My road to straight teeth - updated 03-Dec-08 *PICS on p.7*

[danish]

this has got be the lowest point in this journey so far. i am beginning to think whether it is worth at all...

I know that the general attitude on this site and among orthos is that being braced as an adult is no big deal and that being braced only impacts your life if you choose it to do so. At this point this seems to me to be a pot of NLP-and-feel-good-about-yourself BS!! In the world where I live it is a deal because here an adult with metal in his mouth and gaps from extraction is a monstrosity!

I try and live out the recommended don't-care-about-others-because-I'm doing-this-for-me approach, but it is not working. Even the most innocent remarks hurt like hell. When coming from friends and colleagues I laugh with them but inside I'm hurt and just want to tear all the metal out of my mouth! When it's a stupid and cruel remark from a stranger I really do not know to respond appropriately. It so easy for them to destoy another person like that and make another person feel miserable. And the worst part is that they get away with it! I really want to hurt somebody making such a remark and make sure that a lesson is learned. I wonder what other guys with braces do!? Ignoring just is not the way because I can't ignore it!

Sorry to be the party pooper on this forum, but there is a shallow world outside the forum lacking empathy and understanding! Unfortunately.....

Danish

[joney]

Ah Danish, that's sad. Stupid people make stupid comments. You'll have the last laugh with a lovely smile. I know it's hard and comments can be hurtful (I've had a few stupid comments from people) but keep the end goal in mind. Your teeth are already looking a lot straighter. From your photo you look like a nice looking guy so some people might be jealous.

Regards
Joney

[Mmmmuuaa]

Danish, that just sounds horrible. I've been fortunate enough to not have experienced any negative remarks, quite the opposite really. I can imagine though how you would feel. I take negative comments in general quite hard so I'm glad people have been kind. When I feel like I'm just so sick of having braces I just try to remember that in a couple of years this will just be some distant memory. Anyway, we're glad to be here for you to vent, we all need that!

[mookie]

Hi Danish,

I am a new member, but I wanted to post and tell you that your progress is AMAZING! I can only hope that mine goes as well!

As for people around you making comments that are hurtful- I guarantee that many are jealous haters. They are probably envious of that fact that you made the decision to do something purely for you. Deep down they wish they had the balls to do it as well.

Don't let it get you down. When you have a wonderful smile- you truly will have the last laugh!

[danish]

thx joney, Mmmmuuaa, KK and mookie. I guess that I just have to be more indifferent to stupid remarks somehow while the brace works its magic...
Sorry about the language in the post but I was kind of furious when I wrote it

Danish

[Filip]

Nothing to be sorry about Danish, you're only expressing what you feel. My take is that braces is far less common in Scandinavia (in Sweden at least) than in Southern Europe and the US. Hence the strange reactions. People simply aren't used to seeing braces, and far less a metal-mouthed adult!

I also felt like you, and still sometimes do. It took me a few (several) months to move forward, and it does take a toll. But it will improve and you will care less by the month. Hang in there.

One thing I like to do when I get a really silly remark is to ask them to show their teeth. When they do, as no one has perfect teeth, I point out their defects and tell them they also need braces - right back atcha
I know, I know, two wrongs don't make a right (only according to Homer Simpson), but I don't like stupid comments about my braces.

Most of the time I get positive comments, and quite often people say that "wow, I also used to have braces" or "I also want to get braced" and then we engage in a conversation about braces and by now I 'm getting quite knowledgeable, thanks to this site, so it's always entertaining. Funny how many people there seem to be who have failed at the retention part and now want to get back into braces

Vi e rode vi e hvide, vi star sammen, side om side

/En svensk

[danish]

Hi Filip,
Thx for your comment- Yeah...I guess that you are right. The jävla danskerna sure aren't used to see braced adults. I have only seen one adult in my entire life myself. Anyway life goes on regardless of stupidity. I will try to remember your trick in stead of more extreme measures.
Heja Sverige

Danish

[victor36]

Hello Danish,

I think Filip has the right idea, but I just think that pointing out their defects causes you to stoop down to their level. Your culture must be radically different from where I live (Southern California) because even though we do have our fair share of oddities and freaks (come on, I live in Southern California, Weirdo Central) people here don't generally make cruel/stupid remarks outloud to strangers, at least not to their faces, because you never know what how the other person is going to react/retaliate (in some cases violently!). It's hard for me to picture why seeing a braced adult is something that gives your fellow countrymen the right to openly say something so rude and dumb to you. That just doesn't happen here in CA... our population is just too diverse to allow that. I wish I had some magical words of wisdom like "don't take it personally" or "braces are temporary", but I'm not quite sure if that will help in a culture where people can openly and rudely point out others' differences. Sorry for rambling so much. But do please try to keep the end result in mind.

~Victor

[Karen Anna]

Hi Danish,

I'm 21 years and just got my braces on two days ago. Back home from the dentist I sat sobbing in tears: girl, 21 years, studying in university - and a braceface! Ouch...

Then I found your blog in Danish and it made me so much happier. Your descriptions on living with a brace and all of the considerations about looks, the opposite sex etc... It just made me smile Thanks!

I'm looking forward to following your story here on the board.

Smile from

Karen Anna, Ã…rhus.

