Braces at the office - the reactions I've gotten...

[braceface2b]

I've had my upper braces for a little over a month. I thought I'd muse on some of the reactions I've gotten at work and see if you've experienced the same.

My upper brackets are ceramic and self ligating so they're not super noticeable. I do have bite turbos on the backs of my two front teeth though, and much to my chagrin, they're still affecting my speech somewhat. It's not nearly as bad now as it was the week I got them, but I still don't sound quite the same.

I've had a few co-workers ask me about them, or even comment on them. That, I don't seem to mind. One guy said "Did you start wearing a retainer?" A female co-worker happened to catch me in the hall yesterday and noticed. She commented that she's probably going to be taking the leap herself within a year.

The reactions that bother me are the people that just stare at my mouth while I'm talking (there have been about 3 now) and I even have two co-workers who not only stare, but have raised their own hands to their mouths while I'm chatting with them. I think that's a subconscious thing on their part, but seriously, it freaks me out. If they're doing that externally, I wonder what they're thinking internally!

Most don't seem to notice, or care.

[drgnchsr36]

I have ceramic top braces and no one hardly notices. They may comment when they do, but nothing negative.

My co-workers in my group tease me, but I have a couple who may also be getting braces later this year. But, that's a given in my group.. getting teased is our norm.

I did talk to a couple of co-workers who had braces and has them right now and they've given me tips. Everyone seems to be very positive about it!

[braceface2b]

Lol! Oh yes, my friends teased me unmercifully, particularly about the bite turbo lisp I had the first week or so.

[hj55]

I've finished with braces now - July 2010 after 20 months treatment, but people didn't say anything at work.

I did have an interview for a job and one of the interviewers spent the whole interview playing with his teeth and that was extremely offputting. I also think it was subconcious but it did freak me out at the time too. I felt quite angry because I couldn't see any reaction to the questions I was answering, just this person playing with their teeth. When I had feedback about my interview I took the opportunity to give feedback about the interviewer, not nastily but just to explain how I felt.

A similar thing happened at a couple of other interviews after that one but not for the whole interview, by then I was past caring and got a job offer too!

[Larah]

I've got metal upper and lowers so they are very noticeable but I haven't had any negative reactions at all in the office. Everyone is very encouraging and always eager to ask what 'new' things I have gotten when returning from the orthos. I did have a little teasing about a lisp that I developed but we all tease one another anyway!

Clients on the other hand....some stare at my mouth the whole time I am talking to them which frustrates me, some do a double take as it is quite unusual I think in England for an adult to have braces and some think it okay to discuss my braces with others when I am hardly out of earshot.

I'm just glad that I have a strong enough character for no-one to bother me. I understand how hard it could be for someone to hear not so nice things when they themselves dont quite like the things that are attached to their teeth.

[kgstar]

I find it so irritating when I got into the office after just having them put on that some co-workers were asking me to smile! Family and friends have continued to ask me to smile too and I feel like cutting their throats! I am so fed up with people asking me to smile. I cant hide them, you can get a sneak peak at them when i talk and if you make me smile or laugh you will get a full on view of both my top ceramics and bottom metals but if you ask me to smile I will just shut off and nothing that comes out of their mouth is funny. I just dont understand why someone would want to see my braces, or anybody elses, I dont get it. First of all, it was and still is incredibly painful to smile, everytime my lips move I feel my braces rip peaces off my lips!
Second, because of the sores in my mouth, sometimes, just sometimes, i remember to put wax on my braces and forget all about it, so much so that I end up eating with the wax in my teeth and even start brushing my teeth only to freak myself out when I feel and see the chunks of wax and thinking its a tooth, food or a bracket! My brackets are high up and when I smile my lip gets stuck on top of my braces and then I have to stick my tongue out to lick my braces and lips to collect as much of my lips and lubrication to get them back to their normal place. Its a hassle and i am not a damn clown trying to amuse a 5 year old by smiling only for them to then cover their mouth and make a disgusted face!!
I dont know but it seriously infuriates me! Am i the only one???

[braceface2b]

I find it so irritating when I got into the office after just having them put on that some co-workers were asking me to smile! Family and friends have continued to ask me to smile too and I feel like cutting their throats! I am so fed up with people asking me to smile. I cant hide them, you can get a sneak peak at them when i talk and if you make me smile or laugh you will get a full on view of both my top ceramics and bottom metals but if you ask me to smile I will just shut off and nothing that comes out of their mouth is funny. I just dont understand why someone would want to see my braces, or anybody elses, I dont get it. First of all, it was and still is incredibly painful to smile, everytime my lips move I feel my braces rip peaces off my lips!

I feel your pain, literally! Or I felt it anyway... I got my uppers on just over a month ago, and it took about 2 weeks for the inside of my lips and cheeks to adjust. I don't even notice them anymore unless I'm thinking about them. You will adjust, and soon enough, the pain and irritation will just be a memory.

I do wonder if part of the reason I'm attracting weird stares from people is because I went with ceramics (Inovation C) on top. I wonder if the stares are partly because people can tell there's something in my mouth but just don't know what. Everyone knows what metal braces look like, and by now, I'd think everyone knows what ceramic ones look like too, but you never know.

