Personal Real Braces Story: "no negatives just all positives"

I've been collecting true personal accounts of braces experiences in the Tell Your Braces Story survey. Thank you for all who have contributed their story. I now have enough to start posting. This account is from one of my readers, jsrjay, who tells about his braces experiences as a kid and an adult.

Have You ever had braces? Yes 

BEST AND WORST: What is the best thing about wearing braces? What is the worst thing about wearing braces? 

The best thing is obviously the final outcome of straight teeth, the worst is the fact of having metal attached to your teeth. From a braces fascination point of view though there are no negatives just all positives.

FIRST REACTIONS: What first reactions to first seeing someone in braces have you experienced? (You could be the one in braces, the one who reacted, or a bystander.) 

I was about 9yrs old when a lad from my class came in late to school one day, he came in wearing braces, this was my 1st time seeing braces and I just thought they looked amazing, I remember all the kids asking him about them, where I just sat admiring what I saw.

MOST INTENSE TREATMENT: What is the most intense braces treatment you have seen? (Intensity could involve amount of metal, use of unique appliances, length of treatment, etc.) 

From my own treatment as a kid I had my upper fangs were very pointy and stuck out like a vampire for that reason the brackets on them teeth would always snap off, so one day when I went in my ortho placed some like metal sheets on the upper part of my fangs and also the lower part this would then keep the brackets in place he did this to both my upper fangs, so it looked like both my upper fangs were just sheer metal no white off the tooth could be seen.as

COOL BRACES EXPERIENCE: Have you had any cool, funny, interesting, or memorable experience involving your braces? What was it? 

As an adult when I got braces again I would deliberately break brackets just so I could go back to the ortho just see what would happen and see other brace wearers in the office.

ADVICE FOR OTHER BRACES WEARERS: What advice would you give to someone just getting braces, or thinking about getting braces? 

GET THEM you wont regret it

Another '80s Commercial: "Braces & Glasses" (1987)

Here's another '80s era commercial, this one featuring both braces and glasses. It brings up again the sense of stigma that existed back then for these corretive devices. Before the '90s, braces were not seen as something to show off, but rather something to hide. 

Survey Results: Braces Fan Survey

The recent Braces Fan Survey on this blog is different from previous surveys. All of my previous surveys involved experiences of wearing braces. (See the survey results on the right panel of this blog.) However, this survey is about perceptions of braces.  More specifically, this is a survey for people who consider braces to be interesting and cool.

There is a great variety and answers, and of ways in which braces are perceived, even among admirers.

One thing that is not different among survey responders of the Braces Fan Survey, unlike in previous surveys, is that they are all male.

Are you male of female?

	100% (15)	Male
	0% (0)	Female

15 voters have answered this question.

This survey was open to people who have worn braces and those who have not, and its reflected in the split showing that both types of people responded to the survey.

Have you ever worn braces?

	73% (11)	Yes
	26% (4)	No

15 voters have answered this question.

Getting on the questions about whether survey takers enjoyed seeing braces on other people, experiencing braces on their own, or both, there is some divergence. One thing this surveys shows is just how many different ways there are to appreciate braces. People who think braces are cool have appreciated braces both on themselves and on other people.

Do you prefer to see braces on other people, or to wear braces yourself?

	13% (2)	To see other people wearing braces on their teeth
	0% (0)	To get braces on my own teeth
	40% (6)	Both, but mostly to see others with braces
	40% (6)	Both, but mostly to get braces on my own teeth
	6% (1)	Both equally
	0% (0)	Other (fill in blank)

15 voters have answered this question.

The next two questions involve when survey takers consider it to be the best time to have braces, and what time in the recent past have braces been most fun or interesting.  A surprising diversity on both questions.  Survey takers spread their responses as when in person's life is it the best time to go through a experience between the teens, twenties, thirties, and forties.  A similar spread occurs in the question about which recent decade braces were most fun and interesting, with answers logged in for the Seventies, Eighties, Nineties, Oughts, and Teens (2010s).  This is good news for me, since I had my braces in my thirties, during the Oughts (2003-2005 to be exact).

At what time in a person's life is it the best time to have braces?

