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.

Braces in '70s and '80s Commercials

When I was young kid, braces were much less common, and being told you needed braces was something that was dreaded by kids and teens who had to undergo orthodontic treatment.  This toothpaste commercial from the mid '70s shows the awkwardness of showing up at school for the first time with braces.

When I was a teen in the '80s, braces were still stigmatized. This early '80s cheese commercial shows again the tendency to hide newly acquired braces by keeping one's mouth closed and smiling without showing one's teeth.

Of course, as shown by this mid '80s commercial, some kids and teens had no problem grinning through their metal mouths. Perhaps it took having a strong sense of individuality to bear one's tin grin without embarrassment. 

Survey Results: LIKED Wearing Braces/DISLIKED Wearing Braces

My most recent set of surveys investigated the extent people liked or disliked wearing braces, and why they felt that way.  I did two surveys, one which was titled LIKED WEARING BRACES, and another titled DISLIKED WEARING BRACES.  Both surveys had essentially the same questions, with some minor word changes to deal with the differences of each survey's orientation (i.e. liking vs. disliking).

One of the interesting things about this two-survey format is that we can compare, side by side, how people who LIKED wearing braces compared with those who DISLIKED.  In fact, variety seems to be case in both of these surveys.

There were 4 people who took the LIKED WEARING BRACES survey, and 6 who took the DISLIKED WEARING BRACES survey. There were males and females who took both surveys, with more males than females in both cases.

(LIKED) Male or female?

	75% (3)	Male.
	25% (1)	Female.

4 voters have answered this question. 

(DISLIKED) Male or female?

	66% (4)	Male.
	33% (2)	Female.

6 voters have answered this question.

There was a good amount of variation as to how long each survey taker had worn braces, from a year to over three years.

(LIKED) How long did you have to wear fixed braces? (i.e. brackets or bands, not removable appliances.) Give the closest answer.

	0% (0)	Less than a year
	50% (2)	A year
	25% (1)	A year and a half
	25% (1)	Two years
	0% (0)	Two and a half years.
	0% (0)	Three years.
	0% (0)	Over three years (How long?)

4 voters have answered this question. 

(DISLIKED) How long did you have to wear fixed braces? (i.e. brackets or bands, not removable appliances.) Give the closest answer.

	0% (0)	Less than a year
	0% (0)	A year
	33% (2)	A year and a half
	0% (0)	Two years
	16% (1)	Two and a half years
	33% (2)	Three years
	16% (1)	Over three years (how long?)

6 voters have answered this question.

All of the survey takers had fixed braces, and most had them on both upper and lower fixed braces. Most also had retainers. Other than that, there were a variety of other appliances worn, with a little more appliances seeming to be present on the DISLIKE side.

(LIKED) Which of the following ortho appliances did you have? (Pick as many of the following as you had. You can make more than one choice.)

	100% (4)	Fixed Braces (Upper teeth)
	75% (3)	Fixed Braces (Lower teeth)
	50% (2)	Elastics
	0% (0)	Headgear
	0% (0)	Facemask
	25% (1)	Bite plate
	0% (0)	Sagittal Appliance
	0% (0)	Lip Bumper
	0% (0)	Tongue crib or rake
	0% (0)	Expander
	0% (0)	Herbst Appliance
	0% (0)	Frankel Appliance
	0% (0)	Bionator
	0% (0)	Nightguard
	0% (0)	Coil springs
	50% (2)	Retainer
	25% (1)	Anything else?

4 voters have answered this question. 

(DISLIKED) Which of the following ortho appliances did you have? (Pick as many of the following as you had. You can make more than one choice.)

	100% (6)	Fixed Braces (Upper teeth)
	100% (6)	Fixed Braces (Lower teeth)
	83% (5)	Elastics
	0% (0)	Headgear
	0% (0)	Facemask
	0% (0)	Bite plate
	0% (0)	Sagittal Appliance
	0% (0)	Lip Bumper
	16% (1)	Tongue crib or rake
	33% (2)	Expander
	16% (1)	Herbst Appliance
	0% (0)	Frankel Appliance
	0% (0)	Bionator
	0% (0)	Nightguard
	16% (1)	Coil springs
	66% (4)	Retainer
	0% (0)	Anything else?

6 voters have answered this question.

And now, the point of the survey: LIKING or DISLIKING wearing braces. Here the surveys show some variation, but also some strong feelings especially among those who really love or really hated wearing braces. There seem to be some strong feelings, both positive or negative, about the experiences people had in braces.

(LIKED) You picked a survey about how you liked wearing braces. How much did you like wearing braces? Answer on a scale from 1 to 5.

	0% (0)	1 (I liked wearing braces a little.)
	25% (1)	2
	0% (0)	3
	0% (0)	4
	75% (3)	5 (I loved wearing braces very much.)

4 voters have answered this question. 

