ONTD

yep, but only for a year. they weren't too bad, i had a uncle that was an ortho and could get them free so why not?

do the invisalign or w/e they're called. the clear braces. i think they're suppose to cost around the same.

no. i was blessed to have straight teeth. a few too many, but they were straight

i had braces for two years in middle school. my abusive, wife-beating ortho did wonders for me. my bottom teeth are shifting now tho but they're still fairly straight.

i did. i'm missing four teeth. i can't even talk about how my first orthodontist screwed me over without getting mad

I had a retainer in the second and third grade and it worked fucking miracles.

nope, couldn't afford them. I have gapped front teeth and at the bottom row, one of my teeth never grew in properly, so it kinda sits in the back of the rest of my other teeth.

lol I had head gear

~ugly duckling tbh

Yep, from the ages of 15 to 18. I never wore my retainer and my teeth stayed in place tho.

Oh and my mom got braces in her 50s so don't feel bad.

yes and i still wear my retainer because if i don't, the dreaded gap between my two front teeth comes back!

I had braces from like 16-17 and in my senior pictures, they were in the middle of fixing them so I just have this ugly-ass gap in my teeth that I didn't have originally. I look so busted.

My step-mom is a dental assistant though, so they were free, and I always wear my retainer because I'm so grateful for that.

Nope, my teeth are really straight. I feel like everyone I know had braces, it's strange.

YESSIR. From 15 to 17 and like you I baaaarely wear my retainer. Though I recently tried and they ~quasi fit and were painful as fuck. Unfortunately, I then got my wisdom teeth out (last week) so I'm nervous to put the retainer back on lol. I'll do it eventually.

I had braces for 8 fucking years, from the age of 10 to 18, and I'm wearing retainers now. I don't ever want them again.

I had headgear for a year, then braces for 2-3 years, then a retainer for a year and my teeth are perfect as fuq, worth every penny. I get compliments on my smile all the time now, and I'm like 'THANK YOU GOVERNMENT DENTAL PLAN!'

i only had braces for 18 months and never wore my retainer. now my top row of teeth are spaced out a bit, and i hate it but i can't afford braces again. but i'm ugly all over so i don't mind lol

my sister had braces for 4 years, and has amazing teeth.

I'm in the same boat as you. I'd consider the invisible ones, but for now my teeth aren't so jacked up that I need to worry.

Maybe if I'm ever a billionaire or something I might fix them but I don't give a shit rn.

I should have gotten braces as a child. I had an idiot dentist who insisted I was "still young" and needed to "grow into my teeth" (!?!?!), which was music to the ears of my often-too-stingy parents, in spite of being able to afford to cover the costs with their full benefits at the time. I was much too old to be on their insurance by the time they finally suggested "yeah, definitely look into braces!". It's like, "Yeah! Thanks for the tip I've been obsessing over throughout my entire self-conscious adolescence!".

Dont sweat the age. I'm 29 and take the braces option somewhat seriously, after other finances are sorted out, which wont be anytime soon. "Better late than never" and all that.

Yes, I'm so happy I got them. My teeth were straight but I just had gaps. I get so many compliments on my smile.

yes, but only because there was not enough space for one of my teeth to come out. i never wore my retainer and my teeth didn't get fucked up. i'm SO glad i don't have braces anymore. they made my awkward stage even worse.

I have them right now, just a few more weeks until I get them off before college. ;;

eh my teeth weren't that bad but my dad was a dentist and he went full out on my teeth
i had my teeth done like so many times

Yeah, from when I was 11 to 13. I had a super-narrow palate and had to have it widened, also. It was all very intense, the braces, the oral surgeries...I have awesome teeth now, but my chin is still narrow to match my original narrow palate, so I kinda have Reese Witherspoon chin :/

Yeah I had them my mouth was so messed up because my teeth are big but I have a tiny mouth. I started the process in 5th grade with that awful expander. I wore my braces for two and a half years and thankfully got them off before high school. I'm glad I got them on early tho.

