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Anyone who isn't self consious about braces is really lucky to be confident enough not to let what other people think bother them.
I think it all depends if your happy with your apperance before having braces and braces are just an improvement. But if u hate what you look like anyway and already feel self concious about your looks then your bound to feel in worse with braces.
Personally I am self consious about braces thats why I choose ceramics, I just can't hack hearing negative things about my apperance coz I believe what people say. No matter how many people say its not true it only takes one bad comment and I'll feel like crap about it!!
So yeah I am self consious but happy at the same time knowing that the results will make it all worth it, and I might finally start to like how I look!!
Its not so bad been in the UK with braces, rarely do I see people with "perfect" teeth, so no one can really pass any judgement to me. It doesnt bother me one bit, and i rarely notice I actually have braces! I actually enjoy having them.
Actually I notice that I was more self consious before I got the braces. Because of the huge gaps I had I rarely smiled in pictures or in general. However I notice that since the braces I have been smiling alot more.
Maybe its the fact that I know that progress is being made, I want to share it with the world
I think it all depends if your happy with your apperance before having braces and braces are just an improvement. But if u hate what you look like anyway and already feel self concious about your looks then your bound to feel in worse with braces.
And these same people are going to be self concious about how they look when they get the braces off. The focus may move off their teeth but then it'll be something else....their thighs, their feet, their nose...you name it.
I personally was self- concious when I initially got braced because its not everyday you see a 30 something with braces on. But that wore off fairly quickly and I've actually found myself bonding with perfect strangers who I notice also have braces. I met a high school boy who was fundraising for the school band who has braces...we got into a whole conversation about life with braces. Same thing happened with a woman about my age who works at a child care center when I occassionally have to take my daughter. It's a nice conversation piece for me. It really all depends on your attitude and how you choose to react to other peoples opinions.
I was self conscious for the first day or two but now I don't really think about them and others are used to seeing my brace so I don't get that double take reaction that I got initially.
I definitely look forward to the day they come off, who wouldn't, but I know that they are doing a great job in straightening my teeth.
However, markuhde I notice that you haven't got your brace yet so can you really be sure that you won't feel just a bit self conscious? Hats off to you if you manage this.
Regards
Joney
2 Extractions 2nd November 2006
Brace On 10th November 2006
Top brace off 26 June 2008 (19 1/2 months)
joney wrote:
However, markuhde I notice that you haven't got your brace yet so can you really be sure that you won't feel just a bit self conscious? Hats off to you if you manage this.
I'm VERY sure I won't be. I'm self conscious about my teeth now. Braces are a tremendous improvement and I can have fun colored ligs on them! If I was getting self-lig brackets or something I'd probably be more likely to be self-conscious. I now realize that and am VERY glad I'm not. They're just ugly compared to the pretty colors you can get on metal ones.
Also, ask anyone I know, I'm the opposite of self-conscious in general. I dress and act like a teenager generally, I wear girly things and I am a totally goofball at times. I can be barely professional enough to pull off my job and that's that and I hate having to do so.
There is only one person in this world who's opinion really matters to me and she's behind me 110% on this and she misses her own braces (seriously, I find THAT weird) and thinks it'll be a ton of fun for me! I know she'll have fun with it too LOL...
So yeah, I'm EXTREMELY excited... spacers Wednesday, then braces 2 more weeks! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I`m 23 too, mark
and i got full metal mouth.. and i love my braces..they are much fun.
The only thing is that i really look like a teen, many people ask if i`m an adult while signing papers.
I do show my braces to everyone and have wide smile.
I think i`ll miss them too when they are off, but then i`ll enjoy my perfect smile..
If I was getting self-lig brackets or something I'd probably be more likely to be self-conscious. I now realize that and am VERY glad I'm not. They're just ugly compared to the pretty colors you can get on metal ones.
Mark, I'm hurt! I have self ligating brackets and don't consider them ugly. I agree that colours can look nice but this my ortho recommended self ligating so I went with his recommendation.
I normally stay out of these arguments but I think braces are braces. They do a job and it is an individual choice alongside ortho recommendation. We need to get past this 'coloured ligs are best' or 'self ligating are best' or 'ceramic are best' arguement.
Regards
Joney
2 Extractions 2nd November 2006
Brace On 10th November 2006
Top brace off 26 June 2008 (19 1/2 months)
"Wow. Got to disagree there. I do worry about what people think, but I don't worry about what people think about me wearing braces, and even wearing braces with very visible coloured ties."
I spent most of last week in customer meetings and user groups in St. Louis and Chicago. It was me and 3-4 of my coworkers from around the US and up to 35 of our best customers in meetings that lasted from 1 hour to 6 hours. As I flew home on Friday morning it hit me, I had been thinking about these meetings and my braces for over a month. I had chosen black ligs 4 weeks ago because they wouldn't stain, but when I saw how much more visible they were than my old gray ligs I was worried about these meetings. It dawned on me as I sat on the airplane that I had only thought about my braces once all week. That one time was when my boss asked me how the braces were going and said that my teeth were really starting to look great Gotta love that! Otherwise, I had chosen to direct my attention to the meetings and the customers, not to my braces.
I have said it before and I still believe that 99.9999% of the time WE choose to make our braces an issue. When we act like they are no big deal the rest of the world does too.
Expander in 8/9/06
Lowers on 11/30/06
Uppers on / Expander gone on 1/31/2007
Class III elastics added 3/14/2007
Expander #2 - 6/27/2007
20-24 months w/ fixed metal braces
I have sapphire uppers (with non-colored ligs) and metal lowers. I've had them for 18 months. Last week, I was telling my friends that my uppers are coming off on April 19. These are people I see every week - we go for a walk in a local park then go for coffee. When I said that I was getting my uppers off, one of them said to me "Oh, do you have braces on your bottom teeth too?"
So, I agree with the people who say that you notice your braces more than anyone else will.
How about on my first outing on the social scene in braces a guy i knew came up to me all excited.....he saw some metal flashes and thought I got a 'grill'.LOL I was like are you SERIOUS??? He seemed most disappointed it was just braces.
A full week and a day for me in full metal self ligating gleam! I'm late 20s and a smiling fool...and think this is the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. I'd love it if I got carded cause I looked younger! (no such luck yet)
My partner is much more self conscious but coming round. He's also had more pain issues, so this is quite variable from person to person and with equipment used in treatment.
I understand those who "love" their bracing experience...it's going well and a positive result is surely the outcome and they were unhappy with the state of their mouths/smiles/etc. I also understand having fun with the situation at hand. Makes sense to me.
