If you had braces as a child/teen - are you happy with the result?

[kathymuggle]

If you had braces as a child/teen - are you happy with the result?

Do you think it was worth it - and not just the cost, but the time, pain, headgear etc?

I do realise advances have been made (OK - I hope!) in orthodontia, so I cannot entirely base my decisions on this, but I still want to know!

If you want to say how long ago you had braces, that would be helpful.

[odenata]

I had braces in the early 90s, and, yes, it was definitely worth it to me.

[ProtoLawyer]

I had them too early, and I had an orthodontist who kept moving the goalposts about when treatment would end. ("You'll wear your retainers until you're 16." "Until you're 18." "Until you're 21." "We may need to do braces again because your jaw is growing.")

I got fed up with the whole process and quit around age 16. My teeth are slightly crooked again (they were very crooked before) and I kind of like them that way.

[katie&micah]

I had braces in the late 90's. I wore them for 2 1/2 years I think. My mouth went to very crowded and crooked to gorgeous. I just wish I had kept up with wearing my retainers. My lower teeth ended up shifting a little, but the top still look great. I would definitely do it again.

[BookishVonLiberal]

I had braces in the early 90s and again in the early 2000s.
My dental development was somewhat delayed and I was still missing adult teeth at age 17. While the first set of braces worked, I lost my retainer and then did not return to complete the treatment. When those adult teeth finally arrived, they didn't have their places reserved since I didn't have the retainer and everything went to hell again.
Thus, I had to return to orthodontia as an adult (and pay out of pocket). I got those braces off seven years ago, and I still wear my retainers. One is permanent and one is removable. I plan to wear them until either they disintegrate or I die. My sister got her permanent retainers removed after almost 20 years, and her teeth have shifted. I don't want that to happen to me.

So, to sum it up, I would not call my experiences positive (mouth pain is one of the worst experiences IMO) but I'm glad I did it, I would do it again and I will make sure my dd gets to an ortho when her adult teeth start coming in. I didn't vote because it seemed like I would just screw up the results.

[Ruthla]

I'm satisfied with how my mouth looks now, and found the whole orthodontic experience to be tolerable. It was practically "a rite of passage" among middle schoolers at the time (I was born in 72 and had braces from 6th through 8th grades, so I guess that's 1983-1986ish). I didn't experience any more discomfort than I thought was normal.

I can't say that I'm 100% happy with the results, as I have no idea how I'd have looked otherwise.

[Sileree]

I'm glad I got them. Its helped my self-confidence a lot. One of my front teeth was flipped nearly 90 degrees because both front adult teeth grew in at the same time but the rest did not until later and there wasn't enough room. I only had braces in for eight months and didn't need any teeth pulled. My teeth were straight until my wisdom teeth grew in, so my bottom front teeth overlap a little (but hey, so do Scarlett Johansson's) but the teeth in my top jaw remain straight so I am happy with that.

[Klynne]

I had a gap between my front upper teeth and crooked bottom teeth. I had my braces removed my sophomore year (so like a little over 10 years ago) and loved the results. In addition to straight teeth, I also had them make room for my wisdom teeth, because I intended to keep them (we'll see now, as i have cavities in them).

Anyways I loved my results. I always get comments from dentists that I have a nice bite and beautiful teeth.

I'm so glad my parents budgeted for braces for me!

[oiseau]

I had braces from 3rd-10th grade in the 90's. My lower jaw stuck out farther than my upper jaw. I had 10 teeth pulled during that time (a lot of my baby teeth were fused to the bone). After I got my braces off, I didn't keep up with my retainer for very long, so my teeth have shifted a little, but I still get compliments on them being straight.
I have 2 lingering issues though:
1. I had the braces so long (I was my doc's longed running patient at the time) and have stains on a few of my teeth from the glue (i.e. my other teeth got darker, but the place under the braces stayed white). I suppose that could probably be fixed, but I really hate people messing with my mouth after all that and it doesn't bother me much at all.
2. My upper and lower teeth still don't really line up. I can make them line up, but if I just close my mouth naturally, they don't. Also..and this may or may not be related, my upper and lower incisors don't meet when I close my mouth, so I have an awful time trying to bite things (food things...pizza, corn on the cob, anything that's not super soft)...I have to use my molars which is pretty difficult and annoying. It's always been that way, so I'm used to it, it's just annoying.

So overall, I voted other. I think having braces was overall a positive thing for me and my teeth would be a lot worse if I hadn't had them. It was really a pain though (in all senses of the word).

[Peony]

Oh yes! I could not imagine my teeth had I not had them. DH's parents did not get them for him and he really wishes they would have. He is considering getting them as an adult.

[Viola]

None of the kids in my family had braces. I had 4 adult teeth pulled, instead. My sisters had no teeth pulled, but they both got braces when they were in their 30s, and are happy with the results.

[The4OfUs]

I had them in Jr High, so that would have been about, uh....1986-ish? I had them for less than 2 years, and they weren't really painful at all that I can remember, more annoying sometimes than actually painful. Then I wore a retainer for about 3 years after, on and off. I actually had one of those headgear dealies for the first 6 months to wear at night, but then it was regular old retainer.

My bottom teeth have shifted a little bit, but overall I'm glad I had them cause several of my teeth were tweaked and twisted quite a bit.

