Dos and Don'ts for Unbraced People Embracing Braced People

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#31 Post by Le » Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:23 pm

Don't stare at my braces, but pretend to ignore them.. I can tell!
Just ask, i don't mind talking about them

#32 Post by **jeef84** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 4:54 pm

Don't tell me about how you ate candy and drank soda all the time when you had them, THEN complain about how your teeth turned out, THEN proceed to criticize my decision to get them myself. I mean, really.

Don't be afraid to ask me about them. I actually like talking about them. It's a relief to be able to "vent" comfortably. It's much more uncomfortable when people are pretending not to notice.

Great thread!!

#33 Post by **CassieB** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:50 pm

Don't assume braces are to straighten my teeth....usually followed with the statement "that's alot of money for straight teeth". Exactly. Even if that is why I got them, I'm not making comment how you spend YOUR money now am I.....?

#34 Post by **PatJ** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:12 pm

Great thread.....love it.

Don't tell me that my [crooked and skanky] teeth are "me" and that I'll look different with straight teeth (yes, that's the whole point).

When I finally get the braces off, please DO notice that I am not wearing them anymore and DON'T say (when I finally draw your attention to the new look) that you "hadn't noticed".

And please (adults only comment coming up) please stop with the jokes about o**l s*x. They are just not funny.

Despite all of this, 2 years and 4 days was worth it and I'm loving being without them. I even like my retainers!!

Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:00 am

Don't ask me why I'm wearing a "grill" (I am not trying to be like Flavor Flav, lol)

#36 Post by **onefastchick** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 5:25 pm

I love this thread and wanted to bump it up for us newbies just joining.

#37 Post by **alimommy1** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 5:37 pm

Great thread! It's very annoying when people ask you 'WHY' followed by their own opinions of why they think you don't need to. I also have enough trouble with people believing I'm younger, the last thing I need is anybody using braces to 'determine' my age.

#38 Post by **catgyrl** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:38 pm

Great thread! Here's mine:

Don't be a HATER just because I've chosen to better myself, while you have rotten teeth - half of which have fallen out of your head - and never made the effort to fix them.

Don't give me the whole "Well, if THAT'S what you want to spend your money on..." crap.

Also, don't ask me to send you a pic of my braces... then purposely never look at the pic! And then, when I finally see you, you ask me to smile... and then proceed to LAUGH hysterically and not say another word.

Jealousy is very unbecoming...

#39 Post by **Neptune** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:03 am

Don't think I want to talk to you about braces JUST BECAUSE the both of us are wearing braces. I never needed/wanted to talk to you before...

To other braces wearers (and to the person I reference in the sentence above): Don't go into EXTRA DETAILED conversations about yours (or my) braces in group gatherings with non-braces wearers. Talking about braces is not why I'm there.

#40 Post by **llehsal** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:01 pm

Don't say: (looking quite pained) - "Ouch! I don't envy you!" Frankly, this is not about you and I don't want you to.

Don't say: "wow, thats alot of money your paying to straighten your teeth, is it that important? I'm sure no one noticed anything wrong with you teeth". For your information, my teeth need more than just straightening, so chillax.
I don't mind hearing (as my best friend told me), "Oh my, you look ready to be kissed!" hehehe....

#41 Post by **alimommy1** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:29 pm

It's also funny when people say 'oh but your teeth are straight' because crooked teeth are not the ONLY reason people get braces. A lot of bite problems can't really be noticed right off the bat, and definitely not things like tmj concerns or uneven tooth wear because of a bad bite....

#42 Post by **Chicagogal** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:17 pm

oh this is fantastic!

to repeat others: don't keep asking "yikes, how long do you have left?!" I can't help but sarcastically respond with "FOREVER!" I just got these suckers 2 months ago.

Agreed, please do discretely tell me i have something in my teeth.

and dont i mean PLEASE don't say that my teeth were fine or worse, "why didn't you just get invisalign." ohhh, i'm sorry, you're right i just preferred as much metal in my mouth as possible. my bad.

i'll end on a positive do continue to ask me if the meal you're making or the place we're dining has food that works for me. my friends who do this are awesome. <3[/b]

#43 Post by **msbee** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:45 am

Haha! Everything said thus far is so funny but so true!

Don't:
- say "2 years???!!!!"

Do:
- tell me that my teeth have moved! One of my colleagues told me "wow your teeth have really moved a lot!" and I was thrilled to bits!
- tell me that you are envious that I didn't have to have teeth extracted, while you had to when you had yours done a long time ago.
- remind me to wear retainers in future, coz if not they'd shift like yours did (then proceed with displaying a set of just slightly misaligned row of teeth, so I feel better if I'm not so disciplined with my retainers in future)

#44 Post by **njsuburban** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:00 pm

Do tell me if I have a forrest in my teeth.
Don't ask to look at my teeth every day.

Don't ask me, if you see me on a regular basis, if I got braces. My answer is going to be "no."

#45 Post by **llehsal** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:27 pm

One other thing....Don't tell me I had such a nice smile before....