I look so damn ugly in braces

[LongJourney]

Hey guys

I'm new so Idk if I'm even posting in the right section.
I had my braces for about a month and 5 days, my first tightening is on Tuesday. I also have spacers on ( objects from hell) and getting them off at Tuesday also. I don't want to sound like a whiner but I absolutely hate them. When I first got them, yes it hurt but then I got used to it. Its not the pain I'm complaining about, more like my appearance. I've always been conscious about my teeth ( had crooked bottom teeth and overbite) and I still am. It's just that braces makes me look even more ugly. My top lip always stuck out because of my overbite and now it's even worse. Not to mention i have small lips already. I hate talking to people, I hate smiling. I used to smile when I got my braces but now, the more I look at myself, the more I realize how ugly i am with these things. Also my mouth is always so damn dry. Even when I put some chopstick on, it feels dry. From now on, im covering my mouth :/ Knowing that I have 23 months left makes the whole situation worse. When do you get used to them?
Sorry I needed to vent

[angelina]

I felt exactly the same at first. I hated going to work because people would see me! I'm 3 months in now and my teeth look really straight (and white from all of the brushing and flossing) and I have no problem smiling at all. I'm hoping it will soon be the same for you

I'm sorry I don't know your gender but I find make up helps, though this isn't helpful at all to someone who doesn't wear it.

[djspeece]

Braces rarely add to one's physical attraction, but I think there are ways to minimize the hit to your self image. My biggest beef was I hated the way I looked in photos -- I had a fairly nice smile prior to braces and I like to smile. But, in pictures it looked like my teeth were rotting or something especially in anything other than a close-up. Not much I could do about that so I just went along with it, realizing that there is more to looking good than just whatever hardware you have in your mouth. I am certainly no expert, but if you are a guy you'll hopefully realize that many women will think positively of braces since you are trying to improve yourself which I think can be a big deal for them; they like other things like your eyes, your smile, your positive approach to life, and so forth. Now if you are a woman I don't have much advice other than that guys find physical beauty in more than just a perfect smile or some hardware on your teeth. It took me a while to realize that most people don't even notice them. It's unbelievable that people didn't pay attention to every detail of my physical being ( ) but there you have it. Even more incredibly, when they came off in October very few people seemed to notice! What they did notice was that my smile was different with braces because I was trying to hide them. So I made every effort to smile as openly as before. Ironically this does more to reduce the impact of braces than anything else. It's weird.
I had braces for 3 years, got them off at the end of October of this year (three years to the day of joining this forum! I just realized that). I can't say that I ever truly liked them. I disliked elastics; the way that food got hung up in the hardware; brushing my teeth in public restrooms after a meal (and I did get side-long glances doing that, perhaps more disturbing to me than anything else); the random aches and discomforts; and so on.
I don't have any particular advice for the mouth dryness issue. I think it may be related to the newness of your braces and the reluctance of your cheeks and lips to contact the braces, causing you to mouth breathe. That could improve over time on its own. Maybe just keep a bottle of water available. Around here it seems to be standard issue for some people, as they wander the halls with one of those gigantic water cups or bottled water.
The first few months are really hard so give yourself time. I recall just thinking "WTH did I sign up for?" for a long time after the braces were applied. There are lots of people in the same boat here on the forum, or who have survived it, so you are not alone by any means. As an alumni, I can tell you from my singular experience that it was worth it. Best of luck to you!

[TheProfessor]

I know exactly how you are feeling, my first thought when I got my braces was that they made me look even uglier than before! But, as your teeth start to move, the wires will straighten out, your teeth won't stick out so much, and you will start to feel like a normal person. I had the same dry lips and mouth problem at the beginning. It gradually went away in the second or third month, but I still use lip balm every night before bed (my favorite is Burt's Bees).

I've had braces for more than 20 months (hopefully just 3 months left), and, while I still hate my braces, I feel much more attractive and confident in my appearance than I did before braces! I agree with Dan, the best thing you can do is to smile broadly and not try to hide your braces--it takes too much energy to hide them and just makes you look even weirder!

Hang in there, you will turn the corner soon and you'll be glad you started the braces journey.

[braceface95]

Restarting this old post because I feel the same way. I’ve had my braces for about a week now and i can’t stand to look at my face right now. I’m also super embarrassed to take to people, I find myself covering myself when I speak.

[assertives]

I also felt embarrassed talking and was self-conscious when laughing during the beginning of my treatment too. But hang in there, the feeling does go away as you get used to your braces and as your teeth start to straighten out.

Another thing I've noticed also is that apart from the people I've told that I was getting braces, nobody could tell I had them. I had a coworker asked me last week since when did I get braces when I've had them for over a year now! So you'll be surprised how people don't notice such things and even if they did, most don't care too.

[braceface95]

Thanks, I hope the feeling goes away soon. I think it’s a big deal right now because as soon as I got my braves I got a lisp and I’m anxious to get my voice back.

[braceface95]

[quote=braceface95 post_id=503573 time=1532306235 user_id=32228]
Thanks, I hope the feeling goes away soon. I think it’s a big deal right now because as soon as I got my braces I also developed a lisp and I’m anxious to get my voice back.
[/quote]

[assertives]

Thanks, I hope the feeling goes away soon. I think it’s a big deal right now because as soon as I got my braves I got a lisp and I’m anxious to get my voice back.

Oh I had that too, but it wasn't too bad. I was more preoccupied with the pain and my oral hygiene that I didn't even realise when it went away. I also had abit of whistling from time to time but I have found that laughing at it helped me feel less self-conscious too. Perhaps you could try that too. Laugh it off and not take yourself too seriously.

[Jami1]

Hi there,
I am right with you! I am nearing 2 weeks in. I have found that most people don't even notice. I am in the public eye a lot and am somewhat self conscious about talking as I sound to myself like I have a slight lisp when I talk too fast (but then that may be a good thing as I have been told I need to slow downIn the past!!! ) One of my teammates told me today that she didn't hear it at all and didn't even notice the braces. I do think we are likely harder on ourselves and I know that I can definitely be overly critical of myself. I just keep telling myself that I will have a beautiful smile I won't be self conscious of when this is all done 23 months and 2 weeks from now (but hoping my over achieving self can speed that up as well)

[braceface95]

Thanks for the advice y’all. I’ll have these on anywhere from 2-2 1/2 hoping for sooner than better. I’m hoping no one notices too much, since I’m moderating a conference on Thursday.

[jwbraces]

I think we all feel this way at first. Honestly, though, I think I will look better with straighter teeth even with the braces still on compared to before I had them! And I think that's true for most people. Watch some youtube vlogs of adults on their braces journey. It's fun to hear their experiences and see their teeth change as they post each month. It gives you a sense of what you have to look forward to.

[dreamin2day]

it gets better!

[braceface95]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the advice. Update: My lisp is gone so I feel less self conscious now. And yeah the vlogs do help.