FWIW, I did NOT have all the uppers levelled. I like the fact that they all still have their natural shape (i.e., flat, then shorter, then pointy) as opposed to them all being the same in the front. I have friends who had the teeth levelled, or had veneers put on or something in conjunction with the orthodontia treatment so all the fronts look the same. I like the more natural look better, personally.

[heket]

Both. My teeth needed the help. I also had some oral surgery before the braces to make room for the changes. My teeth aren't perfect though, since my retainer broke and my parents weren't able to replace it. Overall it did straighten my teeth.

What I didn't like was that the glue wasn't removed by the orthodontist and when I learned this I wasn't able to afford to have it done (my old orthodonist lost his old office to a fire and I had no insurance at the time to have a new one remove it.) I had pieces break, and that was never fun with metal braces. One of the anchors around the molar came off twice and I had some of the little brackets on front teeth come off just from wear. Oh, and I always had the assistants who could never trim the wire enough, so I was always using wax to cover the ends. :P

I figure my kids will need them one day as dh and I bought had braces as teens. I'd like to look more into Invisalign kinds of options for them.

[EviesMom]

I had braces in the early 90s, as did DH. We both hated them. Neither set of parents asked our opinions on them. I was already a highly teased kid, and I did not have badly misaligned teeth. They never bothered me and they weren't something other kids ever teased me about. But the braces were a major teasing point. And they hurt like heck. And the orthodontist's office often said that it was "punishment" for having sucked my thumb as a child.

After I'd done everything they told me to do and worn the stupid retainer, my impacted wisdom teeth pushed everything out of line again on the bottom. The orthodonist said "oh, yeah, you should have had those removed." Got them all removed, the orthodontist first put me back in a retainer (I was a college student), decided I wasn't wearing it constantly (no, I wasn't. It hurt horribly.) and should be put back in braces and that of course he would charge the whole fee process over again.

I refused. It was one of the first medical treatments I made my own decision on; told my parents I refused to have it done again. My teeth are now fine. The bottom is slightly misaligned, but no one's ever noticed and it's not like I do modeling, so who cares. DH had a similar experience and just his bottom teeth are also slightly misaligned. His orthodontist was sane though. He said "Well, it doesn't affect your bite. Does it bother you? Do you want to do a retainer again to get it lined back up?" and DH said no thanks.

I would NEVER EVER do braces on my 14 year old child without his or her express request to have them. I might have wanted them if I had a chance to choose to get them when I was 17 and settled in high school, or in college. Or maybe, I guess, at a younger age. But right at the start of high school was the very worst timing.

[mama_mich]

I started my mouth work in the late 80's and did not finish till 95. I started with a perm mouth piece up top that had a key my mom turned every night to spread my upper jaw apart. Then I had a removable mouth piece that brought my lower jaw forward. Then I got the braces. Then they removed both eye teeth and and the 2 impacted eye teeth above them. The braces got tighter to close the gaps and eventually I had the rubber bands too. Then I was supposed to wear my retainers once the braced were off. It must sound like my mouth must have been a complete mess to start and yes I had some knarley buck teeth. My sisters called me buck tooth betty. All that work really wasn't that bad. The worst part was definitely the perverted ortho who would rub his elblows across my breast OFTEN. I had the braces removed the day of my senior pictures earlier than the ortho wanted. I still have some small gaps where the teeth were removed and I think they would have closed if they stayed on longer. God do I wish I kept up with the retainers its the most important part. I get a ton of compliments on my smile and I am really grateful to my dad for that!! There was a medical purpose to it all too. My lower jaw was so far back that it caused major snoring that was disrupting my agnoids.

[UberMama]

Not worth it.

My wisdom teeth are coming in impacted and they knew that back then (when I was 13/14, I'm 25 now). I have issues with not enough room in my mouth and the wisdom teeth coming in like that did NOT help.

So the braces did their job for about a year after they were taken off and then my teeth began shifting back (even with use of a retainer!).

So it was a waste and I knew it would be even back then. Once I have my wisdom teeth removed, I am going to save up for the Invisaligns and get those.

[Mama_Leah]

I had braces for two years in the mid 90's. I had very crowded teeth and had to have a palate expander on top. Very painful but worth it I think. My orthodontist was not obsessed with getting teeth "perfect" so my smile still looks natural but nice and people compliment me about it. I wore my retainer for the full time so not much shifting.

The only thing I do regret a little is that my bottom retainer is permanent. It can be removed by an ortho though. The last time I went to the dentist he bent it when he was scraping my teeth and now one of my bottom teeth is shifting. : So, I will probably have it removed soon and hopefully have Invisalign or something to tweak it back in place.

[*Amy*]

I had braces from around 12-15, and I did have straight teeth. I lost my retainer about a year later, though, and never replaced it so my teeth have gotten worse and worse over the years. I'm now 35 and am considering braces again, in fact!

[*Erin*]

i said "ok" because my top teeth came out lovely, but my over-crowded bottom teeth shifted right back to where they were within a couple yrs. they wouldve been great if they'd pulled a tooth on the bottom. i don't know why they didnt...

[Toolip]

The whole thing was a great experience for me. I had a WONDERFUL orthodontist who became a kind of mentor to me. My teeth are very thankful too