No one has ever accused me of piercing my tongue before.
A list of people more likely to pierce their tongue than me would include Princess Mary, Jeanette Howard, and the pope. But since I got lingual braces about four months ago things have become a little strange.
Dear reader, I laughed. Oh the tricks those dentists will use to get a lovely holiday I thought to myself.
When I was 34 and the Nine Network’s US correspondent based in LA I went to Gwen Stefani’s dentist on Rodeo Drive. I know this because there were about a dozen photos of the lovely Gwen on the wall of the surgery (I’m assuming he was not simply a mad stalker).
When he told me I needed braces and surgery and it would cost around $50 thousand dollars I ran past the Gwen pictures, grabbed a knife and fork, and consoled myself with a $25 sandwich in a Rodeo Drive diner.
Leila is the host of Nine’s Inside Story.But years later my reliable two chewing teeth are starting to crack under the pressure, literally. So I have lingual braces. They cleverly run behind your teeth so you can’t see them but they do make speaking a little more difficult.
I’ve also had an operation to have metal plates screwed into my cheekbones. They will anchor the hooks in my mouth which will be attached to my molars. It’s all so nasty and tedious I won’t go into any more details.
“o what did I get? A story about Mith Univerth Authtralia…”On my first day back at work I went in hoping to avoid all words containing the letter s. So what did I get? A story about Mith Univerth Authtralia, or as I like to call her “our pageant winner”.
Leila McKinnon is the host of Nine’s Inside Story and is currently presenting A Current Affair.
Top Comments
Well done Leila - makes me feel better hearing your story, with your great sense of humour. But 54 trumps 43! Just starting the process of braces (the old fashioned kind) and surgery. It's going to be a long 18 months. I am going to be a whinger to my ortho too!
Well you're a great journo and lovely too, lisp or no lisp! Glad to see you on the tele!
(Did you ever think that the person who decided to call it a li's'p was being a bit cruel?)