What was your catalyst?

Message

#1 Post by **Miranbrady20** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:30 am

Why are you here? What is the reasoning behind getting braces and bettering ourselves? What gave you that sudden intuitive realization to get braced? What was your "AH HA!" moment that your mind just clicked and said i want/need braces now! What was your inspiration? What was your catalyst?

So here is mine

When I was a little girl my parents used to beg me to go to the Orthodontist to get braces on my teeth. I never liked the idea of having metal mouth... I used to get made fun of enough in school without braces, I could only imagine how it would be if I had metallic brackets stretched across my face like some garbage disposal freak show! My parents would tell me they had made an appointment for the dentist and I would hide under my bed and cry out of fear of being picked on in school... I never had high self-esteem, I don't have good self-esteem now either but I learned over the years that my lack of self-esteem is almost directly related to my fear of smiling. Every time I smile i try to hide my teeth with my lips, just revealing a awkward gum smile... very UN-attractive. People say my teeth give me character and they love my beautiful smile, others say they never noticed my crooked front teeth, but I notice it every day and it has had such an impact on my life that I'm afraid to cut loose and be myself 24/7. I smile in the mirror and I don't see the person I am on the inside. I see a self conscious girl who is hiding in embarrassment, and at that point I cry...

Well I'm tired of hiding behind this fake smile and tired of feeling ugly, worrying about what other people would say if I had "metal mouth". I need to be concerned about myself and whats best for me and that is why I have finally decided, 10 years later at age 23, to get braces. I know its going to be a life changing obstacle but I'm willing to do my best to over come the hardships and criticism. This will be the best investment of my life and I can't wait to see that self conscious girl on the other side of the mirror finally smiling back at me...

then one day in may 2008 i was messing around on the internet here at work... I remembered my b/f telling me he thought that women with braces were the sexiest thing ever... and i was thinking that i could really use them any way so i was looking for simply motivation.... I then did a google search for the pros and cons of braces and thats when I stumbled upon a girls braces diary named Lora... I read through the whole thing and i was very moved by the story and the pictures ... just seeing the end result and almost getting to know her without even meeting her!... it was amazing and she was my motivation... I scrolled down to the bottom of her home page and it told me to go to a web site called... www.archwired.com .... hmmmm so there is where it all started... i decided to start writing a more professionally looking documentary on blogspot.com and a more lax one here on AW....

Here is the story that inspired me (some of you might know it being that she recommended this site to everyone): http://www.public.iastate.edu/~lora/braces.html

#2 Post by **NYG2007** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:39 am

I decided to go for it because my dentist was concerned about my bite. Even though my teeth are pretty straight my "edge to edge" bite is a concern. The braces will go on in 14 days. I am getting In-Ovation C brackets (top and bottom). I am still kind of concerned with other peoples reaction and the extraction, but I am sure I will get over this. I was happy about not needing spacers. I heard they're terrible.

#3 Post by **Texas Teacher** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:52 am

Mine is also a bite issue. I had braces in high school and my theeth have shifted a bit causing bite problems, minor overcrowding and early stages of gum disease. I will be braced in early August.

I really don't want them but my husband is very concerned about my dental health and does not want me to end up with flse teeth or have to endure anymor pain from my bad bite.

overall my teeth are still pretty straight but i have to chew food on one side of my mouth because of the pain from the misaligned tooth and bite.

#4 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:12 am

Literally from the moment my first permanent tooth erupted, it was clear that I was going to need braces. My family couldn't afford it until I was 17, but at that point I had made up my mind that I was moving 3 states away to college so I didn't want to deal with it.

In my 20's money was tight and braces seemed like a frivolous expense that I would later kick myself for when the transmission on the car died. When I hit my 30's we bought our first house. It was a "fixer-uper" to put it nicely, so any extra money was funneled into making sure things like the roof on the house didn't collapse with the first strong wind.

At 34 suddenly the stars aligned. The cars were paid off, both my husband and I were in decent stable jobs. Even though I still had no dental insurance, I knew it was now or never. As soon as some other expense came up, not feeling like we had the money would once again be the excuse I needed to put off straightening my teeth.

So as unromantic as it is, feeling like (for the first time in my life) I had "extra" money was my catalyst.

#5 Post by **JesseJames** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:55 am

I never had perfect teeth. Out of 10 they were probably a 6.5/10 but i was ok with it and could handle it. I always wished i had better teeth but it didnt seem worth it to me.

One day a bunch of friends and i went out to a bar. Had a great time and on the way back everyone was horsing around. One of my friends fell over and i went to go help her up. As i was walking towards her i got a little shove but it caused me to trip, i fell face first into her knee which was bent in a way that it gave no give. I knocked out most of one incisor and some of my canine! I hit so hard it looked (to me) that a few other teeth had shifted too.
The dentist put on a part plastic tooth for me but it never felt like it blended in with the rest of them, so i finally decided to take the plunge.

Anybody who has followed my story knows how much i hate these things. Here is to 7-8 weeks left and then i am done!!

