005         Ullswater Barton School and my Buckteeth

Well I guess this little tale of my buckteeth comes with in school life really so I will include it too.

When I was seven my second front teeth started to grow but my first teeth didn’t start to loosen until my second teeth came through and these second teeth grew in front of my first ones. So I ended up when the first one did loosen and come out with protruding buckteeth.

During the school Dentist’s periodic visit about two years later at the age of nine it was suggested a brace should be fitted to pull my teeth back into line. Yes, it was the same old Dentist that had taken out my tooth at the age of five and naturally I was not too keen of being butchered again. However after a bit of persuasion I decided to go along with the idea and give it a try.

There was an added attraction; I was required to go into the town of Penrith for the initial fitting and then every three weeks for adjustment thereafter. This used to take half a day, I caught the bus to Penrith by the school gate at about eleven o’clock and after my session with the Dentist at one o’clock I had a good hour to wait for the bus back so that gave me ample time to explore the shops and other places before and after my appointment. To a young country boy the well-stocked shops to a young country boy were a magnet and to a young country boy.

The appointment didn’t last long after the initial fitting of the dental plate with the wire across the front. All the Dentist did after inspection during each visit was to tighten the wire a little at a time until he was satisfied the wire tension was sufficient. I can only guess now but to hazard a guess my visits lasted over at least twelve months.


After catching the bus back it was too late for school and I usually went straight home having had a very interesting day in the town of Penrith.

The gap between my two front teeth is not associated with my buckteeth problem that is an inherited thing. I notice that my granddaughters Ashlee and I think Caitlin also have a gap between their two front teeth. This may have come through me or it could have been inherited from their father Paul’s side of the family as I note Paul’s father has a gap between his two front teeth too.