	20% (3)	Teenager
	40% (6)	Twenties
	33% (5)	Thirties
	6% (1)	Forties
	0% (0)	Fifties
	0% (0)	Over 60
	0% (0)	Other

15 voters have answered this question.

In what decade were braces most fun or interesting? (Give one choice.)

	0% (0)	Fifties (1950s)
	0% (0)	Sixties (1960s)
	33% (5)	Seventies (1970s)
	20% (3)	Eighties (1980s)
	13% (2)	Nineties (1990s)
	20% (3)	Oughts (2000s)
	13% (2)	Teens (2010s)

15 voters have answered this question.

Moving forward to which situations braces fans think would be interesting to experience, there is a very close split between those who would like to be the only member of a group with braces, and one who would like to wear braces in a group where braces are common.  This survey question is kind-of interesting, and I think speaks to the types of personalities of braces fans.  It seems to indicate that some braces fans want to be "the" person with braces (and maybe stand out as such?), and others want to be part of a braces wearing group (and maybe see oneself as part of a group with tin grins?).  As noted, there are different ways to experience braces, and to find them interesting.

Which of the following situations would you prefer?

	46% (7)	Being the only one of your group of friends who has braces.
	53% (8)	Having braces among a group of friends where all or most of that group has braces.

15 voters have answered this question.

Other questions asked what the survey responder would do if a friend had to wear braces but was uncomfortable about it, and about certain specific experiences each survey responder would find intriguing or interesting to experience.  A wide variety of different interests here. About the "friend getting braces" question, its definitely good to see that no survey taker would make fun of their soon to be braced friend.

If you had a good friend was told they would definitely need braces, but who was very uncomfortable about doing it, what would be your most likely response?

	26% (4)	Tell them you like braces in the hope that it would bring comfort
	66% (10)	Try to comfort them, but don't reveal you like braces
	6% (1)	Not say anything to them about braces, but make it a point to hang around them to see them deal with their braces
	0% (0)	Make fun of their braces
	0% (0)	Not be that interested
	0% (0)	Other

15 voters have answered this question.

Which of the following situations would you like to live out? (Choose as many as are applicable.)

	20% (3)	Having to wear headgear 24/7, including in public.
	46% (7)	Seeing someone else have to wear headgear 24/7, including in public.
	6% (1)	Having a noticeable speech impediment caused by your braces.
	0% (0)	Seeing and hearing someone else having a noticeable speech impediment caused by their braces.
	13% (2)	Having to wear a Herbst or other noticeable fixed appliance (this would not include headgear).
	6% (1)	Seeing someone else have to wear a Herbst or other noticeable fixed appliance (this would not include headgear).
	6% (1)	Having just plain braces (fixed braces only, with no other appliances).
	0% (0)	Seeing someone else with just plain braces (fixed braces only, with no other appliances).

15 voters have answered this question.

This is a good time to mention the responses to the essay questions. Specifically three survey takers provided responses to the essay questions, and they're pretty interesting responses. As to the question "What do you like most about wearing braces yourself?" one survey respondent said that he liked "the feeling of restraint and the inability to take them out."  Another responded "the metal smile."  The third responder said that the question was not applicable to him (he had not worn braces).

There was also a similar question: "What do you like most about seeing braces on others?"  There were only two responses to this question. One response said that "I like the look of metal stuff in another's mouth."  Another responder (a non braces wearer), said that he liked "How they cope with them: eating appointments, embarrasment, etc."

Finally there was an essay question that said: "If you could make it come true, what would your braces experience fantasy be like? Share your dream." Two responses on this one. One responder said: "nice good visible metal brackets, bands with rubberbands, touguecrib and headgear would be great." Notably, this responder was the same one who mentioned metal in the question about what he liked about braces on himself, and what he liked about braces on others.  As this reviewer would note, the metal look is one aspect of what braces fans think are interesting and cool about braces.  The other responder said that he would like: "Orthodontist, fitting a substantial amount of metal to someone who had previously made fun of people with braces."  A cool braces dream.

Lastly, a question about that classic follow up to fixed braces: retainers.  As the rest of this survey showed, there's a lot of diversity among braces wearers.  Answers about ho much they found retainers interesting ranged accross the board.

