How self-conscious are you about your braces?

[xanidu2012]

Im at a 1. This is my 2nd go round. When I'm out I carry my dental kit so I can clean food out before I give a big old grin

[Big Tex]

[quote="jem"]And does the country you live in make any difference? For example are we more self conscious about our braces in the UK?[/quote]
i would think it would be less self conscious in the UK compared to the US, where i am. of course, this is based purely on stereotypes, so i apologize.

when Yanks think of Brits, one common stereotype is bad teeth. so an adult in the UK getting braces is saying, "Hey, I'm gonna do something about my teeth. And I can afford to." wouldn't seem like a big deal.

in the US, though, most people get braces in their teens. to be an adult in the US with braces is just . . . odd. when i go out, i'm usually the only adult in a room full of 100 people that has braces. so it makes me really subconscious. i've had braces for almost 19 months, and i've gotten a little better about it, but i'm still a 5 or 6.

[Duncan5]

I'm not that bothered, if others see them (and I'm sure they do) then very few adults make a comment. Didn't smile much for the first few days, but that was more comfort than anything else. Haven't had any negative responses, a few 'you must be mad' but mostly neutral. I guess that enough adults had them in their teens to realise that you didn't have fitted as a fashion accessory. Do Gucci do brackets?

Children accept what adults do anyway, and teens have been unphased too. So I have not tried to hide them, just carried on as normal.

[jem]

Quote Big Tex: "when Yanks think of Brits, one common stereotype is bad teeth. so an adult in the UK getting braces is saying, "Hey, I'm gonna do something about my teeth. And I can afford to." wouldn't seem like a big deal."

Not everyone here looks like Austin Powers!

Jem

[Angel269]

I second your last comment Jem

Alot of my friends have good teeth, well most of them were "braced" in their teens though! I think I just believe that I may be a young adult in the UK paying for my treatment but I'm pretty sure they would have relapsed by now anyway as permanent retainers weren't really used and retention views have changed since I was a teen.

[drgnchsr36]

Pretty much a 1.. I don't really care anymore. I think I sorta cared in the beginning (maybe a 5), but now.. it's no biggie and there are several at work who have braces.. (and it's an office), so it's not too unusual. I think I'm one of the few that have ceramic though on top. I've run across more with metal.

[jem]

Angel269 said

"I second your last comment Jem

Alot of my friends have good teeth, well most of them were "braced" in their teens though! I think I just believe that I may be a young adult in the UK paying for my treatment but I'm pretty sure they would have relapsed by now anyway as permanent retainers weren't really used and retention views have changed since I was a teen."

Yes, children in the UK have had access to free orthodontics under the National Health Servicefor many years. Whilst it was poor in my day ( mediocre orthodontics with removable braces by general dentists) I think it has mostly been referred to specialist orthodontists over the last 20 years or so and people have had good outcomes subject to issues re retention. So the teeth of younger adults in the UK may well be in better alignment than those from the USA who will only have had braces if their parents could afford to pay.

However, NHS orthodontics is more recently limited to children considered to have relatively severe issues, so we are perhaps heading at least partially backwards.

With regard to adults and especially older adults in the UK , I think expectations of how our teeth should look probably remain lower than the standard demanded by Americans.

Jem

[ellieb]

So far I have had an ALF and I made it down to a 1 in that, mainly because I got so used to it that it finally stopped interfering with my speech. Now I have a new wire expander with a TPA, and it is much harder to talk with, especially with my last adjustment which was yesterday. I have wire loops behind my premolars and from them a wire goes across and pushes the opposite canine, and they are pretty mch level with the bottoms of my teeth so hanging low. And 4 long weeks to the next adjustment. I finally got over my problems with the TPA and pronouncing "g", "k", and "ng", but my "ee" and "Y" sounds are still weird. And with the new position of the other wires I'm not just lisping, but I can't say "ch" or "j", and everything sounds generally slurpy. I hope it gets better soon, because at this point I am SO self-conscious that if I know I have to THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN with someone I take it out. I mean, after my appointment I ordered a nice soft burrito from take-out, but the poor guy at the counter couldn't understand me saying "Bean and cheese burrito with pinto beans" so I had to point on the menu.

The only saving grace is that I only have to wear it for 14 hours a day (minimum, not average), because right now when I have it in, I am at about a 10 when it comes to talking with people. Tomorrow I have all day and all evening by myself, so I am hoping I can put it in when I come home from dinner tonight, and leave it in through the weekend except for brushing, and maybe that will help me improve my speech.

[Duncan5]

Hi Ellie, was more conscious of my speech after the front turbos were fitted compared with the brackets themselves, although I noticed the difference more than other people after the first few days. Walking into the classroom next day was awkward; took about three weeks to get my tongue working around its new environment, my speech was acceptable within a week. All I can suggest is to wear it and read out load so you find tricky phonemes; then build up a catalogue of alternative words to substitute in your conversation. I found I mentally double-checked a sentence for potential hazards before saying it out load (I've heard politicians pause slightly before answering because it makes them appear to have given the question more consideration). Good luck, D.

[ellieb]

Thanks! I'm about down to a 6 today. I thought I noticed an improvement and I just recorded myself and played it back, and I have improved a little. I mean, you can definitely tell I have something in my mouth, but it's not like I need to worry that people won't be able to understand me now.

[margarets]

I'm like a zero - I just don't care what anyone thinks. The world is full of people who have way worse things going on (people who don't take of their feet wearing sandals, for example), so my braces are no biggie.

UNLESS I think I might have food stuck in my braces. Then I shoot right up to a 10 until I can deal with it.

[kellyb]

when i first got my braces i was about a 9 or 10. nowadays i am about a 1 or 2 except when i am out eating with my work colleagues it will increase to about a 9 again.

[wildpig]

1.

It only bothers me sometimes getting in the way of eating and things get stucked and that i have to go to the restroom after eating out all the time now and that i can't make a quick getaway from the restaurant. As far as how self conscious with having braces in front of other people, not much at all. I had fairly bad set of teeth before. So it cant get any worse anyway. And I am more than used to people saying things about my bad teeth before so this actually is nothing.... And actually no one has even comments much about the braces anyway.

Having thick skin does help (because you couldn't care less about other people bad comments). But the thick skin is also a factor prevented me from getting the braces for so long.

[Matilda]

5

[isthistaken]

-10. I've been incredibly proud of my braces since Day One and continue to flash them at every opportunity. I have smiled more in the last four months than in my whole life up until now.