How to Cope If You Wear Braces as an Adult

Some people just…laugh about the braces

Sometimes, people start out of curiosity. Not because they’re being assholes. In such a case, you can easily diffuse the tension by cracking joke at yourself or your situation. For example:

Braces: helping you put your money where your mouth is.

OR

What kind of music do adults with braces listen to?

Heavy Metal.

This will instantly diffuse the tension in the room and when people realize how normal braces are, they will eventually tire of staring at yours.

Some simply draw the attention away from their braces

If you’re a lady, that becomes much easier for you because makeup comes to your rescue. Stay away from bright/dark/sparkly colors and instead, stick to nudes. To compensate, focus on your eyes. Opt for heavy eye makeup, deep blushes or blinding highlighters on your cheekbones.

If you’re a dude well, you have other options. Like getting a new hair cut or a new hair color. Or how about new glasses, a headband or even a new tattoo? The more you downplay your mouth area, the fewer people will focus on it.

Let others mention the braces first

If you’re too awkward to crack a joke and too timid to do something drastic to your appearance, then simply pretend as if you don’t have any braces on. Because for starters, they’re on your body paid from your money, so they’re nobody else’s business but your own. If you don’t want to talk about them, don’t. Those that will ask about being an adult with braces will simply say something generic like, “Oh, you got braces?” and then talk about how expensive health care is and…that’s it. The conversation will fizzle out by itself.

It’s really not as bad as you think it is

Let’s face it – we’re always overly critical of ourselves. Be it about our appearance, performance at the office, in relationships, as a person…We all lack confidence and instead of boosting our self-esteem, we just become harder on ourselves. It’s the same case here. Your braces aren’t even as bad as you think they are. You’ve probably made a bigger mess in your head, seeing how likely it is that no one is even paying that much attention to your braces. I mean, look around. Is anybody really looking at you right now? I mean sure, you got a few glances when you entered the room, but now that everything’s settled down…Is anybody truly bothered about your dumb braces?

The braces aren’t the problem in your love life

Or the lack thereof. The thing is your braces are only keeping away shallow people from dating you. If someone is genuinely interested in you, your temporary braces are never going to be a deal breaker.

So if you’re till single or are unable to impress a person of the opposite gender, then it’s not because of your braces, but because of you. There’s something about you or your attitude that’s turning people away.

It’s a little easier to sift away trash

Not literally, I mean. Just as stated above, your braces tend to keep the superficial people away from you, because if they’re basing their opinion of you on something as trivial as your braces, Lord knows what’ll happen in the future if you are in accident or get a tattoo, you know. They’ll simply forget about you and move on to someone ‘better’ looking. In this phase of life, you should socialize more, knowing that the people you befriend at this stage are the ones who’ve chosen to look beyond your appearance, to not mock you for it but to instead accept it as a part of who you are.

You gotta be careful with the food you eat

Being an adult with braces sure comes with its cons. And one of the biggest cons is to not only be careful about what you eat, but how you eat it. Because unlike before, your braces are here to tell the world what you ate previously. Not to mention how totally gross food looks when stuck to your teeth or braces. Eww! Munch properly, people. And make sure you>

Carry a toothbrush wherever you go

Told ya – sometimes it can really suck having braces! Because if you catch food stuck on your teeth, you should immediately go to the bathroom and brush it away. But God forbid if someone else points out food stuck in between your braces, for you. That’s gosh darn embarrassing. This is why you have to make it a habit to not only check your teeth after every meal, but to carry a brush wherever you go.

Meeting the orthodontist at the end of the day

And of course, being an adult with braces means being smart enough to schedule your appointment with the orthodontist when you’re done for the day. Why? Because when you’re going for an adjustment, you experience pain. And isn’t it better to experience it when you’re at home rather than when you’re at your office? Oh, and you should always keep a bit of dental wax in your pockets, in case the pain from the metal braces becomes unbearable. Simply scoop out a little wax, make a tiny ball and apply it over the piece of metal that is poking into your inner lip!