this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2025
27 points (90.9% liked)

Relationship Advice

3188 readers
90 users here now

Welcome to the Relationship Advice community on Lemmy and Kbin!

The ideal place to ask for help with your relationships: romantic, friendships, we don't know what we are yet, co-workers or just human interactions in general.

Please make sure you read our rules before posting.

Rules:

Rules can be clicked on to be expanded.

1: Treat all users with respect. [!]

The goal of this community is helping OP and readers, not making fun of them. We are an inclusive community, any sort of disrespect towards ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc, will not be tolerated.

2: Mark sexual content as NSFW. [!]

Posts containing mentions or descriptions of sexual topics must be tagged as NSFW. This includes descriptions of sexual acts, requests for advice in the bedroom, explicit descriptions of your body and similar content.

3: All posts must be a request for advice.

All posts must be phrased as a request for advice or as a question. Sharing of stories, personal anecdotes, or past mistakes are only allowed if they're followed by a clear and relevant request for advice with the situation.

4: Provide sufficient and relevant information.

Your title and body need to contain enough information relevant to your situation, such as ages, genders, and the relationship between people mentioned. For privacy-related concerns, we recommend using fake names and broad general locations.

5: Comments must be on topic and relevant to OP.

Comments must be directly related to helping OP, asking for more information, providing relevant resources or otherwise relevant to the thread. Off-topic comments and remarks, suspicious attempts at gathering personal data from OP or other readers, or bullying will not be tolerated.

6: This is a community for requesting advice, not moral judgement.

Moral judgements, "AITA?" and other similar questions are better served by different communities.

Reddit reposts are allowed.

As a temporary measure and the result of a poll, Reddit reposts are allowed following an expanded set of rules: https://lemmy.world/post/317115

How are rules enforced and bans applied?

For the most part, this community operates under the assumption that users are acting in good faith and should be given second-chances for their mistakes. Posts and comments with very light rule violations, or otherwise undesired but mostly harmless content, can be removed by a moderator on a case by case basis without any further punitive actions.

For violations of our rules, we follow a “3 strike” system as follows:

  • 1st violation: 72 hours ban + moderator warning via PMs.

  • 2nd violation: 1 week ~ 1 month ban + final warning via PMs.

  • 3rd violation: 1 month ~ permanent ban.

The goal of this system is making sure users are made aware of their behavior before being permanently banned, but also protecting the community from any rule violations.

Exceptions:

While the “3 strike” system will be applied to the majority of situations, rules marked with a [!] in the sidebar signifies a rule that, if violated in an intentional, malicious or significant way, can warrant an immediate permanent ban regardless of the number of previous violations. This includes severe disrespect to users or groups, dangerous content, and similar.

Related communities:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Several things going on here, and they all blend together.

  • She really, really thinks she's ugly. Nothing debilitating I guess, but enough to scare me off talking about it.

  • Apparently braces are a Filipino thing, for young girls. She's 54. Being Asian, she looks more like 40, still...

  • I think the above stems from the vanity of showing, "I'm rich enough to afford dental care and braces make me look young."

  • Her teeth are perfect. When we started dating I asked how much longer she would have to wear them (bottom teeth only). She laughed her ass off like I was so silly! Said it was a fashion thing.

  • She's very fashionable, so I feel like mentioning the thing would be a direct assault on her self esteem. No problem saying this or that does or doesn't look good on her, but this feels way more personal than talking about a dress.

  • Now that we've been together a couple of years, I'm scared shitless she will think I found her ugly this whole time. Despite the fact I worship the ground she walks on. Daily.

  • No clue on the cost and we're broke ATM. Maybe wait till I have a good job again?

Before anyone says it, of course we can speak freely to one another, just a sticky case for the reasons outlined. I feel removing her braces is the one thing she could do to be more attractive, and that would be a pretty (heh) big deal. We both put in the effort to be attractive to one another, that's no big deal. But this one thing feels out-of-bounds, verboten.

Can't answer till tomorrow. She's off work in a minute.

all 43 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 30 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The idea of getting braces to be fashionable is just so bizarre to me, this has been a fascinating read.

I wish I had some advice for you.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago

Weird to me too! OTOH I've seen young porn stars with braces, apparently that's a whole fetish thing. And we all know why, "Look how young I am!" Kinda the same I think, but also an indicator of wealth where she's from.

I don't think she realizes they look bad here in America. Makes her bottom lip pouch out, not a good look.

I'm over thinking this. I'll try to bring it up relaxing tonight.

[–] Canadian_anarchist@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Re: cost

The cost of fashion braces , especially if they are not being regularly adjusted, should be no/low cost. Most of the cost is in the initial installation and removal, and the monthly adjustment appointments. I seriously doubt she's going regularly.

FYI- discoloration of the enamel can happen as a result of braces due to inconsistent staining of enamel. The longer they are on, the worse it can be. It's possible that she doesn't want them removed for this reason.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Those braces haven't been touched since they were installed, purely cosmetic. Pair of diagonal pliers get the job done?

[–] Canadian_anarchist@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That would deal with the wire. The brackets glued to the teeth, no.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Jesus man, I was joking! Now I'm laughing picturing the scene, "Hold still dammit or it'll hurt worse!"

[–] Canadian_anarchist@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days ago

You've indicated your respect for your gf, so I didn't figure you'd actually do it. It would make for an interesting piece of dark comedy though.

[–] ConstantPain@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Can't she change them for removable ones?

[–] morphballganon@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Do you both visit the dentist regularly? What does her dentist have to say on the subject?

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Actually we don't. Never known her to go, I don't have insurance and we both have healthy teeth.

[–] morphballganon@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

You have no business criticising someone else's dental habits if you don't at least go for regular check-ups yourself.

If you were to go, you could ask the dentist how common braces are in your age group, and mention you know someone in your age group who has worn braces for x amount of time, and ask if they would have any concerns about that practice.