11. What do you think about retainers?

	35% (5)	Retainers are as cool and interesting as fixed braces.
	7% (1)	Retainers are cool and interesting on their own, but not as much as fixed braces.
	21% (3)	Retainers are cool and interesting, but only as an afterthought to fixed braces (not on their own).
	21% (3)	Retainers are just slightly of interest.
	14% (2)	Retainers don't interest me at all.

14 voters have answered this question.

The survey and its responses, which are outlined in this post, are found here: Braces Fan Survey Responses.

Tell Your Braces Story

I have a request for my readers. One of my hopes for this blog is for it to serve as a place where people could share their experiences with braces and orthodontia.  So, I'm looking to make this an audience participation experience, kind of like an orthodontic Rocky Horror Picture Show, except this is a blog rather than a movie.

I'm looking for some accounts of true, real life braces experiences. Already the site has some good accounts from myself and contributors (which I encourage my readers to check out).  I'd like to invite more readers to share their true stories.  And I've figured out how to make it super easy, with this neat, quick, and easy survey below.  ⇩⇩⇩⇩

Answer just the questions you feel comfortable responding to.  I would love to read some good accounts, but you can make your responses as long or short as you'd like.  A few words, a blurb, a paragraph, or longer. (Time periods when this occurred would be good for reference, but I'll leave it up to you.) Just make it from your heart.

So, I invite you: Tell Your Braces Story. Give it a shot.
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This survey is now closed to make way for new surveys. Thank you to all who contributed their own true braces stories to this survey. Click Here to view the archived responses.

Braces In The Fifties

Back in the late '90s and early '00s, there was a multifaceted orthodontic related site on the internet called M's Mouthwear. One of its features was an archive of braces-related stories, including a section of accounts of real life braces experiences.  That site ceased existing sometime during the early '00s, but recently I have been able to retrieve some of the real life braces stories from that site using an internet archive. Soon, I plan to post the M's Mouthwear stories I was able to retrieve for your reading enjoyment. (UPDATE: M's Mouthwear Stories is now up on the right side of this blog ⇨⇨, at the bottom.)  One of the very best accounts in the collection was called "Braces In The Fifties," a true account of having to wear braces in the 1950's, back when they were truly rare. I am posting this particular story because it fits very well with my goal for this blog: to make it a place of sharing orthodontic experiences. Here's the story below. Enjoy. Braces In The Fifties

