"But your teeth aren't even bad..."

A: "Just a heads up, if I sound like I have a speech impairment it's because I'm wearing an expander"

B: "An expander??"

A: "Yeah, a jaw expander."

B: "A what?"

A: "Oh... it's because I'm getting braces soon"

B: "What?!?! But your teeth aren't even bad..."


Have anyone experienced a similar conversation like this? I have... a few times now. At first, I thought people were just being nice by saying that my teeth didn't look that bad. However, the volume of these responses have been increasing as of late. It must be noted here that there are have also been many who don't say this and happily agree that braces is the way to go. However, as time goes on and I ponder about it more, I finally came up with a few reasons why people might have responded in this manner:

1. My severely rotated canines are very noticeable but my lower lip covers them when I smile. Hence, no one notices them.

2. I have lived with these teeth for 22 years and have seen them everyday. Hence, not everyone sees them (and notices how bad they are) everyday.

3. No one (that I know of) is obsessive with teeth as I am. Since starting treatment I've started to notice how bad (and good) some people's teeth are. Hence, no one obsesses and notices my teeth like I do.

4. People are actually just being nice because there aren't many responses one can say after someone tells you that they're getting braces. I've gotten a few "nice..." or "braces are expensive right?" responses though. Hence, there are too much nice people.

5. My teeth aren't that bad. Although I think they are. Hence, my negativity is the problem.


Whatever the reason, I have to admit that it nice to hear from people that they previously didn't think that my teeth were THAT bad looking. Cheers to those individuals!