Fear

[Ashca]

Does anyone else fear their teeth won't look good when the braces come off? I can't help but constantly think about my teeth looking bad once the braces come off. Has anyone else gone through this? I just had my braces put on 3 days ago.

[wildpig]

you mean not good as in the ortho didn't do a good job? well, hopefully that doesn't happen. If there's any misalignment hopefully that gets fixed before the brackets get removed. once those come off, they better as good as they can be. at least alignment-wise. A lot of people will have teeth whitening/crown/etc done afterward also to make it even better...

There are always horror stories but those are few and far in between.

[whiteswan]

I am, because I had that experience my first time in braces. They were straight and lovely and everyone complemented me but for some reason I felt they were too straight and prominent, and that they looked fake. I was only 13 so I don't know what it was based on but I felt like they looked like dentures so I tried to moderate my retainer wear so my laterals would move back just slightly, making my two front teeth slightly more prominent than the laterals. I guess I thought that was more natural looking. Just so you know....it was a bad idea. Don't ever do that!

[LoveOrtho]

I totally know what you guys are feeling, right before I got my braces off, I was really scared that I wouldn't like what my teeth looked after my braces came off or my teeth just wouldn't be as pretty as I thought they would be.
But fear not because when I got them off, they were 10 times better than I thought they would be and I was so happy. So basically, trust your ortho and when you get them off you'll love them and be so happy!
I would have done everything again in a heartbeat!

~LoveOrtho

[Loztredders]

yes, definetly.
Especially since I can't see how they can all be aligned in my mouth without extractions, but I do have faith in my team of orthos

[smilehope]

I understand this fear, and I haven't even got my braces on yet! My 2 front incisors largeish. They cross so look smaller than they are, in my mind, so I'm nervous they'll look too big when it's done. It really is a time to trust your ortho!

[chris500]

i dont fear it at all, because it will sure like 100 times better than what my unbraced crooked teeth looked like >.<

[Ashca]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I feel it's just going to be "my" teeth that come out looking awful, albeit straight. There's people out there with straight teeth who's smile just doesn't suit them. Just hoping mine looks good on me.

But it seems to be a fairly common paranoia, so I'm just going to push it away and hope when my day comes to get them off I am left with a beautiful smile.

It's been less than a week since I've been braced and I'm still working through these confidence issues. I'm glad we can rely on this board together.

[texasranch]

I have thought the same thing. I think it may have to do with teeth looking yellow with these clear braces?

[kellyb]

i dont fear it at all, because it will sure like 100 times better than what my unbraced crooked teeth looked like >.<

same here.
plus i have faith in my orthodontist, otherwise i would not have chose him in the first place

[samsung]

This for me was the biggest concern about braces. Didnt care about looking like a goof for 18months, any pain that might occur (none did), or always having to brush after meals. I did care, though, that there was a significant improvement afterwards and not a collosal waste of time.

Didnt have the whitest of white teeth to begin with so was also concerned about teeth becoming more yellow, getting stained.

I manage to put things like this to the back of mind so wasnt overly stressed but got mine off 2 weeks ago & if I could go back and tell myself not to worry at all then I would.
Braces can make teeth like more yellow sometimes imo and ortho gives them a real good clean when they come off. He said you will feel like they're not your teeth when you first look in the mirror and he was right.
I literally thought- that's not my mouth lol. Perfectly aligned teeth that thankfully had definately not picked up any stains. Noticed that Teeth feel really smooth as well

Brush and maintian them as much as possible.... and stop worrying ;)