The start of a new, more confident me :)

[martin86]

I hope this won't turn into a therapy session!

I never got my teeth looked at as a kid, as my parents were too scared of the dentist, so I grew up with wonky teeth but just accepted it. As the years went on and I got older, I started to care more about my image. This was around the time that I felt better about myself. Recently, I was in a good place and decided to confront this issue head on, and go get it looked at.

I was worried mainly that they would give me a check up and find all sorts of problems. Luckily I was told that generally things were fine, but I needed a wisdom tooth out as it was basically lying on its side!

Anyway, an orthodontic plan was drawn up and I decided to go ahead with it. It filled me with dread, mostly because I didn't want to draw attention to the one thing that I didn't like about how I looked. But knew that I needed to get things sorted.

Until the wisdom tooth removal (planned for a week before the braces were fitted), I hadn't told anybody what I was doing. But in the week after the wisdom tooth removal, I told a couple of people (mainly to explain my numb mouth!).

It's now been 3 weeks, and I'm due there on Sunday to get them tightened. I spent the first few days talking to people clutching a bottle of water around my mouth area so no one would notice. Gradually, that idea wore off, and several people (who I'd told) remarked on how little people actually care. And how true that is - of all the people I've spoken to since I got the braces on, I can count the number who've mentioned it - 5. Many more have presumably noticed, but simply don't care.

The orthodontist has given me 12-18 months, which from reading on these forums sounds like a good result if it's true.

There's still the ongoing struggles around how I look, that are going to take longer to accept. I still laugh and then quickly hide my teeth when around people. I still look in the mirror and think "wow, ugly" - but I hope that once I see some movement, I'll feel more at ease!

[metalliKa]

Welcome! Looks like you're on your way to no more wonky teeth. This is a great place to share your braces story and interact with people who are on the same journey. I hope to read more updates from you.

[teeebeee]

Welcome aboard...hardly anyone notices...it's a curse! I mean, the biggest thing we've probably all ever done for ourselves and no bugger notices *sheesh*

Good luck!

T xx

[LittleSern]

Welcome! You're right, no one really notices and if they do, they don't care!

I actually have found people to like my braces more than dislike them. I've had several people tell me my braces are cute.

I also even kissed someone and spent a whole night talking to them and they didn't even NOTICE I had braces. They only noticed when I was showing them some family pics where I'm smiling up close. They were like "you have braces??" Yup. And thought it was hot.

Hahaha. Don't worry about it! Confidence is the most attractive thing, anyway!

[occamsblazer]

It's really heartening to hear how confident people are in their braces - I'm really anxious about getting mine on as I feel like I'm going to have to answer a million questions a day about them at work! Eep! Good luck with your journey!

[BeautifulDisaster]

I had similar issues with my teeth before braces. I avoided laughing/smiling and couldn't even look at a mirror because of how horrible they were.

My level of confidence shot up as soon as I got braces because I was finally doing something about my teeth. I was also excited as I started seeing changes as early as one week into treatment. I am 14 months in, and I have no problem smiling or laughing or flashing my teeth. It has been a great confidence booster to me, and I hope you start feeling great about your smile very soon!

[lilyflower]

Welcome 12-18 months is pretty quick if that's how long it takes. What I've noticed is we always think our problems are so much worse than they are or worry they are - I had all kinds of thoughts about what would need to be done to me and worst case scenarios in my head before the appointment and then it was like "Oh, that's it? Sure, sign me up!"

[jenny3285]

I spent the first week of my braces with my mouth closed! BUT as time has gone on I've come to realise that most people are eager to talk about their own brace experiences and impressed that you've got the balls to sort out your wonky teeth. So GO US.
It'll be worth it )
Jen, 30
http://www.mybraceface.com/#home