Is your life on hold?

[beckyboo0205]

So I just saw an Invisalign commercial that said "Want straighter teeth, but don't want to put your life on hold with metal braces?"

Pretty sure my life WOULD be put on hold because I was going to have braces, but really, who notices them anymore!? (Though, I'll be kicking myself for that statement tomorrow night after a wire change!) I just thought it was a weird thing to say.... like, is life really on hold just because you have braces? Come on.....

[isthistaken]

In a way, it's true. When you get these babies slapped on your choppers it's not forever, but it seems like it. They take a lot of care and a lot of things change. Then lo and behold 2013 turns out to be the year everything including the kitchen sink gets thrown at you. But you still have to drag yourself through the cleaning and the adjustments and find something to eat when you don't have the time or energy to fuss with it because of stuff that decided to happen while you were at your least able to deal with it.

[djspeece]

Absolutely not! Mine has soared. Full speed ahead! Life is good.

[SunshineRay]

In a way I feel like it is. I hesitate doing stuff because Im still self consious. I feel like I talk funny since being braced. If I havent seen someone in a long time then I wonder if I can make it longer and not see them until the braces are off. (close friends but we only text and havent seen each other in months....Im only supposed to be braced 12 mos)

[safetysquirrel]

Heck no!

I feel like I've probably gotten a little more confident since having them. I think it takes a lot of guts to wear braces as an adult, and I'm really proud that I took the leap!

I'm fact, I'm even doing things that I probably wouldn't have done before putting the braces on and getting the confidence boost - like trying out for Rocky Horror! Wish me luck, and send good magenta vibes - tryouts are Tuesday!

[isthistaken]

Life is good until in an instant your whole life is turned upside down and you're virtually homeless and you're like okay where do I put this WaterPik? And you're just trying to hold it together and not forget to make your car payments in all the hysteria so you're like, what's an adjustment and why did I ever care? I'm just saying that a lot can happen in the year or two you are in braces and in extreme situations they can be an added distraction.

[NeilH]

This advert annoys me too. I'm not putting my life on hold as I have metal brackets. If anything, I'm happier, more confident and smiling a lot more. It's like the term "ugly train tracks" that you hear too, my metal brackets are not ugly so stop keep referring to them as such. I don't think my braces have stopped me doing anything since I got them other than taking a bit more care about what I eat but that can't be a bad thing.

[plugnickel69]

If you broke your leg and were in a cast qnd on crutches, would you put your life on hold? A whole lot more people would be looking at you than if you were wearing braces. And with braces you can close your mouth and no one will see.

Also, when life goes sour, remember that would have happened braces or not. Sometimes it helps to put the braces discomfort into prospective.

[jem]

I have not seen the invisalign advert, but the comment about putting your life on hold if you have metal braces is obviously intended to make prospective brace wearers uneasy about choosing metal braces and persuade them to buy invisalign instead.
To my mind, advertising which exploits or increases peoples' insecurities is unethical and we should not trust businesses that advertise in this way.

Jem

[pellepee]

Apologies for rambling! But I just have to share this "protein" thing... it blew my mind!

A friend told me only last week that she went to a talk held by a neuro-scientist. She said that thoughts are proteins, and negative thoughts send "bad protein" through your brain. This is how bad thoughts can negatively affect your health, and the people around you sense this and get sick too... or move away (ever gotten in a bad mood just because mum or dad was?). What blew me away is that, excuse the pun, you never think about thoughts being a physical thing that exists... its kind of imaginary, but how else would it move around your brain and exist?? It has to "be" something.

I'm not hijacking this thread, this all ties in!

I think my increase in confidence is due to focusing on myself because this is to improve my health, no-one elses; and I'd spent a long time focusing on other people and I let my health deteriorate trying to make them happy. Now I'm travelling for 6 weeks starting next week to 3 countries I'd never dreamed of as places I would want to go to; on my own for the first time too, with traditional braces, elastics and 4 mini-plates/screws and the only two molars that touch are both hurting! (extraction gaps and open-bites... blergh!)

Having said that; when I went to New York in 2010, on paper I had everything and I'd dreamed of NY since forever. But I didn't have fun because emotionally, I was a wreck. Now on paper things should be "bad" but my self-esteem has never been this high, despite my physical health being kinda-sorta not that great.

So no, life is not on hold with any sort of orthodontic treatment unless you let it. Unless of course you have surgery... recover in bed with a good book and then have fun for health reasons.

(and if you feel negative/depressed, see a professional... I ended up having to. The hardest yet greatest thing I've ever done. Even better than braces.)

[SunshineRay]

Life is good until in an instant your whole life is turned upside down and you're virtually homeless and you're like okay where do I put this WaterPik? And you're just trying to hold it together and not forget to make your car payments in all the hysteria so you're like, what's an adjustment and why did I ever care? I'm just saying that a lot can happen in the year or two you are in braces and in extreme situations they can be an added distraction.

Hugs, hope everything is ok!

[isthistaken]

Life is good until in an instant your whole life is turned upside down and you're virtually homeless and you're like okay where do I put this WaterPik? And you're just trying to hold it together and not forget to make your car payments in all the hysteria so you're like, what's an adjustment and why did I ever care? I'm just saying that a lot can happen in the year or two you are in braces and in extreme situations they can be an added distraction.

Hugs, hope everything is ok!

Thank you, Sunshine...
I'm not superstitious but I've never had a year like this. It actually started a few days before my braces application appointment and cancelling the whole thing crossed my mind. I'm not sorry I went ahead, far from it, I'm just saying there is some truth to the commitment that being in braces entails. I guess I actually WISH I could have put my life on hold until I was out of braces. Suffice to say, there were nights I just WaterPik-ed and called it good.

[JillD]

I do feel my life on hold because there are many things I shouldn't do now. For example, I postponed a long nice vacation in a foreign country till next year, because one of the reasons I go on a vacation to overseas is enjoying local food and I don't want to think about what I can and cannot eat. But I provably will feel my life is on hold even if I wear an Invisaline because even with an Invisaline, there are things people shouldn't/can't do and routines they should follow, which limit to what they took for granted. So for me, there is no difference between braces and Invisaline when it comes to "life on hold."

[pearlies]

I just want to chime in to say that I felt my life was on hold in InvisAlign. Why? Because everywhere I went I had to factor in how much time I'd have the aligners out and where I'd be able to brush/floss well after consuming anything but water. Plus I had a mouthful of attachments which made the aligner hard to remove. So, I seriously limited activities I used to enjoy: wine tasting, camping, going out to restaurants for leisurely meals, and...no sipping on coffee in coffee shops. Plus no going to bars for long since the bathrooms were typically grungy. I felt like time was always ticking when I had those horrible things out.

My InvisAlign ad would be the opposite of what is stated - my life was put into hold to a large degree!

[isthistaken]

good points, pearlies