Ever felt crooked teeth held you back in life (pre-braces)?

[Clairey Fairey]

Yeah I mainly agree with that. And I agree that its not just teeth that give u low self esteem. Its different for the individual and is usually many different things but in my case that was one of the main factors.

Don't forget that if u spent most of your school years being told that u look awful it is hard to shake that feeling off and as an adult it is still hard to trust that people are no longer being that judgemental.

Of course there will probably be other hang ups after the teeth are fixed, but I don't think they will bother me half as much as my teeth do/did, so i won't waste my life worrying about it all any more

[red indian]

I somehow feel people have reacted too strongly to Jackie's comments. I have re read her post and can see no insult intended. It was actually a pretty interesting thought. All she seems to be saying is that teeth seem to matter alot to many people and are one indication of social class in the US. Whether it should be or shouldnt isnt the question. The fact is that it may well be.

I also fear that such strong reactions particularly the negative ones are likely to shut down conversations instead of opening them out for fair discussion.

On a personal note, I can well imagine that this is true in the US. I moved here three years ago and have noticed that the average emphasis on perfect teeth is sooo..much higher. It is for instance so diffiult to watch TV for even an hour without seeing some ad related to some tooth product (whitening, invasilgn, veneers etc etc).

Also it is difficult to find a celebrity (major or minor) who doesnt have very good teeth. And at least in LA, most people who are well off, have very good teeth..

[ghostmyimag3]

Also, if you can honestly say that your teeth have not held you back in life in any way, than why are you getting them fixed in the first place!

I could say so many things on that statement, but the bottom line is we have braces. Thats it. Does it matter if your self esteem WAS low? NO, because your doing something about it. I never felt held back by the way my teeth looked, it has effected me by having braces though, I love my teeth now but mostly i dont have to worry about if im not flossing well enough or brushing in the places that i really needed to hit. I had the beginning stages of periodontal disease. Your teeth are not an issue until you make them an issue. If you try to hide your teeth then yeah people are going to look at what your hiding. I learned a long time ago that ignorance runs in numbers and anyone making comments about your teeth in a negative way obviously has to point out others imperfections to cover up their own. That is what makes them a sad person. Personally i smile just as much as i did before. I am not saying that i believe any of you are making excuses for the way your teeth look. Or looked for that matter. Because I can't speak for you and i sure have never walked in your shoes. Honestly what does it matter why we chose to get braces? Everyone has their own reasons but I do not feel that anyone should feel they were held back because of something that can be corrected. And i do not feel that anyone's reason is any better than anyone elses reason in here. We are here to support each other, to answer each others questions and just talk about something we all have in common. But on another note i really hope the ones of you that felt held back because of your teeth gain the confidence that you have always wanted.

My point is, if you're letting wonky teeth hold you back, then you more than likely have deeper self-esteem issues than just that, because someone with truly good self-esteem is not going to be impacted by something so superficial as appearance.

Meryaten, i shouldn't laugh but i love the "wonky" part of that statement. It made me laugh. But you have a excellent point.

[Jennine]

This is one of those topics that some people may not want to believe is a fact, but nevertheless is.

Psychology studdies on beauty show that even children show a favorable response towards beauty.

When a child was shown 2 pictures, one of an ugly teacher and one of a pretty teacher and then asked " which teacher is nicer? " the child always chose the pretty teacher.

Simular studdies with jobs interviews indicate the better looking person has a better chance of landing the job.

Teeth are indicators of beauty as is hair, eyes, skin, bone sturucture, body shape, and fitness.

Is it shallow? Yes ofcourse. However its the nature of humanity and these types of studdies prove it.

As far as socioeconomic status, I agree with that as well. Crooked teeth indicate a child who either was not cared properly due to parental neglect or couldnt get braces due to lack of finances.

All these things are sad but true
but listen all... we have them now... yes we do

WE HAVE THEM NOW.... HOOORAY!

References

http://www.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issu ... /feng.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty

[Jennine]

Quote:
And I do think that teeth is one of the indicators used to measure class. Most people are very sensitive about social class but fact is that people do judge you based on class, I think some people even do it subconsciously without even realizing it. Good teeth is only a small part of that, just one of the MANY indicators of class.

Straight teeth could possible greatly affect how people judge you (even subconsciously). If you have two people with identical stellar qualifications and one has a perfect appearance, and the other very messed up teeth, I think the more presentable person will get it.

Quote :If you can provide me with a credible reference or source for your assertion that straight teeth are a measure of social class, I may take you seriously. Until then, forget it.

Within this article are many references regarding the correlation between beauty and sucess including both an individuals perception of themselves and how it affects thier personality AS WELL AS the nature of humans to be attracted to asymentry and beauty and to be judgmental in regards to it.

http://www.cord.edu/faculty/buslig/201Ppr2Exmpl.html[/url]

[ohmyjaw]

I once saw a very interesting documentary in which people with equal qualifications but different physical appearances go and apply for jobs. The better looking person got the job or intereview almost every time.

However, Jennine, I don't agree with your second point. There are lots of reasons why kids do or don't get braces.

For example, I actually DID have braces as a kid, but my problems were beyond the skill level of my orthodontist, so I am having braces again as an adult! My brother has crooked teeth and he never got braces, because he just didn't want them! My parents certainly never neglected us.

[Jennine]

Hi jaw

Since youve mentioned, there are ofcourse other possibilities such as oppositional children like your brother, and difficult cases such as yours. However if one did a study on this topic they would find that most adults who have braces, couldnt get them due to financial reasons, parents who either just didnt care, were too selfish, or uneducated about the importance of them.
Regardless of the " real" reason anyway, when you look at a child with horrid crooked teeth, the first thing you ask is, why does that child not have braces? And the answers you come up with are...

