Braces 'may not boost happiness'

[principessa]

Hi Guys - I came across this article on the BBC webpage - what do you think of it???
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6295727.stm
I know that I have been conscious of my teeth since I was 7 years old and i am positive that it has changed my personality and made me painfully self-conscious all my life. I'm 33 now and got braced July 06 and I wish I had done it 20 years ago!!!!
Ciao
P x x

[SimInsomniac]

Thanks for finding that article principessa!
It was quite an interesting read. I think it's pretty hard to assess evidence for this study as it would all be down to the child's personal opinions.
Being only 17 myself and getting them at 15, which is a few years older than those children involved, I feel more happy with myself now even while I'm still braced. However I can see why there's little evidence, as I expect many children got treatment without realising how bad their teeth were beforehand, perhaps it wasn't a problem. I was 16 when it finally dawned on me that my teeth weren't good and I started noticing what an effect teeth have on people's appearance. I was in braces thinking my teeth were fine, I was just having it done for health reasons! What a fool I was...
In my opinion, if this study was done with people aged 16+ they'd find people are more confident, rather than 10 or 11 year olds who maybe don't feel pressured by appearance. A lot of these kids get free treatment too, so I guess many didn't have much choice over the matter either as opposed to adults who will likely end up paying and "shopping around" for different orthos for the best offers. Overall, I think it's a flawed result.

Psychological analysis over. Very interesting indeed.
Sim

[Lee54]

Not to be cynical, but it sounds to me like someone may have wanted to find a rationalization to justify rationing the braces health care pounds/Euros/dollars. How can they possibly assess what difference it made to someone's personal self-esteem, when it's impossible to compare it to what that individual would have had with/without them? They aren't comparing apples with apples, but apples and oranges, with totally different people. When governments can't or don't want to pay for something, I suspect they find ways to help finance studies that will give them the conclusions they want in order to save them money--or at least save what resources they have for the more extreme cases they can't feasibly deny. I'd sure rather be the one who decides if I need braces, not some government official! Medical studies can be designed to give the conclusions one wants. I wonder who financed the study...

[Jillianleab]

Interesting article, but it does raise some questions...

I've needed braces since I was a child, and until recently, I wasn't all that self-conscious about my teeth. I didn't smile in pictures very often, but when I was single my teeth didn't stop me from approaching a guy or anything. I knew they were bad, but I didn't realize how bad, and I didn't care. In addition to that, however, I had very supportive parents who promoted independence and self esteem. I think THAT makes a huge difference in the amount of confidence one has. In my opinion, the environment you are raised in and exposed to is what shapes your self esteem more than anything else. Certainly there are kids with braces who are being made fun of for being fat, or ugly, or stupid and without a parent or role model to counter those comments, braces and perfect teeth aren't going to make a lick of difference in your self esteem. Braces alone don't raise or lower your self esteem, it's a combination of factors.

[lionfish]

I'm with Lee, I smell politics in this one.

[BracedBelle]

... we were butchered by people who don't really understand this last time this came up ... so over and out!

oooh, I'm curious what this was all about.

[ngbraces]

There is absolutely nothing wrong in doing this to make you feel happier, but if anyone is going in to this because they think it will make them 100% happy about their whole life in general, then they're maybe going to be left disappointed. Lucyloop

110% agree!

[platinum]

These braces do not make me happy. I am pissed off, because I sound and look so bad.

[Jillianleab]

Karen I think you make an excellent point. Essentially, you won't be happy unless you are happy on the inside. Sadly, there are many, many people in this world who strive for some "perfect" image thinking it will fix their lives/esteem/self confidence. If you don't love and appreciate who you are on the inside, nothing you do on the outside will make a difference!

[ghostmyimag3]

I found this same article in a link outside the posted story. Braces dont boost happiness huh?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 138020.stm


I'd say it does.

[grinning]

I am definitely not a trained psycologist , but I wonder if this could have anything to do with the degree one is unhappy about something or perhaps precisely WHAT the person is unhappy with. If in general someone is happy with themselves and who they are, but just don't like their teeth, then fixing their teeth should make them still feel the same about themselves in general but also happy about their teeth. If however someone is UNhappy with who they are and happen to decide their bad teeth are the cause (or small breasts, or awkward nose, etc), then fixing their surface problem will help nothing in the long run.

See! I told you I wasn't a trained psycologist! That probably made no sense to anyone except for me!! As far as the article goes, I agree with the whole apples and oranges thing. Having orthodontia done TO you as a child I doubt would make a whole lot of impact on who you are as an adult. You really wouldn't remember anything different. I only look at orthodontics for two of my kids because of 1-bite issues and 2-excessive overcrowding.

[SnoopCat]

If in general someone is happy with themselves and who they are, but just don't like their teeth, then fixing their teeth should make them still feel the same about themselves in general but also happy about their teeth.

I agree with this. For me, I was generally happy about everything else in my life, but felt my teeth were holding me back. They weren't even that bad, but I'd built it out of proportion in my head to such a point that I was obssessed over them.

I know how ridiculous this sounds now, but I really thought that no one would ever love me because I had crooked teeth. (It's more like *I* couldn't love myself because of it, and the cliche is true: you need to love yourself before you can expect anyone else to [/end Dr. Phil interlude]).

Anyway after a year into it, I am so much more confident and happier than I ever thought I could be. I wish I had done it years ago.

[19Braceface]

I'm not touching this one. The last time I made any comment in this subject area, I practically became a pariah.

Meryaten so interesting that this topic should surface again ... but this time in a different way.

I'm a trained psychologist ... and it's a proven fact that happiness, confidence, self eteem etc ... come from inside. Having your teeth corrected, loosing weight, cosmetic surgery ... these are physical things ... and the two are not the same. But ... one may help the other ... but it won't 'fix' the other.

... but as Meryaten wrote ... we were butchered by people who don't really understand this last time this came up ... so over and out!

I had a question that i thought maybe you could answer, before my braces i was a confident girl who got guys and enjoyed fixing herself up. I got braces out of pure vanity, every girl in the magazines had perfect teeth. Now i find myself depressed while i wear the braces, i don't like the effect they had on my face and am starting to realize that i really didnt need them. My bite and midline were fine, my front two teeth were just pushed back a bit *my baby teeth didn't fall out on time*. So i understand braces do not instantly help your self esteem, but what happens when having them on makes you feel bad? Will getting them off instantly reboost my self esteem? I know you may not know the answer but you are a professional...*sigh* and i hope you would know...