By the time I’d reached my teenage years, I’d had enough of my worrying about part of my tooth flying off.

I was far too busy forming very important opinions about the world and becoming more comfortable in who I was as a person.

I was certainly more strong-minded, and worrying about something as small as a tooth cap was starting to seem silly.

I lost the cap and practiced in the mirror to find different ways to make my front teeth less prominent. And so, my crooked smile was born.

It was very scientific. A slight dip of the chin, a twist of the head and I would leave my top teeth to ‘rest’ on my bottom lip.

This ensured a megawatt smile with no clue that I had different-sized front teeth.

For a time, this quick reaction got me through every event.

Birthdays, Christmas and even prom, I had the same crooked smile on my face. I thought I’d cracked it.

‘How I learned to love my teeth’