Metal Mouth Message Board

I've had my upper braces for about four days now and have been very surprised by the reaction I've had from people. Firstly, I spoke to a friend at work about it and she was very strange, saying she was disappointed in me for being so fixated on my appearance. I couldn't really understand where she was coming from.

I've also been out for drinks with two separate groups of friends and not one person said anything or asked me about them. I'm kind of happy with this but was really expecting someone to say something. Very strange.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? How do you handle it, because I'm going to feel strange every time I see people until it is out in the open.

I pretty much told everyone before I got braced. Everyone wanted to see them the first day back to work. A couple of people I didn't tell just kept looking at my mouth but didn't say anything. There probably affraid to ask, not sure if it will bother me or not. I have noticed a few people tend to close there mouth as soon as the subject comes up, like there embarrassed about there own teeth.

When I went to lunch with the guys on friday. My braces came up once for about 5 minutes of conversation. 2 of them told stories about there braces then we moved on. Most people do not make such a big deal about our braces. We tend to do that about ourselves.

I've had different reactions too. Some people to Whom I had told asked to see them, and made some questions about it. Some people who didnt know talked about it too, but then some people who didn't know didn't make any comment.
I think it is strange also.

Hi,
the first reaction you're mentioning is well, interesting; I always bear in mind that people who will say something like that are usually those who don't have the guts to do something about their own appearance. anyway. Personally, I pretty much told everyone I was going to get braces; I teach in a secondary school so on the first day with them on I simply showed the kids as if I were super proud. Which I am, I guess. They need the positive vibe as much as I do..

Hi,
the first reaction you're mentioning is well, interesting; I always bear in mind that people who will say something like that are usually those who don't have the guts to do something about their own appearance. anyway. Personally, I pretty much told everyone I was going to get braces; I teach in a secondary school so on the first day with them on I simply showed the kids as if I were super proud. Which I am, I guess. They need the positive vibe as much as I do..

Hi,
the first reaction you're mentioning is well, interesting; I always bear in mind that people who will say something like that are usually those who don't have the guts to do something about their own appearance. anyway. Personally, I pretty much told everyone I was going to get braces; I teach in a secondary school so on the first day with them on I simply showed the kids as if I were super proud. Which I am, I guess. They need the positive vibe as much as I do..

Fixated on appearance? What about good dental health or fixing a mechanical problem, like you would fix a sprained ankle? A major part of my decision was to fix my bite so my teeth wouldn't get ruined. Appearance is probably a nice side effect but certainly not my main motivation. Maybe it's up to us metal mouths to "educate" people like that!

Reactions from friends have all been very positive so far. My hairdresser even said, "good for you!" when she saw me. Other people have made a short comment, like, "how long will this take?" or something, then we move on.

There were a lot of people whom I thought would comment on my braces but didn't; I concluded that most people just don't care if you're wearing braces. What seems like a big deal to you really means nothing to someone else.

No one really commented on my braces. Just did a double-take on my mouth then ignored it after that

I was really paranoid about the whole metal-braces thing, from very early on in my consults. My ortho talked me out of clear braces and in many ways, that was a really good thing. From the time I accepted I was getting metal braces, I started to word up my colleagues about what I was about to embark upon.

When I got back to work, some people wanted to see and the majority paid no notice or said nothing. Most could not see my upper brackets anyway. As others said here, it's mostly a big deal for us, not other people.

I used to be extremely self-conscious of my smile, but after a few weeks with the braces, I started smiling more than ever. And here and there, people would ask about them and colleagues would note my progress. My teeth have changed quite dramatically in the last 2 months and I get people coming up to me every week now, looking in amazement. It's quite a buzz!

I am sure it is a bit odd when nobody comments.. I think though that some people feel it is polite not to mention something that you may be a bit sensitive about, especially in public.

Other than that, I am sure that some would be envious of your decision to do something for yourself and your oral health..

Good for you and keep smiling!

Sorry double post!

I have had a few instances of people seeing my braces, doing a double take and not saying anything. I have always assumed that they didn't want to make me feel uncomfortable or that they thought I was self-concious about them. It has never bothered me because I would probably do the same unless the person was a close friend.

Most of the commentary I get goes something like,
PERSON: Oh you got braces!
ME: Yeah, about a month ago.
PERSON: How long will you have them
ME: about 2 years
PERSON: Do they hurt?
ME: No, not really.
PERSON: That's cool. Good for you!

My personal feeling is that anyone who still sees braces as nerdy is out of date and anyone who thinks we are overly focused on appearance just doesn't get it.

My personal feeling is that anyone who still sees braces as nerdy is out of date and anyone who thinks we are overly focused on appearance just doesn't get it.

Well put, Gunter. I am perplexed by your friend's reaction, rcsw6. Can't say I've had anything like that in my experience. Oh well, can't win 'em all. She clearly doesn't get it. I've had a lot of people (acquaintances and colleagues) not say anything. I think in some cases, they didn't know if it was okay to talk about and in other cases, they just didn't care. My close friends all knew ahead of time, so they wanted to see them and asked questions right away. It's all been fine by me. I know I'm doing something good for myself and I'm proud for having taken action on it, so that's all that matters!

When I got my braces a lot of my friends were only concerned about the color that I had for that month (not really a good choice but o well), but I find that a lot of my aunts and uncles and some of my friend's parents are like "Wow, your teeth are really straight" or my favorite "There's such a change."
Having braces is great so don't let people's reaction throw you off, just smile!!