(DISLIKED) You picked a survey about how you disliked wearing braces. How much did you dislike wearing braces? Answer on a scale from 1 to 5.

	16% (1)	1 (I disliked wearing braces a little.)
	0% (0)	2
	16% (1)	3
	33% (2)	4
	33% (2)	5 (I totally hated wearing braces.)

6 voters have answered this question.

The people taking the LIKED WEARING BRACES survey were asked the questions: "Why did you like wearing braces as much as you did?" and "What did you like most about wearing braces?" Those taking the DISLIKED WEARING BRACES survey were asked the similar questions: "Why did you dislike wearing braces as much as you did?" and "What did you dislike most about wearing braces?" So both sides got to tell why they felt the way they did.


One survey taker who DISLIKED WEARING BRACES noted the pain of braces.
She said that "They were painful and a hassle-the brackets would break and then I would have to schedule an appointment and spend a long time at the orthodontist office..."  As to the thing she disliked most about braces this reviewer specified that she wore a "Herbst appliance. Ouch."

The self-consiousness and stigma of braces was mentioned by other survey takers who DISLIKED braces. One responded that he disliked braces because they "Made me feel self-conscious at times, but more than anything they were just an annoyance."

Another DISLIKE survey taker wrote that "while I knew I needed them I was one of a few kids that had them. Braces wearers were routinely made fun of. I was mad that my big sister only had to wear removables and I needed both fixed upper & lower braces." This same reviewer said that what he disliked most about braces was "Looking different. Getting made fun of. Pain."

One reviewer on the DISLIKE side admitted that "I actually liked how they looked - didn't make me feel any less self-conscious though!

On the LIKED side, one survey taker said that "I loved the look and feel of braces on my teeth. Also the psychology of being made to get braces. Before I had braces, I envied others who had them. I wish I was made to get them earlier."  About the thing he liked most about braces, this same reviewer responded that he liked "The feel of having them in my mouth, and the brace-mouthed look I got."

Another who LIKED braces said that he liked braces because "It was something I always wanted to do for myself and my orthodontist and staff made it a great experience," and that his the thing he liked most about wearing braces was "Seeing how fast my teeth straightened."

Survey takers of both LIKED and DISLIKED surveys were asked about how they felt about being seen with braces, and here, again, the responses were varied, although the differences between surveys takers who "always tried to hide" their braces, and those who smiled and showed them off was notably different for both surveys.

(LIKED) How did you feel about people seeing your braces?

	0% (0)	I always tried to hide my braces.
	0% (0)	Although I disliked people seeing my braces, I "grinned and bared" them.
	50% (2)	It was no bother to me whether people saw my braces or not.
	25% (1)	I smiled my tingrin, but tried not to be too obvious.
	25% (1)	I loved to show off my braces whenever I could.

4 voters have answered this question.  

(DISLIKED) How did you feel about people seeing your braces?

	50% (3)	I always tried to hide my braces.
	0% (0)	Although I disliked people seeing my braces, I "grinned and bared" them.
	33% (2)	It was no bother to me whether people saw my braces or not.
	16% (1)	I smiled my tingrin, but tried not to be too obvious.
	0% (0)	I loved to show off my braces whenever I could.

6 voters have answered this question.

One thing that survey takers who LIKED WEARING BRACES and who DISLIKED WEARING BRACES had in common was that most said they would get braces again, regardless of whether they liked it or not, because of the benefits that orthodontic treatment provided.

(LIKED) Regardless of whether you liked or disliked wearing braces, if you had to do it again, would you have chosen to have braces anyway? (For example, to fix a dental problem?)

	100% (4)	Yes. (Mention why.)
	0% (0)	No. (Mention why.)

4 voters have answered this question.
(DISLIKED) Regardless of whether you liked or disliked wearing braces, if you had to do it again, would you have chosen to have braces anyway? (For example, to fix a dental problem?)

	83% (5)	Yes. (Mention why.)
	16% (1)	No. (Mention why.)

6 voters have answered this question.

I recommend checking out the actual survey results for the LIKED WEARING BRACES SURVEY and the DISLIKED WEARING BRACES SURVEY, by clicking on the links. Interesting variety, and some contrasts.

Cool Coke Commercial

Check out this cool commercial featuring a tin-grinned cola drinker.

A Professional in Braces (2003)

One thing I haven't mentioned is that when I had my braces as an adult, back around 2003-2004, I actually kept a blog about my experiences.  Since I also had glasses (and still do), I called my blog Foureyedmetalmouth.  It wasn't as broadly oriented as this blog, but rather just dealt with my day to day experiences wearing braces as an adult. Since getting my braces off, I stopped posting, and with time, the blog was deleted (and the web company that hosted it went out of business). However, thanks to an internet archive I found, I was able to recently salvage parts of my old blog, and I plan to post some of my old posts from that blog. 

