self-inflicted damage
On my first visit to my current dentist he commented that I had perfect teeth, except for the damage that I had caused myself. Two instances come to mind:

1) When I was about 7-8 years old, I was learning to ride my first full-sized bicycle. I was going full speed down my street and, still learning, did not slow down when I tried to turn. I managed to stay up and make a big, sweeping turn until the front wheel of my bike slammed squarely into a boulder on the side of the road. I was thrown over the handlebars about 25 meters down a hill (luckily flying right between two thorny trees). I hit the ground hands first and then jaw, tearing my lower lip from my jaw and messing up my bottom teeth. I was taken to the hospital and my childhood dentist was called at 11 pm to come fix my teeth/jaw. Unfortunately, before he could do any work or apply any anaesthetic, I had to clean out the wound... with salt water. Then they used this huge needle (about the size of my forearm back then) to pump my lip full of anaesthetic and when I woke I was in a full-jaw cast (yea! milkshakes for every meal) for about a month. All good now, although you can still see the stitch marks on my gums where they sewed my lip back onto my jaw.

2) About 5 years later, I was jumping on a trampoline with 2-3 friends and landed with my jaw squarely on top of a friend's head. Split all four of my front teeth right down the middle. My dentist at the time fixed them, but one of the crowns failed and I had to have a root canal about 6 years ago.

Despite all of my efforts (and thanks to some awesome dentists), my teeth are generally straight and normal looking.

Length? Try 25 meters, face-first.
( kingoffools, Mon 6 Nov 2006, 18:27, Reply)