Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 19:03     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
I had never heard of orthodontists shaving teeth down after braces! That is super weird. I had braces in my late teens and that was never discussed. I can definitely see how it would give someone a weird look, with all the teeth flat straight across.

But that's not orthodontia, even if an orthodontist does it. I have a cousin who had his teeth shaved to give them a very regular look because he lives in Southern California and so many people have teeth like that, whether from shaving down or veneers. I think it looks fake and weird.

I had to have a tooth shaved down to a nub after a root canal in order to make room for a crown, and I found the experience deeply unsettling. I had a temporary crown in there for a week while my permanent crown was made and it came off while I was eating one day and I could feel the nub with my tongue. I kid you not, it felt like death.

I don't like screwing with my teeth.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 18:36     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
I think it's because a lot of orthodontists shave down the teeth and it's too uniform, too strange, takes away a certain "look" you're used to with that person.

ALWAYS tell the orthodontist you want to be there when the braces come off and you want to discuss the shaving. They all do it without discussion, and it often takes away the character.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 18:17     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:After three years of braces and teeth removal, my kid is having surgery to fix her jaw. The doctor also mentioned maybe having a genioplasty. I'm sure it will take her a while to get used to her new mouth!

Did the braces and extractions necessatate the surgery?
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 18:15     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:I mentioned this to the ortho when we went in for consultation. Couldn't really give me a reason.[/quote
I think it's not so much the straightening of the teeth, but the filing down of them. I don't know if they also "flatten" the front of the teeth, but the bottoms of a lot of these uncanny smile/braces people have been filed straight across. They look like choppers.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 18:11     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here is a bunch of people's before and afters with braces. None of them look uncanny to me -- they almost universally look better, or they look the same just with straighter teeth. With a lot of the kids you can tell they underwent puberty changes during their braces so some of them have more dramatic changes in appearance, but I think a lot of it has nothing to do with the braces themselves. It's normal for a a kid's face to mature a lot between age 10 and age 16.


Sorry, forgot the link: https://www.roederorthodontics.com/braces-before-and-after/


Np. Those kids look great, but the Colin Jost and Tiger Woods examples look different.

I see what OP is talking about re the curve. The teeth don't curve perfectly with their smile. For the parent worried, though, probably a non-issue. Seems like such a small detail most people won't notice, if it even happens to your child.

I think some orthodontists over straighten probably to count for noncompliance with retainers or movement later in life. There are also some orthodontist who just aren’t that good
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 17:33     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here is a bunch of people's before and afters with braces. None of them look uncanny to me -- they almost universally look better, or they look the same just with straighter teeth. With a lot of the kids you can tell they underwent puberty changes during their braces so some of them have more dramatic changes in appearance, but I think a lot of it has nothing to do with the braces themselves. It's normal for a a kid's face to mature a lot between age 10 and age 16.


Sorry, forgot the link: https://www.roederorthodontics.com/braces-before-and-after/


Np. Those kids look great, but the Colin Jost and Tiger Woods examples look different.

I see what OP is talking about re the curve. The teeth don't curve perfectly with their smile. For the parent worried, though, probably a non-issue. Seems like such a small detail most people won't notice, if it even happens to your child.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 17:29     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:I am a new poster and I agree that the post braces look is weird. Too many kids have that weird smile now.
I say this as a parent to two kids who are getting orthodontist work

I wonder if it’s because orthodontia is more attainable? Like, maybe there is an actual improvement to a kid with obvious crowding or other malocclusion. But then we are performing orthodontia on kids who maybe don’t actually really need it, in the process changing their entire bone and jaw structure in the process? This is the only thing I can think of. Our dentist keeps saying DD needs braces but can’t tell me exactly why, other than because one molar overlaps more than she likes, but can give no reason why braces would improve her quality of life or dental health. Am I really going to change my child’s entire jaw structure to accommodate one weird tooth when there are no issues? I’m sure some would, and I’m sure there is an orthodontist waiting in the wings to make it happen.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 17:25     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
It's because their teeth are perfect but their faces are not.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 17:20     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
I am a new poster and I agree that the post braces look is weird. Too many kids have that weird smile now.
I say this as a parent to two kids who are getting orthodontist work
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 17:09     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Also, "uncanny valley": "The "uncanny valley" is a psychological phenomenon where something that is almost, but not quite, human, triggers a sense of unease or revulsion in humans."

Please people, stop dragging your everyday stupid into a public space like DCUM. Uncanny is a great word for this. Props to OP.


You are the OP. Stop giving props to yourself.

This is the OP and that wasn’t me, you can ask if you don’t believe it.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 16:11     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:Also, "uncanny valley": "The "uncanny valley" is a psychological phenomenon where something that is almost, but not quite, human, triggers a sense of unease or revulsion in humans."

Please people, stop dragging your everyday stupid into a public space like DCUM. Uncanny is a great word for this. Props to OP.


You are the OP. Stop giving props to yourself.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 16:11     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Uncanny? I have no idea what you’re talking about.


Same


This has got to be sock puppet. No way there are two people this stupid on the same thread.


No, there’s definitely at least two people who don’t understand what you’re talking about. I’m one of them.


+3. No freaking clue what you're talking about. You have a weird obsession with teeth that's for sure.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 16:10     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Uncanny? I have no idea what you’re talking about.


It means something's off but you can't quite put your finger on it. Like how a humanoid robot's movements and expressions aren't quite natural, but it's difficult to articulate exactly how.

Uncanny seems like the right word for a kid with new braces. They move their mouths in unnatural ways until they get used to the braces.


No, I don’t think you really understand the word. There can be an uncanny resemblance. And uncanny coincidence. But an uncanny smile post-braces? Sorry, it doesn’t make sense.


Use your google powers. This is literally the result: "strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way."


So you’re telling us that kids’ smiles are unsettling to you in a strange, mysterious, perhaps even supernatural way after they get their braces off? You’re a moron.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 16:10     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Uncanny? I have no idea what you’re talking about.


Same


+1

I've never heard a person called this but I looked it up "A photorealistic human texture demands human facial proportions, or the computer generated character can result in the uncanny valley. Abnormal facial proportions, including those typically used by artists to enhance attractiveness (e.g., larger eyes), can look eerie with a photorealistic human texture."
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2025 16:10     Subject: Uncanny after braces?
Anonymous wrote:Here is a bunch of people's before and afters with braces. None of them look uncanny to me -- they almost universally look better, or they look the same just with straighter teeth. With a lot of the kids you can tell they underwent puberty changes during their braces so some of them have more dramatic changes in appearance, but I think a lot of it has nothing to do with the braces themselves. It's normal for a a kid's face to mature a lot between age 10 and age 16.


Sorry, forgot the link: https://www.roederorthodontics.com/braces-before-and-after/