was painfully shy.

I told Gurdip that she was right. I explained that he had stained hypocalcified teeth

that was probably the result of huge amounts of antibiotics given when he was about 4 years old (she nodded emphatically… I was right on target!) and that the permanent teeth, because of the lack of calcium absorbed into the growing tooth as he was so ill, also got stained by the antibiotics

, and showed her that even his permanent molars were deformed and pitted. I explained how everything had probably happened by explaining how a ceramic mug has a design painted on it.

I made the exception for Moses solely because I feel that removing the unsightly stains which were embedded in his teeth would probably change his life. His confidence and natural nature was shot down by all the teasing. But before I started I asked Moses whether he wanted to remove the stains …. I needed to hear HIM tell me he wanted that himself.

He smiled shyly and said ‘Yes!’ while nodding his head.

I said, ‘If I do the makeover you must promise me to talk more and smile a lot, OK’. He nodded and smiled.

‘And you have to be good and listen to your mother …. she loves you a lot!’ I added for good measure. He nodded some more and said ‘Yes, aunty!’ What a sweet boy.

The makeover was so, so, so easy. In no time Moses had a new smile and a whole new future too. You see to me, I don’t know who Moses will grow up to be but I do know he now has a better chance to be who ever he wants to be because he won’t be teased, ridiculed and made fun of any more.

 

The makeovers I do are much more than just beautifying a face. The makeovers are really about making ourselves confident and being self assured.

 

I love my job. I get to make a difference to a young man today.