there was no coincidence that the most depressed point in my life occurred while I was in glasses.

It wasn't that I thought others thought I was ugly. It was that I thought I was ugly. I was unrecognizable. To myself.

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The only place I did notice improvement, was in sports. Baseball and football became so much easier to play without worrying about glasses flying off, fogging up, or bad peripheral vision. Surgery is one thing, with its necessities and its extravagance, but you really can mostly see better with contacts than with glasses. And it is not purely for cosmetic reasons.

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I'm assuming you don't mean Invisalign, because those didn't exist when we were teenagers. My parents waited until I was 15 or so to put me in braces, and then felt guilty about it so they got me invisible braces without asking me. What they call "invisible braces" is actually just making the part that sticks to your teeth out of porcelain instead of metal, so it sort of matches. But it's a much weaker material, so they're much bigger. And the wire is still metal, so you're still clearly wearing braces.

So no, it is not a self-esteem boost when small children on the street approach to ask you what's on your teeth. Or what's wrong with your face, but that was because I had terrible acne.

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Now I wear my glasses a third to half of the time. I've told this story before, I think, but the night I met my husband I was wearing glasses. His opening line was that he liked my frames. Proof, I think, that God has a sense of humor ... for years I hated them and then they helped me find someone I loved. How cool is that?

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And even if it does, having perfect boobs, figure whatever won't solve all your problems. Basically the idea that one's life would be perfect if they are the perfect weight, have perfect teeth, hair etc. Sometimes, the outside really isn't an accurate indicator of self esteem/happiness etc.

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I had mine so I could close my mouth and allow my wisdom teeth to come up. I wore braces for almost six years and do not have perfect teeth (but then again I'm British...)

I was bullied for both having terribly deformed teeth and for being 'vain' for wanting them to be 'perfect' by wearing a brace.

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But by the time I was, oh, 15, I wanted contact lenses. Wasn't allowed to get them until I graduated from high school, and I loved them for approximately 6 months. That's how long it was until I experienced my very first horribly dry Minnesota winter in college, and the contact lenses left red circles around my eyes. I slowly just stopped wearing them and haven't gone back yet. But I think about it sometimes. I like the way I look without them, but I'm too lazy to wear them regularly.

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Also, it's kinda funny how in my teen years, I would never be caught dead in public wearing my glasses, but now I rarely wear my contacts. But those contacts (along with the braces) did an amazing number on my self-esteem, and gave me a lot of confidence, especially after years of being bullied because of the way I looked.

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I still bleach it. I will bleach it until I die or my lip falls off. I bleach my cleavage hairs, now, too...sigh. The worst part about it is that it never ends.

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