Re: From new guy

[Guest guest]

My opinon is girls should like you braces or no braces

Im 49 and im married with 2 kids i WISH i had done this

at your age. In 2 years of braces i have had very few

comments at all.. Most people dont care. My philopsy is look

im doing this for me i could give a ---------------------------

what anyone else says. i certitianly not let my future

dating life make my decision who knows you might get more

attention than you need. good luck

[Guest guest]

My opinon is girls should like you braces or no braces

Im 49 and im married with 2 kids i WISH i had done this

at your age. In 2 years of braces i have had very few

comments at all.. Most people dont care. My philopsy is look

im doing this for me i could give a ---------------------------

what anyone else says. i certitianly not let my future

dating life make my decision who knows you might get more

attention than you need. good luck

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the comment. But you're speaking from the perspective of

a 49-year-old.

Call it shallow, brutal, or " unfair, " but appearance is a big first

impression by which young women judge guys.

Now, what you might have said (and I would've agreed) is that my

*appearance post-op* would make me more successful, relaxed, and

attractive to women than my appearance now, and I would be doing my

looks a favor in the long run. Perhaps. But then I would be 27,

partly " out of the game, " with my youth somewhat behind me.

By the way, does anyone have experience doing this at a similar age

to mine? Having similar fears? The 18-year-old who responded, can

you share if you went through any dating problems?

Also in addition to dating, what about travel? Not that you'd

be " bedridden " all the 2 years, but still, you would be stuck being

close to home all that time.

I would really appreciate more comments and experience, thanks a lot!

>

> My opinon is girls should like you braces or no

braces

> Im 49 and im married with 2 kids i WISH i had done

this

> at your age. In 2 years of braces i have had very few

> comments at all.. Most people dont care. My philopsy is

look

> im doing this for me i could give a -----------------------

----

> what anyone else says. i certitianly not let my future

> dating life make my decision who knows you might get more

> attention than you need. good luck

[Guest guest]

I'm 28. I'm still 'mostly young'. I met my husband in college, we were both

22. Had he

had braces on, I wouldn't have thought he was a freak, or less attractive or

anything like

that. Isn't it simliar to wearing glasses? People wear glasses becasue they

have a medical

need. Are you less attracted to people who have glasses? Or who have seasonal

allergies?

Or who are allergic to shellfish? Not really, at least I'm not. In fact, I

remember meeting a

guy when I was on an internship when I was 20, who was in his mid-20s and he had

braces. Looking back, the braces didn't even faze me, I thought he was

attractive.

I think all of this is easier if you accept it and get over it. I'm just

speaking from my own

experience, I'm not trying to flame you or anything. When I got my braces I

just took the

attitude of, WTF, this is for me. I am sick of headaches, sick of not being

able to eat well,

sick of grinding my teeth and jaw pain. Screw anyone who has an issue with my

braces. I

have started a new job with my braces and most people didn't even mention them.

You

will be amazed at how people don't make a big deal out of things that you don't

make a

big deal.

And hey, who says braces are a turn off anyway. Have you looked into other

Yahoo

groups? There is an Adults with Braces group and it specifically is

'non-fetish' (my

husband thinks this is hilarious, btw). Yup, non-fetish. Who knows, maybe you

might

meet your special someone and she may be DISAPPOINTED when it's all over with

because

your braces are coming off..

And if you are still not into it, then who cares. It's up to you! You wouldn't

have been able

to do it back when you were 17, most men aren't done growing until their early

20s and

you run the risk of having surgery and needing it again as you grow out of it.

If it wouldn't

be a big deal to you if you did it when you were 40 and married with kids, then

do it then.

Personally, I'm happy I got this over with before I had kids and a job with tons

of

responsibility and pressure. I was able to take a month off work (medical

leave) and the

company didn't fall apart. I didn't have kids to worry about and to stress me

out while

healing.

Good luck with your decision. The thing is though, it's YOUR decision. If you

won't feel

attracive enough to go out and meet people and it will be detrimental to your

life, then

wait! No one is forcing you to do anything.

Cori

upper/2-piece Lefort 7/20/05

http://www.coriandron.com/cori/surgery/surgery.html

> Thanks everyone for your responses.

>

> It's really terribly difficult to make a decision regarding whether

> or not to do this surgery.