Here is one of my more interesting old posts. It was from a time right after I went to a professional conference for the first time with my braces. Braces are indeed an interesting experience when you are an adult in a fairly conservative profession, trying to look "proper" while having a mouthful of ortho gadgetry.  Enjoy.

A PROFESSIONAL IN BRACES/SOCIAL IN BRACES 

Monday, 13 October 2003

I just finished attending a professional conference/convention. This is my first in braces, and I believe of all the fairly large group of people attending, I was the only one in mouthmetal. After the convention, I had to go to another social gathering. I must admit that I am still a bit reticent to appear with my braces in front of people, especially those who havent yet seen me in braces. At the conference, there were several friends (or maybe acquaintances is more like it) of mine who had not yet seen me in braces, and I must admit that after several months in braces, I still feel uncomfortable confronting people in them the first time. I was trying to be discreet about my mouthmetal, yet still try to look natural. Theres this silly balance one has to pull of whereby you have to try to not bare your braces too obviously, yet still not try to obscure them too much... if you bare your braces too intensely you appear a bit too happy to have braces, and you may appear a bit odd... but if you try too hard to obscure your braces (which is probably my tendency moreso than baring them too much, at least with people I try to be "professional" with and those who havent seen my braces before) you will just draw even more attention to them, and look even dumber. So, anyway, the moral of the story is that as an adult, and after several months, you still may feel a bit awkward for having a tin grin. I guess I should consider that this makes it all just that much more "authentic" since a typical teenager would probably, in most circumstances, feel quite awkward in braces, and if I had gotten them in my teens, even though I think braces are cool, I would still probably have the feeling of awkwardness nonetheless....especially in a school full of people who are all too willing to tease you for other reasons and who would like nothing better than to find a new reason to get onto you.  

Kilians Braces Story

     Here is another contribution from one of my readers, Kilian, who provided his account of growing up with braces, and photos from his time undergoing braces treatment. Thank you to Kilian for his contribution.

        Kilian's Braces Story

by Kilian 

This is my Braces Story, it took place in West Germany from 1984 until 1995.

I was nine Years,when I got my first Braces, 17 when I got fixed Braces and 19 Year, when I got them finally off.

My first braces period was from 1984 till 1988 with removable Braces. I was the first in my Class in Braces. The Dentist told my Parents, that I needed them. I tried to convince my parents, that my teeth are OK and we better go to another dentist, but they did not take me seriously. Then I thought why me? I was not the coolest in Class and was terribly afraid, that with braces it would get even worse. When I got my braces I was irritated and specially in the beginning used to move them around in the Mouth a lot. It took me some time to get used to them.

This must have been when the braces were quite new.
At first it was kind of exciting, but soon I hated it, because the limitations were annoying.


 

I remember one very embarassing Moment: I was in school and I was not paying attention, but instead moving my Braces out and in and out and in again. Then at one Moment I realized, that it was so quiet, I turned and saw the whole Class, including the Teacher staring at me.

One year later they were a normal part of me. I did not think anymore about them. 

My Orthodontist had a small office like a dentists Office. There were always three or four waiting.It was in the nearest Town. Usually my Father would pick me up from school and then we would go there. Later I had to walk from school to the Office and then to take the Bus home. The Ortho asked me to take the Braces in, then out and in again. Sometimes, he changed something at the wire. I got about three or four times new Braces. One Model got broken, when I put them in my Jacket without the Box and had a fight with my biggest enemy (at that time). You can imagine that a lot of trouble followed. It is strange, that this kind of trouble in Childhood seemed to be life threatening. I was so afraid of going home, when I wanted to put the Braces back in my mouth and discovered, what had happened.

At that time we where three Kids with Braces in my Class. A Girl had also removable Braces and another Girl fixed ones. Sometimes we used to talk about the Orthodontist and how we hated wearing Braces. I remember one of them telling how she puked, when getting the Impression. She was a very sensible Girl and often Ill.

Wearing them was never a problem after the first year , but always having to take care of them, to take them out, to put them in a box, or leave them somewhere was still annoying. (Sometimes more for my Mother, then for me ;-)) 

I had to wear removables until I was 13. At that time it was a normal part of me, that I was having them, nobody talked about it anymore. Also one of the neighbors was in Braces too then.




My Sister got Braces some Years after me . For her it was much more normal from the beginning, I think she liked them, or was kind of proud of them. She never complained about having to wear them. After three years without Braces (only the retainer for the night, which I forgot more than I had them in), we moved to another Part of Germany. The new Dentist was not sure about the results of the treatment and asked me to visit an Ortho. So with 17 I needed braces again and got a full set of fixed Braces. At that time I really hated it.





But I have to admit, that my first big love did not care about my braces. (She took this picture) With 19 I got them finally of and this time I was disciplined enough to wear the Retainer as prescribed.