Nope, I need braces. My dentist even had me go to the orthodontist but they rejected me. I still have some baby teeth so that resulted in a lot of spaces. I don't know why they wouldn't do it but other than that my teeth are okay I guess(I still don't like them). I'm just going to have to pay for it.

Too bad my parents teeth are perfect! D:

I had braces all 4 years of high school but rarely wore my rubberbands. I mean, how annoying is it to have to dig in your mouth to remove/replace your rubberbands every day during lunch, right in front of all your friends? Finally after like 4 years, my mom was like "THATS IT, JUST TAKE THEM OFF JESUS" and then I kept losing/breaking my retainers. So obv my teeth shifted but it's okay.

Before I had braces, though, I had a palette expander. Did anyone else have this? I had to use a key to widen it a little bit each day. It sucked.

My mum just got her braces off-- she's 49. So it's never too late!

I had braces for two years and wore my retainer for about... three days afterwards. I had to wear headgear when I had the braces though, so I was like FUCK THAT SHIT, I'M GOING COMMANDO. Everything's still mostly straight, nine years later.

that happened to my friend too. he had braces twice.

i had braces for 2 years (16-18). i was good about my retainers for a while. i dropped my bottom ones and warped them i think because they stopped fitting. then i stopped wearing them completely. my teeth are still mostly straight but a gap is developing on one side. i need to go talk to my ortho about getting new retainers...

Got them for 2 years and when I got them off I didnt wear my retainer either so they fucked up again.. went back to the dentist for my monthly appointments and he said I was gonna need braces again (for free) since it was in the contract that they had to leave my teeth perfect, etc etc.

Soooo I got them again for another 2 years then I did wear my retainer for like 6 months and stopped going to the dentist.

They look good now, it's been like 2 years since I got them off.

Edited at 2011-07-05 06:09 am (UTC)

I have them now, and for the second time. I hopefully should get them off in 3 months though.

I had braces for two years. I had a huge overbite, and you could about drive a school bus between my front teeth.

Everything was fine until my wisdom teeth came in. They pushed everything forward, so my teeth are still straight, but my overbite came back. I wouldn't do braces again to fix that.

Yup, braces for about 3/4 years. I've had to have my retainers replaced at least once because I'm meant to wear them when I'm asleep and I find them really bothersome. I keep telling myself each night will be the last without them...

guuuuuuuuuurl, I had braces for 7 years, then a retainer for 2 because I was missing an adult tooth (just never had it), and they had to move shit around to get the space, but they kept fucking shit up and the whole thing turn into 9 year from the like, 3 they said it would take. So much of that time was bullshit from the ortho that I fucking hate my teeth now despite them looking fine.

i would recommend invisalign, that's what i have right now. i need to wear them for 6 months and it cost me £2400. my teeth weren't that bad so depending on how crooked your teeth are it could be v. expensive.

No. Thank god. I don't think I could stand it..

My teeth are perfectly straight BUT it's my jaw that's a bit messed up. My lower jaw is a bit to the left. :(

i did... didn't wear my retainer as much as i should have but my teeth aren't horribly crooked like they used to be. i had bucky-beaver teeth before braces LOL

I have braces on right now. I lost my two front teeth when I was 11 playing 'gymnastics' off the back of a basketball hoop thing and ended up smacking/chin-planting into the concrete.

Damn things came out root and all and I don't remember a thing!

So I went to the hospital and they did the xrays, etc but what they didn't do is put the F**kers back in! anyway I've had a plate with two false teeth since then. But I kept breaking the damn thing when biting into stuff like food :(

So I took the dive and went to see a surgeon and they said that because the teeth had shifted forward during the 20years since the accident (I'm 33 next month)I would need to have some space created to have "normal" front teeth impanted.
Option A was take out a side tooth and have a wonky smile or
Option B was get braces to create the space and then get the implants.

Guess which one I chose?

So I'm nearly at the end of the thing (started in Jan 10) and almost ready for the implants in a couple more months. Not looking forward to the pain OR the $ drain. Braces were 7,500 and implants are 11,000 (AUD of course). I need to talk to my tax person to see if I can get our national healthcare provider to do or at least partially pay for the implants as prosthetics. Cos to tell you the truth I don't know anyone who would be comfortable A) going out in public without their two front teeth and B) comfortable eating anything without those suckers!