This is a true story. I had just turned thirteen in November of 1953 when my mother took me to Dr. Richard. Orthodontic treatment was very rare, by today's standards almost unheard of. There were 300 children in my school and up to this point the only kids I had seen with braces consisted of one guy with a thick bar across his teeth and his sister with a similar appliance. One girl in my class, Donna, had bands that were very narrow and went almost unseen very high on her teeth. I remember her brackets being like two tiny bars that the archwire went through. She only had a bar going across the bottom teeth. You had to be close and she had to smile wide to really see them. There was a definite social stigma about braces. Up to this time the closest orthodontist was an hour's drive away. Braces were very expensive. My treatment cost about $3000, but that was 47 years ago and many pay the same amount today. There was nothing like orthodontic insurance. Dr. Richard had just opened his practice in the next town. My father's business was doing well and our dentist convinced my mother it was important for me to get treatment. Dr. Richard would only discuss the treatment with my mother, I was not consulted or told about anything. The first appointment he just looked at my teeth. The second appointment was the day after Thanksgiving. Here he took X-rays and molds. I was the only patient in the office each time. Nothing happened for a month and I thought I was lucky and my mother had given up on the idea. I had fought against going to an orthodontist, not wanting to wear the dreaded braces in any form. The day after Christmas my mother woke me and told me I had a 9 o'clock appointment. I hated the thought of losing a vacation day and just wanted to go sledding with my friends. Off we went to see Dr. Richard. I sat in a treatment room and heard him talking to someone in another room. She was crying about something called an extra-oral appliance, about which I had no clue . When he was done with her he walked in and spent about a half hour putting pieces of thick rubber between my teeth. I was told he would see me in a week. Now when they first went in I didn't think much about them, they looked a little funny but if I didn't open my mouth too wide, no one could see them. About an hour later though, my teeth were throbbing badly, and that lasted about three days. The Monday after New Year's, the first day back to school, my mother woke me up earlier than usual, and told me I had another appointment and would be going to school late that day. By this point I asked her if they were going to make me wear braces and she said yes. I started to complain again and she said it was only some wire and metal and to get dressed and stop whining. We got to the office at 7:00 and I was ushered right in to a chair. Dr. Richard finally started to describe the appliance.. All the bands had been hand formed and welded by Dr. Richard to fit my teeth, there were no preformed bands yet. He then welded a bracket on the front of the band, and now he was going to cement them in place. That was the last thing I wanted to hear, with pictures of Donna in my mind. He was also going to band both arches, which made me even worse than Donna. It took about four hours to do. When he finally gave me a mirror to look at I almost died. These were nothing like Donna's. They were wide bands on every tooth, set closer to the bottom of the teeth so there was no way to open my mouth without revealing the braces. The bottom teeth were almost completely covered with metal. I had never seen anything like them and I hated the look. He told me in two weeks he would put on the archwire and the extra oral appliance that he said would provide the force to move the teeth.. I was in too much shock to listen and didn't have a clue as to what an extra oral appliance was. I was in an absolute panic that I had to be seen like this. My mother drove me to school and I pleaded with her that my teeth hurt and not to make me go. They hurt a little, but I just did not want to be seen. No luck, I got to school at the end of math, got my note from the office, and spent the next half hour in the bathroom trying to figure how not to show the bands when I was talking. The bell rang and I went in for science. The class was surprised to see me since everyone thought I was sick and at home. I was determined not to talk at all, but the teacher called on me first. I tried to mumble the answer, which got her mad and drew more attention to me when she told me to speak up. When I answered I could hear the murmur go through the class that "He has braces on." Everyone was staring. At lunch I tried to hide in a corner but no one had really seen braces like mine before and I was either pitied or laughed at, neither of which I wanted. The bus ride home was just as bad, I felt like a freak. By the time of my next appointment I hated being the kid with those braces. My mother told me to ignore everything and they were good for me, which I didn't care about, I just wanted my mouth back. All I saw was a mouthful of metal that everyone thought was funny to look at. It was 3:30 and as I was walking into the building I saw a girl stop at the mirror in the hallway outside of the office, reach into her pocket and put a piece of wire in her mouth. It had two arms that went around her face and she attached a strap to each arm, and then went into the office. My mother had parked the car and we walked in. The girl was sitting and reading a magazine, my mother went back into the office and I just stared at the contraption on her face. It was the first headgear I had ever seen She asked me if I was new and when I answered she saw the braces on my teeth. I asked her what it was she had on and her reply scared me "It's my extra oral traction appliance. I have to wear it 14 hours a day. I just got it two weeks ago." Her name was Sally, we dated through high school and everyone thought it was very funny that the two "magnet mouths" were attracted to each other. She didn't mind them half as much as I did. We married a year after we graduated from college. It is my only positive memory of my orthodontic experience. When he put the arch wires on they were stiff wire. He had to bend them each appointment to move the teeth, so every time you left the office you knew you were in for some pain. When you needed new arch wires you were in the chair for at least an hour as he unwired the old one and rewired the new one. It was a very time consuming process, once every three weeks for almost 6 years. He took out a facebow and showed me how to put it on. Then when I though I was going to get the same thing Sally had to wear, he took out the headcap with J-hooks and started to put it on. I almost ran out of the office and it took my mother to drag me back in while he finished putting it on. Rod Serling hadn't invented the Twilight Zone yet but I was convinced I was there. My mother was very specific about wearing it for the full 14 hours every day and generally made me wear it more. I wanted to shrivel up and die. She kept track of the hours herself and If I got behind she made sure I wore it outside the house. I wore that headgear until the end of my sophomore year in high school and the braces until I was a freshman in college. More kids started wearing similar braces, but they really didn't become common place until the sixties. Every where I went I was stared at by people who had never seen braces before I hated them every day I had them on. My niece just started wearing braces and when I told her the story she asked me to write it out so she could post it. At first I did not believe this would interest anyone until she showed me all the files and pictures. I get a real kick reading about these people who like wearing braces. Believe me. 44 years ago you would have hated it.