When I had braces in high school, I don't remember anyone ever staring at my mouth. I had all metal back then. I guess that could have been because it's so much more common to see braces on a teen, but I didn't get mine off until a few weeks before graduation, and I'd already started to enter the "adult" world a bit.

[katiemcb09]

LOL too funny. I'm in law school right now and we're not back from winter break yet, so I'm sure I'll get some interesting looks next week. But I work part-time as a hostess at Cracker Barrel, and let me tell you - some people are sooooo obvious! It cracks me up when people come up and ask for a table for 2, 4, whatever, and I ask them something, and they stareeeee.... rightttt... at my mouth. For an awkwardly long time. Very uncomfortable. I just want to say something.

[sadpanda]

I'm not working now, so I don't know what the reactions would be from coworkers, but I've noticed that people will treat me like an adult, and then when I open my mouth or smile, they start treating me like I'm a teenager which is kind of funny. However, I've had some mixed reactions with my friends. Most of them think the braces are cute - I have metal upper and lower with colored ligs, but one of my friends thinks I'm ridiculous for getting braces and always acts like I'm some kind of freak when she sees me.

I do notice that I always stare at people with braces even though I have them myself. It's like some automatic reaction and I've always done it because braces really intrigued me. When I see younger people with braces, I stare at them and feel jealous because I didn't get braces as a teenager and have them now. I should be glad that I'm finally getting my teeth fixed, but I guess I'm harboring some anger about my parents saying no to braces when my dentist recommended them.

[sarahorsomeone]

I had braces when from 14-16, and then had to have them put on again in preparation for jaw surgery at 18 (so just two years later) but, comparing the first-time-round to now, the difference in people's reactions is huge.

Generally speaking people didn't make that much of a fuss about them in my early teens, but now (coming up for 20) I have complete strangers asking me about them, I have people constantly mentioning them whilst I'm talking to them, I even had a girl I barely knew complaining about how "disgusting" they look. I'm pretty used it now but I did find it a bit frustrating at first, it was like people couldn't see me anymore, they could only see the braces. It was worse before I had my surgery because I couldn't close my lips so they were constantly visible!

Since I had my surgery, if anyone I don't know brings it up, I explain that I had them put on for surgery, and then tell them the gory details until they have a suitably horrified look on their face . I find the phrases "peeled back" and "sawn off" particularly effective, even if they don't imply the technical intricacy of such procedures.

[braceface2b]

I got my lowers on yesterday morning. They're all metal, but I'm impressed at how small they are. (I have self ligating ceramics on top.) The new bottoms are absolutely tiny compared to the brackets I had as a teen.

The funny thing is more people have reacted to my braces in the past two days than the entire last month and a half. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the bottoms being on now, and them being metal, but it might also be because my archwire on top is more visible. I went from a teeny little round wire to a fairly large square one.

The first comment wasn't from a co-worker, but from someone at coffee shop I frequent. I stopped in for a cup after my ortho appt. She said "I hope this doesn't seem out of line or anything, but your braces look really good on you!" I thought it was a little odd, but I'm also not complaining! Since I'll be sporting these things for the next 11 months at least, it's good to know they looked "good" to someone.

The second was from a co-worker after we wrapped up a conference call in our conference room yesterday. She just kinda blurted out "Did you get braces?" To which I told her yes, about a month ago, but that I'd just gotten the bottom ones on that morning. She also made some comment about them not looking bad.

The third was from my general manager during a one-on-one meeting this afternoon. He said the same thing as my co-worker. And then he commented that he's thought about doing something with his teeth.

So the reactions have all been positive so far. I'm just a little surprised that my ceramics were that un-noticeable to these people for the past month, and the metal ones on bottom were that noticeable these past few days. I checked in the mirror, and when I talk, I show my upper and lower teeth pretty much the same amount.

[Snowglobe32]

A while back I was talking with a co-worker who had only been there for 4 months. During mid-conversation she asked when I got braces. I told her about a year ago...she said she never noticed before! That was probably the funniest reaction I have gotten so far.

Like a previous poster said, all of my experiences have been positive. I am about to start month 17 and everyone loves to comment on my teeth because they look great!

[enconstruccion]

I stopped in for a cup after my ortho appt. She said "I hope this doesn't seem out of line or anything, but your braces look really good on you!" I thought it was a little odd, but I'm also not complaining! Since I'll be sporting these things for the next 11 months at least, it's good to know they looked "good" to someone.

Ahhh, so cute!. I would feel great if someone tells me something like this (but having full metal braces I guess it will be difficult ). I hope my smile looks far better over time, as I'm just starting wearing braces.

For me, reactions are from 'not really bad' to 'indifference' or even 'not noticed' (this is annoying, they are very visible).

[jambo532]

I haven't had any negative reactions. A lot of my members (I work at a credit union) just tell me stories of when they had braces. I do have people that just stare at my teeth while I talk... as if they are wondering if I realize I have braces or something haha it doesn't bother me any more though.
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