>

> Look at it this way. I'm a guy in his mid-20s, enjoying his youth,

> going out, dating, etc. I'll have to sacrifice 2-3 years of the best

> time of my life to this immense project. As I get closer to surgery,

> I will start looking progressively worse (i.e. teeth realigned), AND

> wearing braces before AND after, for months and months.

>

> Even Apart from the weeks or months immediately following surgery, I

> will be throwing away 2 years (!) of the best time of my life. Why

> throwing away, you ask? Because throughout that long period I won't

> be confident enough to go out, meet girls, talk to them, etc. due to

> wearing braces and any other hardware.

>

> Now if I had done this at let's say 15-16, maybe the sacrifice and

> commitment would have been tolerable. If I was a married 40-year-old

> living with wife and children, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. But at

> 25, when I literally need to " present my best face " to women and

> enjoy dating, the personal side of it is extreme. What do you all

> say.

[Guest guest]

Wow Gene, I'm not sure what to say to that. I think you may be

concentrating on the braces too much. I know this is a big factor

for you. It is for me too. I did not think I would be getting

braces at 32, but here I am. Braces are much more common than they

used to be, and I really don't think that people pay a lot of

attention to them anymore. That's just my thoughts on the braces

issue. Besides would you want to be with someone who could not look

past the braces?

> Thanks everyone for your responses.

>

> It's really terribly difficult to make a decision regarding whether

> or not to do this surgery.

>

> Look at it this way. I'm a guy in his mid-20s, enjoying his youth,

> going out, dating, etc. I'll have to sacrifice 2-3 years of the

best

> time of my life to this immense project. As I get closer to

surgery,

> I will start looking progressively worse (i.e. teeth realigned),

AND

> wearing braces before AND after, for months and months.

>

> Even Apart from the weeks or months immediately following surgery,

I

> will be throwing away 2 years (!) of the best time of my life. Why

> throwing away, you ask? Because throughout that long period I won't

> be confident enough to go out, meet girls, talk to them, etc. due

to

> wearing braces and any other hardware.

>

> Now if I had done this at let's say 15-16, maybe the sacrifice and

> commitment would have been tolerable. If I was a married 40-year-

old

> living with wife and children, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. But

at

> 25, when I literally need to " present my best face " to women and

> enjoy dating, the personal side of it is extreme. What do you all

> say.

[Guest guest]

Bottom line Gene: You should be meeting the same girls with or

without braces. You may even do a little better with them. There

are women out there that see a guy with braces and it suggests that

he's willing to improve himself. Just remember, " self-love is

not as vile a sin as self-neglect " . That should be your f & ckin

mantra…just keep repeating it for the next two years.

Forget about the negative thoughts going through your head on when

to get it over with (when I'm married and have kids etc. etc).

Don't look at it as if there's going to be a better time to

get it over with.

Listen, the majority of girls out there will not be phased by the

braces. If they walk away it's because they're insecure or you have

bad breath.

I had braces for the last year and have about 6 more months

remaining. So I speak from experience. I'm also a few years older

than you.

Hope this woke you from your slumber. Feel free to shoot me an

email.

> > Thanks everyone for your responses.

> >

> > It's really terribly difficult to make a decision regarding

whether

> > or not to do this surgery.

> >

> > Look at it this way. I'm a guy in his mid-20s, enjoying his

youth,

> > going out, dating, etc. I'll have to sacrifice 2-3 years of the

> best

> > time of my life to this immense project. As I get closer to

> surgery,

> > I will start looking progressively worse (i.e. teeth realigned),

> AND

> > wearing braces before AND after, for months and months.

> >

> > Even Apart from the weeks or months immediately following

surgery,

> I

> > will be throwing away 2 years (!) of the best time of my life.

Why

> > throwing away, you ask? Because throughout that long period I

won't

> > be confident enough to go out, meet girls, talk to them, etc.

due

> to

> > wearing braces and any other hardware.

> >

> > Now if I had done this at let's say 15-16, maybe the sacrifice

and

> > commitment would have been tolerable. If I was a married 40-year-

> old

> > living with wife and children, maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

But

> at

> > 25, when I literally need to " present my best face " to women and

> > enjoy dating, the personal side of it is extreme. What do you

all

> > say.

[Guest guest]

Gene,

I may not be 25 but I'm not 15 or 40 either. I'm in my second year of

college with braces. It doesn't matter. People that care about a

person having braces aren't worth your time. I don't want to sound

like I am pushing you one way or another, but do you even want to date

a girl that is shallow enough to reject you because you will have

braces for 2 years? There are plenty of wonderful people who will

look past it, and see the person that you are, and know how awesome

you will look when you get through the whole process. At least that

is the person that I would want. But maybe it is just me.

