Metal Mouth Message Board

So I don't want to come off as conceded but I find myself attractive... I'm no super model but I'm not completely unfortunate looking. I was just wondering if any other women (or men) are having a hard time finding themselves sexy anymore. I have had my braces for almost a year and let me tell you, I am so over them. I was ok in the beginning but now I just want them off. I am married to a wonder guy who just pretends I don't have 15 pounds of metal in my mouth. I don't think it bothers him (at least he tells me it doesn't) but it bothers me. I just don't feel attractive. Every time I start to feel sexy I look in the mirror and see my mouth. I just don't know how to get around this. I could have up to another 1 1/2 left. I really don't think I am going to make it. Does anyone have any advice or similar stories?
www.allbraced.blogspot.com

Yeah braces are unsightly. But oh well its only temporary and when you are done you will feel sexier than ever!

Braces honestly haven't changed how attractive I find myself. Like you I don't think I'm too bad looking and in a way I feel better with them on. I don't have crooked teeth anymore (well I do but...), I have a brace and I'm going to have great teeth.

My husband loved me and called me beautiful all of the time before braces and he still does even though he didn't think I needed to have some to feel better about myself. He is footing the bill because he knows what it means to me. I'm sure he'll find me more attractive after but I don't think he'll admit it.

ST

This is honestly something I'm very scared about. I want lingual but if they aren't able to do it without extracting (and if they can do ceramic without extractions) then I will likely need to go for the less discrete option because I really want to save teeth. BUT, the last time I had braces it really damaged my self esteem. I was about 12 and tried to hide them for the whole year. I even flat out lied about having them which was just silly since you could see them when I talked. I felt ugly and my lips protruded. I know I was only a pre-teen then but today I am a young single woman in my mid 30's. I don't think that braces will make me look bad but I'm afraid they will make me feel bad and I won't feel attractive. If you don't feel attractive then you don't send off attractive vibes. If I have a two year period where I basically hide from relationships because I feel ugly, then I will be getting to be pretty old by the time they come off and I get some zeal back. Two years is a crucial time period for someone in their mid 30's who may still want a family.
I know it will sound ridiculous to most people and it probably won't actually affect me much because I'm no longer a teen with changing hormones, but it is a fear of mine. And a pretty big one.

I was really affected by this early on - I felt like a freak - and occasionally it does still bother me. The weird thing is, though - when I have my mouth closed I feel like I attract more attention than I did before braces, as they've given me these killer cheekbones and fuller-looking mouth. But even when I smile, I still feel that people respond to me much the way they did before, so those days when I'm not really thinking about them or acting self-conscious, people's response to me makes me feel that I'm still attractive.

I honestly thought i would look like "radio head". But guess what...i actually feel a lot prettier. I look in the mirror, i see them aligned, and more aligned day in and day out. I had people compliment me, hell, i have had a couple of guys try to pick me up last night when i went dancing with my friends.

So for me braces actually made me feel a lot more attractive than i ever felt...even in my best of days.

Good post jambo532!!

It does feel impossible to be hot sexy, but funny sexy is getting a little easier as I get more comfortable with these things and they get straighter and straighter.

I recently bought a sexy little black dress and I must say my body looks sexy then you get to me face and I am like GEEK, LOSER!!! Oh well not much I can do.

I think sexy has a lot to do with confidence not only looks. I try to pretend they are not there and they do not define me. I am more than a smile and a 1 inch x 3 inch area. I try to still dress cute and give off some fake confidence even if I am not totally feeling it. Fake it to you make it.

So even when my husband calls me sexy and a give him a geeky braceface smile, I feel anything but hot but funny is still very attractive.

I'm not going to lie, I felt really terrible about myself for the first six months of being braced. I was having a rough time for other reasons and the braces only added to it. I refused to go out with friends and completely isolated myself, which of course only made things worse. The only thing that made me feel sexy again was when I started working out. I had been a bit of a gym nut before but had let myself go during this time because of my self-inflicted depression. Forcing myself to be active again made a huge difference, I still felt uncomfortable about my smile but at least I felt good about my body! I've kept this up for the last year and have found a huge improvement in my self esteem and health...and as an added bonus, I'm getting my braces off next month and I'm in the best shape of my life! Watch out world lol

Good luck and keep smiling, no matter what

In all honesty, people don't care as much about you being braced as you care about it. I see adults with braces all the time, and just keep walking. It's fairly common. I don't have braces now but will probably be braced again in a month or two. When I did have braces, a lot of people around me didn't even notice--if they did--it wasn't a big deal. I kept on with my social and dating life so you all should do the same. If it makes you feel better, there are loads of models with braces--they just get their braces photoshopped off when taking pictures (I used to model, and when I had braces my teeth were always photoshopped). Also there are a lot of celebs who have had or currently have braces that you can google.

I used to worry about how people would react to my braces too, and at first it was a self esteem killer, but once I realized that the world kept turning and people didn't care, I got over it.

I lost my virginity with my braces on.

I am 21 now with braces and do extremely well. "Dating" () a lot..

As your teeth move and your smile improves you will get over your insecurities.

Honestly, I have been commented on my braces maybe by three or four different people in the 2 years I have had them on. No joke. No one gives a sesame.

I also feel prettier I can't wait until my braces come off, but it doesn't really bother me to have them.

Thanks guys, you're great. My thing is I felt really good about them when I first got them. I was like watch out world here comes the better me. It seems though as time goes on I feel worse. I do feel a little better since I took pictures yesterday. I haven't taken pictures of my teeth since about month 5. Seeing the changes really helps. I look really young anyways and with braces, no one thinks I'm 24. I know it's good to look young but people don't take me seriously. Maybe a makeover will do the trick... get my hair did haha. Thanks again guys.
www. allbraced.blogspot.com

You are very pretty! I love your blog :)
I'm a decent looking lady... getting Ice Clear braces tomorrow. I'll update this thread when I can report back about how sexy I feel :P

I don't think my sex appeal have improved wearing metal braces, but well, I'm not going to be depressed by this :P. Anyway, I feel the same more or less.

Most of the time, people don't notice it, and your smile will be improving over time, so you will be nicer day after day.

One thing I noticed is that I'm taking more care of myself: I try to look prettier, use contact lens, came back to the gym... so hey, I will be much sexier on 18 monts ;)

you guys are awesome. I am starting a yoga class next month. I'm trying to improve myself overall so I will feel less bad about my braces. I'm bringing sexy back haha cheezy I know.