So to summarize.. do it!

Yep, I got mine off last May, a few months shy of 11 years.

So don't worry about braces in your 20s, I had them all through University and people didn't even give a fuck. In fact most of my friends had never known me without braces so now it's a shock to see me!

And my teeth shifted even with the retainer, although I think that was because it got messed with by another doc (long story)...so I'm still wearing it lmao.

i had braces for 2 years when i was 12, lost my retainer 3 months later.... i'm 25 now and my teeth are still perfect

I've had EVERYTHING almost--lip bumpers, expanders, two sets of braces, retainers, rubber bands. I was fortunate enough not to need headgear, but as a trade I needed to have a frenectomy (it contributed to a gap in my front teeth) and I have a permanent retainer in my lower teeth (used to have one in the tops too but it broke and the dentist had to remove it). Hated braces then but I'm glad I had them now. My teeth were so bad and my mouth so small that it was literally affecting my already delayed speech!

my story is same with you. I need to wear braces again and I am 20 but IDGAF

no, the dentist said I had the perfect set of teeth, gotta thank my dad for them.

I got braces, wore them for a little over two years, then when they came off my orthondonist is all - well, we can't promise you straight teeth!

O.o

i'm about to get braces and i'm 19 :'(

lol yeah, I wore braces for some ridiculous reason pertaining to my crossbite and how I could apparently develop gum disease as a result. idk, I told my parents that it was unnecessary, but they bought the orthodontist's rubbish. I was supposed to wear a retainer afterwards and never did, so I probably still have that crossbite.

Yup, for like two years in middle school. And I always, always wear my damn retainer because my mom had braces in the dental age of "oh, just wear the retainer for a year and your teeth will stay perfect after that!" and now they're all screwy and she was basically like LAURA YOU WILL WEAR YOUR RETAINER DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR DON'T END UP LIKE ME ETC.

Plus, my teeth hurt the next day if I forget to wear it overnight. So I wear it.

nope, had totally straight teeth. Though recently (maybe 2 years ago?) I've got some crowding on the bottom...I suspect the crowding's something to do with my jaw position and stress rather than genetics but I'll prob go to an orthodontist next month to see.

I got braces when I was in 8th grade, and got them off when I was a sophomore. Never had to wear head gear or anything terrible, well, the rubber bands to pull in my canines were pretty brutal. Wore my retainers every night for two years after I had my braces taken off. Not sure how much movement my teeth have undergone since then, I'm 24 now.

are you me? had them from the end of 5th grade til 8th grade, my retainer broke in 9th grade and i never got it fixed, and now i have an overbite again


w/e, im still hot *shrug*

i wore braces for 4 years and was told to wear a retainer. i never did and i always get compliments on my teeth (especially from my doctor). i got lucky.

I've got them now, but also had em when I was 14.

Totally freakin' late to this post, but I had braces like 4 times.

1. I was 10 living in Virginia. I was moving to Texas and they took them off.
2. 11-13 Braces again in Texas. But I moved to Japan so they took my braces off again.
3. 14-17, braces. Had a small gap left that the ortho didn't want to close (he said he liked it..), so I took my rubber bands and wore them horizontally to push that gap closed. Fuck yeah. But my dog ate my retainer so they went back to being fucked up.

22-23 - Invisalign. Finally finished. They said when you're done, you don't have to wear the trays during the day, just at night, but that's bullshit. My teeth (especially my gap which I'm super sensitive about)just came out of no where during the day, so I wear the trays all the fuckin time now. Also, have a small gap still. Dentist said "Well we can't close that. it's actually natural". So while it's smaller than what it was before, the fact that there is a small one there and the one thing I wanted done the most still bugs me. Plus the fact that's "natural"? I hope to see an Ortho when I get my own dental insurance to see if I can't do /something/ about that gap. I was teased constantly as a kid for it, so to close it would kind of heal some wounds I have left from that. However, I'm looking towards some idols who have gaps to try to become more confident with mine. Like Hope Larson <3

/Cool-long-ass-story-bro