Val

> Thanks everyone for your responses.

>

> It's really terribly difficult to make a decision regarding whether

> or not to do this surgery.

>

> Look at it this way. I'm a guy in his mid-20s, enjoying his youth,

> going out, dating, etc. I'll have to sacrifice 2-3 years of the best

> time of my life to this immense project. As I get closer to surgery,

> I will start looking progressively worse (i.e. teeth realigned), AND

> wearing braces before AND after, for months and months.

>

> Even Apart from the weeks or months immediately following surgery, I

> will be throwing away 2 years (!) of the best time of my life. Why

> throwing away, you ask? Because throughout that long period I won't

> be confident enough to go out, meet girls, talk to them, etc. due to

> wearing braces and any other hardware.

>

> Now if I had done this at let's say 15-16, maybe the sacrifice and

> commitment would have been tolerable. If I was a married 40-year-old

> living with wife and children, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. But at

> 25, when I literally need to " present my best face " to women and

> enjoy dating, the personal side of it is extreme. What do you all

> say.

[Guest guest]

Gene,

I have been dating the same guy for almost 2 years now and it started

after I got my braces. He is awesome and does not care AT ALL and has

helped me through the surgery and I'm so glad I have him. It makes it

even more special to know that it doesn't matter if my face is swollen

and I can't talk, he's still sitting next to me on the couch. You are

right, appearance is a big first impression, but the girls that stick

around and get to know you are the right ones. When I got braces

junior year of high school (this is the year after like every single

person got their braces taken off) I was really nervous at first, what

people would say. But there was nothing. And after like 2 weeks you

forget you even have braces.

As far as traveling, you probably couldn't travel like the 2 weeks

after your surgery, but thats about it. I guess eating might be an

issue for a month or two after surgery but if you could work around

that then its like nothing even happened. I'm two months post op,

goign back to college in about a week and I will be totally fine and

back to normal. Anyway, hope this helps.

Val

> >

> > My opinon is girls should like you braces or no

> braces

> > Im 49 and im married with 2 kids i WISH i had done

> this

> > at your age. In 2 years of braces i have had very few

> > comments at all.. Most people dont care. My philopsy is

> look

> > im doing this for me i could give a -----------------------

> ----

> > what anyone else says. i certitianly not let my future

> > dating life make my decision who knows you might get more

> > attention than you need. good luck

[Guest guest]

you are right this is a huge commitment. It's expensive and

stressful while waiting for insurance approval. Time consuming -

many appointments and brushing and flossing take longer too.

Frustrating at times after an adjustment when you become aware that

your teeth are about to bite your tounge and studder like an idiot.

It also sucks when people tell you that your crazy for doing this or

that they plan to " have work done too " like a boob job. Braces are

not attractive when you are eating something like lettuce or

anything sticky and colored. It is also creepy when people say your

whole face will be different. I decided against this surgery as a

teenager and started this whole process when I was 25. I will be

having surgery on Nov3 and hope it all goes well. My deciding factor

was that my teeth were moving around to compensate for the

descrepancy and it wasn't getting any better and I wanted nice

teeth. My father has an underbite and then at 52 had to get false

teeth and they don't fit - his teeth don't work. I started looking

at other people and checking out their jaws and how they worked. I

never knew of the things my mouth didn't do that theirs did because

I never payed attention. I could have waited to see what happened

but I didn't want to be thinking about this when I am 35 so I

started the whole process. As far as looks go my bite is way more

noticable but It dosn't change how I feel about myself and the

braces don't either. My confidence is still there. It wasn't when I

didn't know what I was going to do - I hated having my face picked

apart by the orthodontist. I couldn't imagine waking up every

morning and feeling uncomfortable with my decision. Look at it this

way your not going to die if you don't do it now. You can wait

untill your 40 or never do it. Don't throw your life away. Be

comfortable with whatever you do.

> Thanks everyone for your responses.

>

> It's really terribly difficult to make a decision regarding

whether

> or not to do this surgery.

>

> Look at it this way. I'm a guy in his mid-20s, enjoying his youth,

> going out, dating, etc. I'll have to sacrifice 2-3 years of the

best

> time of my life to this immense project. As I get closer to

surgery,

> I will start looking progressively worse (i.e. teeth realigned),

AND

> wearing braces before AND after, for months and months.

