Does having braces change your personality

[wwapd]

While you have braces, and after you get them off, is there a difference in the way people approach you and the way you approach them? Are there any noticeable changes to your personality?

[ajs604]

Lets hope not.

I am having braces on in 3 days and intend to act like nothing has happened, if people choose to treat me differently then thats there problem. Having braces shouldnt have any difference on how you are percieved by others if it does then they are shallow and not worth knowing

[CountessDeSangre]

People treat me like they think I'm younger than I actually am now that I have braces. I look distinctly younger than my actual age as it is, so I guess once you add in what is stereotypically a teenagers dental accessory it's difficult to remember I'm a 25 year old woman. However I've noticed lately, since my teeth have drastically straightened out I am getting a bit more attention from guys. Which only goes to show how superficial people are. But still, it's nice to be noticed.

Heck even I like the way I look now!


So personality, I don't think there is any change. Perception of me is impacted though.

[kreyFL]

I would say yes in both regards. I don't think people really treated me different when I had braces on, but I definitely acted different. When I smiled or was speaking with someone new, my braces were on my mind the entire time. I know this came through to other people - it made me insecure and awkward with myself and do not get me started on my awful closed mouth "I have braces" smile - drove my husband NUTS!...but I was pregnant too so...LOL I am not quite sure if the way I felt during my treatment was my actual insecurities of having braces, or my hormones running rampant.

However, now that I am brace free (and no longer pregnant) I do feel like I smile wider and brighter and overall people really notice this - they smile a little bigger back at me. I definitely feel more confident and less apprehensive to start conversations with people. When we feel better about ourselves, more confident, people react to that.

My personality has not really changed since before or after my treatment, but I do feel happier with the way I look and I hold my head a little higher and the world does notice.

[touchofhiddencharm]

In my previous experience with braces, i would say that braces changed my personality for the better. I smiled more because I had the confidence of "I'm in the progress of fixing my teeth and I'm gonna be fabulous after this" so i smiled a lot more and talked a lot more. I felt like people weren't judging me as much and more willing to be friends with me and take pictures with me. Most of this is probably because i was being a better, more happy person, not because of braces. Honestly, most people don't care or congratulate you on deciding to get braces, especially if you're older. I would say to steer clear of anyone who makes fun of a person who is trying to better themselves. This time around (i could kick myself for my retainer story) I'm much more happy about braces. I smile wide at everyone! i want people to notice my braces and I've been excited to tell everyone. and its really fun when you see someone else with braces and you smile at them and you feel better about yourself. So if braces change your personality at all, make sure its for the good! and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

[bmueller]

Only if you let it. I don't like how braces look, so I take all pictures with my mouth closed or with something blocking my face/teeth (hand, magazine, whatever). You think you'd get used to it but I guess I'm just too self conscious.

[Ciara]

No, I usually forget I have them. A few people have asked me about them but people generally don't approach me differently either.

[DaisyChain001]

I worry about this too, I'm due to get my brace on in two weeks and have been thinking how I would be acting in different situations if I had my braces on already. I never thought about it up until now and am starting to worry that people at work and out and about will judge me or stare at my mouth.

I laugh a lot and smile all the time so I keep wondering if I'll stop smiling as much or of I'll forget I have this new mouth of metal! I'm hoping I just forget about them and hopefully people around me won't notice or care as much as I am expecting.

[rhibee83]

i think i am pretty much still the same person, just with metal mouth lol, i still laugh and if people see them then oh well. I even smiled in my new liscense picture that i had to get renewed last week lol, so i will have that pic for the next 3 years (hopefully not the braces!)

I think i will feel so much more confident and happy with myself though once my braces come off and i have straight teeth. I have always been self concious of my teeth (mainly in pictures, or i would laugh loud with my hand over my mouth) but now i have braces i think, oh well, people know i am fixing them and it is a good thing i am fixing them not to fond on seeing extraction holes in photos now though hahaha but i know its not forever and they will be fixed before i know it so i just embrace them and go with the flow! of course its not all fun times lol and at times i hate them and want them off, but i cant do anything about it so i just deal with it

[amyhenna]

Now that I have braces on, I smile way more, and smile bigger, at people I know. I even smile while I talk.

Also, now that I have braces on, I bare my teeth at people I don't know when I pass them. I want to make sure they see all the braces, top and bottom. Sure, I probably look like a rabid dog, but I mean no harm. I just want to show them, "Look what I got!"

Also, I might have become a worse driver now that I have braces on (not a personality trait, per se, but a trait nonetheless) because I spend too much time smiling at myself in the rear view mirror and checking out the rotation of this one tooth I'm tracking for Ultimate Progress.