#1 Family has no money
#2 Family is uneducated about the importance
#3 Family doesnt care


All of these things can lead to a perception of low socioeconomic staus. It may not be a correct assumption but it still leads to the same perception

Even the child who refuses them, one might look at that and say well why doesnt the parent force the child to get them, in his best interest? Why is the parent allowing the child to make decisions about whats best for him at age 10? One may assume the parent is uneducated or just doesnt care enough. Thing is... lack of education is again correlated to low socioeconomic status.

Its about the perception remember, the human nature to judge things based on what is familiar and common, not the reality of what actually might be in each individual case.

[LaaLaa]

Okay, seriously, I can't believe some of you out there are STILL correlating parents who don't get braces for their children to be poor, uneducated, or even neglecting parents after all that has been said here.

No offense, but I'm pretty sure my parents and grandparents are far more educated than anyone on this board. Who can say they come from a family made up of doctors, dentists, engineers, and lawyers?? I think not many.

Yes, financial issues may be the main reason for the majority for not getting treatment early on but unless you know everything about that family situation, you really have no right to say things like that. Not everyone fits in your description of low class. In fact, if you want to go ahead and start saying people with crooked teeth HAVE to have come from lower class, why don't you tell us all on this board what kind of family and educational background you come from. On top of that, what kind of area you live in is pretty important too, I'd say. From what I know, people are usually too embarrassed to say when asked about their own situation, even though they don't hesitate to say things like that to other people.

[freerideuk]

hi i just wanna say i think this topic has gone a little far now people are getting very worked up about people expressing there opinion

to the people who dissaggree with jackey you have to remeber everything these people are saying is a generalisation no one can take into account for every individual case and there are many many reasons out there why as adults might now have braces , but they have a right to express there opinion to if it affects your social economic class or not but just try to take it with a pinch of salt as all these studys done are talking about the majority of people , personaly i don't beleave it will effect my social economic class as i live in scotland where we get our tratment through the NHS for free everyone has the right to good teeth so i would not consider it a factor , this may be dfferent n other countrys i don't no

i just beleave that everyone has the right to express there opinion and maybe all that is needed is for people who are defending jackey to maybe take nto account there are alot of different reasons why adults are undergoing treatment due it t being lack of funding as a child ,or its there second round in braces ,moving around alot as a child or simply not wanting them when offered and the list goes on but i feel they can voice there opinions on the subject

and people who dissagree with jacky shouldnt be soo dismisive about other peoples comments maybe say you don't agree with them and voice your opinion on the subject instead attacking the other person to try belittle them they have to right to talk as well

xxxx

[Lisa65]

Freerideuk, in my post (although I disagreed with the OP) I did say I wasn't belitting anyone for their opinion, even if it didn't match my opinion.

This is a forum for adults, and adults can supposedly disagree without making it personal. I think this thread has stayed on topic, and nobody has been insulted for what they believe as far as I can see.

We're never going to get a universal agreement on such an emotive topic, and while I respect Jackie's and others' rights to believe as they wish, there are others here who feel differently, but equally strongly, and everyone has the right to say what they feel, provided that it doesn't degenerate into playground name-calling.

It's called debating, and I think it's made for an interesting thread. Of course a lot of posts on these forums are going to be similar (dealing with spacers, debanding dates etc etc) but it still makes a nice change to have a meaty topic that people can really get into.

[Lisa65]

I just remembered this article which was posted on this forum not so long ago by principessa. The link to the other thread is here viewtopic.php?t=16615

"Braces may not boost happiness" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6295727.stm

It strikes me, reading through this thread again, that in general the division between one "side" of this debate and the other, is down to age. To a smaller extent people seem to be polarized according to whether they live in the USA or not.

I guess this thread is an indicator of how peoples' priorities change through life. A lot of us here in our 40s and 50s had parents who grew up in the post-war generation, and priorities were just different then. It's also an interesting indicator of the difference in attitude between the US and other parts of the world and the respective importance given to physical appearance.

[grinning]

I believe if you hang your head in shame over ANY quality you perceive as a negative in yourself, those negative feelings are what other people react to, not the negative quality itself!

[acd]

I don’t know if “held you backâ€

[LaaLaa]

Wow, KK, you're a psychologist?? That is a very cool profession. For a while, I was even considering majoring in psychology and have extremely enjoyed some of the classes I've taken on psychology.

I'm glad there are others here who have the same views as myself on this topic. Although I believe as Lisa said, that people are entitled to their opinions and have the right to express them, there is a line that shouldn't be crossed.

Freerideuk, I wasn't belittling anyone or intended to attack anyone. I was merely trying to defend myself and I'm sure others on this board who've dealt with similar situations or just some other circumstance that I haven't listed before. I normally don't express my views in such a harsh way but I felt that this issue was one that I just couldn't sit back and say nothing when there were absurd and very insulting accusations thrown around about our families and the classes that we supposedly belong to. If anyone was belittling anyone, it was those who decided to come out and flat out say what the meaning of people with crooked teeth was. This was no generalization; it was the person's own closed minded thoughts written here. Like I've said before, there are certain things that people should never say to another, no matter the circumstance. At least I wouldn't.

[Salacia]

I believe if you hang your head in shame over ANY quality you perceive as a negative in yourself, those negative feelings are what other people react to, not the negative quality itself!

I think this sums it up perfectly. Confidence is attractive, more so perhaps than a perfect smile!