Teeth Whitening

When I was twelve, I had a root canal on my right front tooth. Ever since then, the tooth has been overly bleached, and the root is gray and dead looking. However, I can't see it myself, and my friends say it isn't particularly noticeable. My mother, on the other hand, can't stand it.

I don't really care, but it'd be expensive to fix, and I figure I might as well do it while my parents are the ones paying, so I let her take me to a cosmetic dentist. They gave me whitening gel that I rarely use (but had an effect, as can be seen in the left pic), and when my teeth eventually reach the prescribed whiteness, I'll have to get a veneer.

I know the problems with appearance could hold me back in the workplace, but is one gray tooth really going to make that much of a difference? Also, I watch America's Next Top Model- Joanie taught me that veneers are extremely painful. I don't really want to get one, but I probably still will.

One thing that really bothered me was that when I went in for a consultation about the one tooth, the dentist started in with other ways that she could improve my smile, like burning off the gum above one of my canines to make my teeth look more even. I feel like the next thing will be collagen injections, then botox, then boob jobs- it's a slippery slope.

I don't want a boob job.