#6 Post by **artroxu** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:27 am

xxnecraxx,

I totally feel what you were going through. I hated my teeth all through middle school/high school. But my family couldn't afford it. Although even if they did i don't know if i'd been able to deal with the blow to my already fragile self esteem. So here i am at 25 with braces. My husband thinks they are cute, and I know that all the names and teasing are all in good fun. Besides one coworker that called me "brace face" for a month, which was all good cuz i knew he was laughing w/ me (he and his wife have had them), no one else has gone past questions like "so how long will you have them?" "oh, when did you get those?". At this age to encounter someone that teases you to hurt you or to make themself feel better is sooooo rare.

So good luck!!

got any pics?

#7 Post by **Miranbrady20** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:04 am

i have a BUNCH of pics check out my blog with the link in my signature! what about you do you have any? and yes hopfully being adults now we wont have to deal with the childish taunts....

#8 Post by **CactusZAF** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:59 am

I never had the greatest looking teeth (or bite) but the old (really old) dentist I used to go to as a kid never mentioned a need for braces, so I never paid it much attention until at a family gathering when I smiled really big one day my uncle said "if I had teeth that look like that, I'd keep my mouth shut."
About seven years ago I had a pretty serious accident (due to my own stupidity) in which I broke a few bones in and around the left side of my face/head and almost lost my left eye. At the time my biggest concern was my eye and the possibility of infection going to the brain so I didn't even think of my poor pearly whites.
To compound the situation I didn't bother going to a dentist for the next five or so years, and when I finally had no option but to get a filling fixed (I lost a molar filling and walked round for 5 months with a hole), I had to get a new dentist as I had subsequently moved to another provence. My new dentist is pretty modern and did a complete assessment on me before any treatment, when she did fix my filling she noted my "extremely deep bite" and asked if I had considered having something done about it as my teeth were starting to suffer as a consequence of the bad bite. It was round about this time I realized that my accident must have had an affect on my teeth.
With this new found awareness of my problematic mouth, it was only a matter of six short months before I finally got the courage to see an Orthodontist, and the rest's history!

#9 Post by **Maverick** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:59 am

I've always wanted braces. As a kid I would ask my parents to find some way to get them, but they never did.

Now, I'm 20 and I can get them myself. It's still not the best financial time for me to do this, but the benefits for me in school and later work will more than pay for braces.

Once I found out how reasonable the payment plan my Ortho offered was, I decided to go ahead with it.

#10 Post by **Miranbrady20** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:18 pm

CactusZAF wrote:I smiled really big one day my uncle said "if I had teeth that look like that, I'd keep my mouth shut."

Wow i so know how that feels.... my dad was nothing but blunt with me about my looks as a child ... everything from my teeth to my weight... im not fat any more but as a child it broke my heart...

#11 Post by **gsb126** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:20 pm

Three things, really:

1. Always have wanted/need them; parents couldn't afford them.
2. My employer offers ortho coverage for adults.
3. When I turned 40, I made a promise to myself to lose weight, get fit, and spend some $$ on me for a change.

The last reason is the main reason. So far, I'm managing to keep my promises.

#12 Post by **lueyfufu** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:44 pm

I always wanted braces when I was a kid, but my parents couldn't afford it. And then after I first graduated from college, I couldn't afford it, nor could I afford the jaw surgery my dentist said I'd probably need.

Ten years later, I can afford it, so here I am! And only with minor jaw surgery (SARPE.)

#13 Post by **funshine** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:22 pm

My really ugly rotated tooth. That and my dental insurance added adult orthodontia.

P.S. It's got a button on it now. Just got it re-tied yesterday. I get a bracket on Aug 5!

#14 Post by **catfish** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:20 pm

I never really had the "ah ha" moment. I didn't want braces, but my dentist and periodontist both kept telling me I needed them. (Long story, you can click on my www below if you're interested.) I kept making excuses for why I didn't need to get braced. Eventually I ran out of excuses and found myself in the ortho's chair, getting brackets glued on my teeth! Even as I sat there, I was thinking "what am I doing? I'm making a mistake!" So even right after I got them, I still wasn't convinced!

CactusZAF - I'm so sorry to hear that you had such a thoughtless uncle. When people say things like that, it really says more about them than about you.

#15 Post by **BracedVeryLate** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:15 pm

I have known I have needed braces for 25 years. I had a big fear of dentists due to a botched attempt to get an impacted canine down, and a bad experience with an extraction.

I knew I would need at least one tooth pulled from my lowers because they are so crowded, but I absolutely refused to do it. Then, my back wisdom teeth suddenly popped up at age 40 and were causing problems. I knew they had to go, but I was OK with it because I would be put under. So, I though, why not get that bottom tooth extracted at the same time, and finally get those braces on?

So, my catalyst was being able to get a tooth pulled while under full anesthesia for the wisdom teeth!! Crazy, right? But true... I am a big chicken when it comes to blood and things being pulled from my jaw. I think the surgeon even gave me a three for two special on the price.

I think the other catalyst was turning 40 and realizing that while I felt so young, my teeth make me look much older. Also, reading all these Archwired posts with the photos moved me to take some action too.

This is a very interesting thread to read.