>

> Even Apart from the weeks or months immediately following surgery,

I

> will be throwing away 2 years (!) of the best time of my life. Why

> throwing away, you ask? Because throughout that long period I

won't

> be confident enough to go out, meet girls, talk to them, etc. due

to

> wearing braces and any other hardware.

>

> Now if I had done this at let's say 15-16, maybe the sacrifice and

> commitment would have been tolerable. If I was a married 40-year-

old

> living with wife and children, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. But

at

> 25, when I literally need to " present my best face " to women and

> enjoy dating, the personal side of it is extreme. What do you all

> say.

[Guest guest]

-Gene - Hello there! I'm a 47 year old woman with an underbite. I've

known I needed this surgery for the last twenty-five years (your age)

or more, and now I'm finally going for it. You say that you are in

the prime of your life, but I disagree totally. When I was younger, I

dated alot of men: some were too shallow to see me for the person I

am, with an underbite. Those men weren't worth pursuing, and I'm

happy I didn't get involved with those losers; they just weren't

mature enough. The ones that accepted me for me, underbite and all,

were the ones I befriended and dated. They were REAL people, and I

continue to have friendships with all of them. Although I have yet to

find Mister Right, my life is very rich and full, and I feel I don't

need a man in my life to make me feel complete. And, I'm having this

surgery FOR ME. Any woman who values you as a human being (not as a

piece of meat) will be thrilled you have the self-esteem to wear

braces and undergo surgery. If they don't, they're NOT for you

anyway. Oh, and another thing: braces are sexy when worn by adults,

so you may attract women without even knowing it. Usually adults are

attracted to other adults when they are in the process of improving

their personal appearance too. But, the bottom line is that you must

love yourself enough to go thru all this for YOU. Let us know what

you decide. Good luck and take care. ~~~~ Diane-- In

orthognathicsurgerysupport , " gene23baltimore "

<gene23baltimore@y...> wrote:

> Thanks for the comment. But you're speaking from the perspective of

> a 49-year-old.

>

> Call it shallow, brutal, or " unfair, " but appearance is a big first

> impression by which young women judge guys.

>

> Now, what you might have said (and I would've agreed) is that my

> *appearance post-op* would make me more successful, relaxed, and

> attractive to women than my appearance now, and I would be doing my

> looks a favor in the long run. Perhaps. But then I would be 27,

> partly " out of the game, " with my youth somewhat behind me.

>

> By the way, does anyone have experience doing this at a similar age

> to mine? Having similar fears? The 18-year-old who responded, can

> you share if you went through any dating problems?

>

> Also in addition to dating, what about travel? Not that you'd

> be " bedridden " all the 2 years, but still, you would be stuck being

> close to home all that time.

>

> I would really appreciate more comments and experience, thanks a

lot!

>

>

>

>

>

> >

> > My opinon is girls should like you braces or no

> braces

> > Im 49 and im married with 2 kids i WISH i had

done

> this

> > at your age. In 2 years of braces i have had very few

> > comments at all.. Most people dont care. My philopsy is

> look

> > im doing this for me i could give a ----------------------

-

> ----

> > what anyone else says. i certitianly not let my future

> > dating life make my decision who knows you might get

more

> > attention than you need. good luck

[Guest guest]

Gene,

In my 20s I felt like if it isn't broken - then why fix it? The

discomfort in my bite increased over the past 15 years. Now I'm 35

and I had jaw surgery 7 weeks ago. I look in the mirror and see a

nice change. Most people see it as being more subtle. I get " did

you loose weight? " (lost only 6), " did you change your hair? "

(no), " did you just get braces? " (been wearing them for the past

year). Had I done it in my 20s, I hope I would have married the

same man, etc.

I'm glad I did it, but I had to be 100% sure before. By the way,

I'm feeling great . . . I ran 10 miles with my hubby on Saturday.

Halley

upper/lower/genio 7/31

> > >

> > > My opinon is girls should like you braces or no

> > braces

> > > Im 49 and im married with 2 kids i WISH i had

> done

> > this

> > > at your age. In 2 years of braces i have had very

few

> > > comments at all.. Most people dont care. My philopsy

is

> > look

> > > im doing this for me i could give a -------------------

---

> -

> > ----

> > > what anyone else says. i certitianly not let my future

> > > dating life make my decision who knows you might get

> more

> > > attention than you need. good luck