I'm much happier in general, because I feel good about what's transpiring every waking and sleeping moment. I wake up ecstatic every day when I feel them on my teeth.

I love these things so much.

[Realizingadream]

Hi.

I LOVE my braces, or rather, what they are doing for me.

YES my personality has changed. I felt "before" like I was forgettable. NOW, with braces, I KNOW they are remembering me, because I am the "old lady with the braces on." Seriously, they HAVE to remember me I am in college and surround by MUCH younger students. Yah I am in my 60s. Ugh that.

And not having twisty teeth, even though I have braces, makes me happy, happy, happy. Coming at the same time as this valuable education I am receiving, I AM CHANGING now.

I can't wait to have the braces off, but I am going to miss them. They give me a notoriety even while they are improving my teeth. People are very kind about them, they hardly ever mention them, and they seem to realize that I am doing something for myself, that I consider important enough to wear these harsh, expensive devices.

I expect that when my braces come off, with straight teeth I will have CONFIDENCE approaching people. While I will not be gorgeous (alas), but I will no longer be forgettable. I feel like I SHOULD (figuratively) be the one at the pool who bellyflops in and SPLASHES everyone, all just to get noticed! I AM HERE! No longer will I enter a room and steer to the edges. I am like a yacht coming into a "no wake zone" and pushing the limits with wake everywhere--"oops, I just have too much POWER to NOT make a wake." I AM HERE and I WILL BE NOTICED. For too long I held my silence when I didn't like what was going on. With this education, I will have something of VALUE to contribute--although I always had value to contribute but I did not realize it at the time. The change in me with the education and with the confirmation of my value by my instructors and classmates, and the braces, is incredibly big.

Rant over. I AM changed by my braces. I am so grateful to my orthodontist and his team for their part in these changes.

Real

[starfish88]

I have a long history of not liking how I look in general and when I first got my braces on I wasn't very confident about my teeth and the braces only made me feel worse. Now that my teeth are basically straight I feel more confident and its great. I can't wait to get these things off and feel even better!

[djspeece]

Hi.

I LOVE my braces, or rather, what they are doing for me.

YES my personality has changed. I felt "before" like I was forgettable. NOW, with braces, I KNOW they are remembering me, because I am the "old lady with the braces on." Seriously, they HAVE to remember me I am in college and surround by MUCH younger students. Yah I am in my 60s. Ugh that.

And not having twisty teeth, even though I have braces, makes me happy, happy, happy. Coming at the same time as this valuable education I am receiving, I AM CHANGING now.

I can't wait to have the braces off, but I am going to miss them. They give me a notoriety even while they are improving my teeth. People are very kind about them, they hardly ever mention them, and they seem to realize that I am doing something for myself, that I consider important enough to wear these harsh, expensive devices.

I expect that when my braces come off, with straight teeth I will have CONFIDENCE approaching people. While I will not be gorgeous (alas), but I will no longer be forgettable. I feel like I SHOULD (figuratively) be the one at the pool who bellyflops in and SPLASHES everyone, all just to get noticed! I AM HERE! No longer will I enter a room and steer to the edges. I am like a yacht coming into a "no wake zone" and pushing the limits with wake everywhere--"oops, I just have too much POWER to NOT make a wake." I AM HERE and I WILL BE NOTICED. For too long I held my silence when I didn't like what was going on. With this education, I will have something of VALUE to contribute--although I always had value to contribute but I did not realize it at the time. The change in me with the education and with the confirmation of my value by my instructors and classmates, and the braces, is incredibly big.

Rant over. I AM changed by my braces. I am so grateful to my orthodontist and his team for their part in these changes.

Real

That is one cool post. Sassy.

[NeilH]

Now that I have braces on, I smile way more, and smile bigger, at people I know. I even smile while I talk.

Also, now that I have braces on, I bare my teeth at people I don't know when I pass them. I want to make sure they see all the braces, top and bottom. Sure, I probably look like a rabid dog, but I mean no harm. I just want to show them, "Look what I got!"

Also, I might have become a worse driver now that I have braces on (not a personality trait, per se, but a trait nonetheless) because I spend too much time smiling at myself in the rear view mirror and checking out the rotation of this one tooth I'm tracking for Ultimate Progress.

I'm much happier in general, because I feel good about what's transpiring every waking and sleeping moment. I wake up ecstatic every day when I feel them on my teeth.

I love these things so much.

That's really well said and I fully agree with everything!!! I feel exactly the same way and caught myself yesterday looking at my braces in the mirror whilst waiting in traffic. I also really enjoy having them and feel so much more confident smiling to strangers.

[metalmeredith]

i still cover my mouth with one hand when smile. but is better with these metals. is like covering my big diastema.