[regulering17]

Yay, I didn't know there were so many scandinavians on here, that is great:)
Danish: I know, I wish I got my braces sooner too. At least I didn't get them before non was covered(they cover a certain percentage before 18year of age in my country). I got them was I was 16, so I guess it is not really uncommon. It's not like I don't see people in school with them. But still, people are so mean at my age:( And so shallow. I wish people would grow up. Like for example, on the schoolbus, when I first got my braces on, I heard friends talking about them, literly BEHIND my back. Not fun. Just stuff like: I can't get used to Mona with braces and that stuff. And, I was concidering them for myself, but they're SO unhygenical.
I do have friends who still are/recenetely got naked(took braces off), and they defend me with stuff like: actually people who have braces are so much better with dental hygiene then others!
LOL it's true though:)
Anyhow, it's nice to have this site!
<3

[regulering17]

this has got be the lowest point in this journey so far. i am beginning to think whether it is worth at all...

I know that the general attitude on this site and among orthos is that being braced as an adult is no big deal and that being braced only impacts your life if you choose it to do so. At this point this seems to me to be a pot of NLP-and-feel-good-about-yourself BS!! In the world where I live it is a deal because here an adult with metal in his mouth and gaps from extraction is a monstrosity!

I try and live out the recommended don't-care-about-others-because-I'm doing-this-for-me approach, but it is not working. Even the most innocent remarks hurt like hell. When coming from friends and colleagues I laugh with them but inside I'm hurt and just want to tear all the metal out of my mouth! When it's a stupid and cruel remark from a stranger I really do not know to respond appropriately. It so easy for them to destoy another person like that and make another person feel miserable. And the worst part is that they get away with it! I really want to hurt somebody making such a remark and make sure that a lesson is learned. I wonder what other guys with braces do!? Ignoring just is not the way because I can't ignore it!

Sorry to be the party pooper on this forum, but there is a shallow world outside the forum lacking empathy and understanding! Unfortunately.....

Danish

Hey!
Hang in there, it gets better! Like if I bring it up now, my friends will be like: oh I completely forgot you have braces! Seriously, the worst part will just be to meet new people. And gosh, strangers remark on them? That's really weird, and so rude! You should defenetely tell them off!
Gosh, I feel so bad for you when I'm reading your post. You seem so sad:(
Btw: Your English is REALLY good!!
and, I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but I bet the ladies agree with me on this one:
You are very good looking! It's like when Tom Cruise got braces, or Gwen Stephanie for that matter(with metal brackets!), they both still looked very, very attractive!
I feel bad that you were bullied as child, so was I:(
But you have got to see, it was obisouly jealusy! Why would someone bother one, and use up their energy, on someone if they weren't jealus?
Actually, people who in the past were really mean to me(before braces), told me face to face later what they really thought about my looks. And then I understood they wanted to bring me down because they were jealus.
Very cruel, of course, of them to act like that. Cause I truely felt ugly. But It feels good in the end:)
Ok, so hope I'm not being intruding or anything. I guess I'm just very open. It's better that way.
- Mona

[danish]

thx victor36 ,Karen Anna and regulering17 for your comments.
I guess that I hit rock bottom when I wrote the other day. Now I'm almost back to normal again after a little x-mas vacation and all Being braced is certainly a roller coaster ride, but I guess that I do not have to tell anyone here on this forum!?

Danish

[cosmicgirl]

Sorry you felt so down Danish. I think it's shocking that people are so rude to you!

It wasn't until my daughter was braced that I took this big step. I'd had an appliance when I was younger, but 30 years down the line, my teeth were as bad as ever. I am so used to seeing my daughter and EVERY SINGLE one of her friends with braces and elastics etc that I don't feel out of place now I have mine! I'm not suggesting you hang out with 15 year olds, but obviously when the majority of people you mix with are metal mouths you're not going to be such a novelty! These people are being silly, but in a short while they'll find something else to talk about. Anyway, isn't it better to be unique and not one of them?

All my friends have made positive comments, but even if they didn't, I'm past worrying. I WANT NICE STRAIGHT TEETH!

Don't let a few ill-informed comments put you off. You will have the last laugh - and just think how confident you'll be to throw your head back and open your mouth wide, knowing that all your teeth are straight and white and shiny!

[danish]

I had my 3rd adjustment yesterday. Everything is going pretty much according to the treatment plan. My ortho just changed the archwire from a round wire to a more rectangular one. I'm still on the soft wires but that'll change soon. Hopefully at the next adjustment. I actually managed to brush of one of the elastics on the TPA, so I had to get a new one of those too.
My teeth are aligning nicely. However, they seem to protrude more than before and gaps show up here and there. I started to have a gap between my front teeth which looks kind of funny. My crossbite on one of the lower canines has almost disappeared in the last month or so. I am very pleased with that.



At the next adjustment I will start closing the gaps which are quite obvious from the side and about which I'm rather embarrassed My ortho has informed me that he is going to use not elastics but wires with loops to close the gaps between the canines and the 2nd premolars. Can't wait to close'em! hehe.

In order to see the progress so far take a look at the pictures below.

Day 1




day 103




I feel optimistic after today. Things ARE going my way in spite of everything..

Danish

[victor36]

WOW! that is some excellent progress! Way to go!

~Victor