Braces and good teeth
 

Hi Menewsha,
Any of you have had braces before? Do share your stories.
If you don't have braces and have perfect teeth then good for you, but I would also like to hear from those of you with crooked teeth and plan on keeping them for a while. <3

I am 19 and I have braces and will continue to have braces for another two years. Sometimes I feel like it's not that worth it except for hygiene purposes but I do have lots of people that tell me that having perfect teeth is kind of a big deal in the "grown up" world. I can see why they say that although I don't necessarily agree..
So I'm just wondering about what you all think about braces in general.

I'd also like to share that one of the main reasons why I hate braces is because I can't eat Hot Cheetoes anymore. [gonk]

I had braces for three years. My teeth were severely messed up at the start. A lot of my baby teeth never fell out, but their replacements grew in anyway, so I had two rows of teeth in some places. My canines were forward and high up, compared to where they should be, and I had one tooth that came in but never breached my gum. After having many teeth pulled (I lost count, but I believe it was upwards of or around six) and braces for three years, I now have a normal mouth! I have to wear retainers at night for the rest of my life to keep my teeth from going back to how they were, but ah well.

I think it's made a big difference in how I look, and it's certainly made a difference in my confidence. Before I got braces, I was embarrassed to grin or laugh because I knew how bad my mouth looked. Now I don't even give it a second thought! A few people have told me I have nice teeth and/or a nice smile. I think that if your teeth are noticeably crooked and you can afford to get braces, you should. It shouldn't be this way, maybe, but appearances do matter, and having really messed up teeth can make people make unfair judgements about you. Not to mention what it can do to your esteem and confidence.

My braces never really bothered me that much. If anything, I was relieved to have them. They helped hide how messed up my teeth were at first, and showed that, yes, I was fixing them. They even looked a little bit cute. For the most part, they only hurt on the day I got them tightened, no other times. My biggest problem was when my teeth would shift and a wire would begin poking at the insides of my cheeks. Not to mention where my cheeks would get pinched between the brackets when I bit down, or where the brackets would just scratch them. I've had the braces off for two years now, and I can still feel scars on the inside of my cheeks from where my braces repeatedly hurt them.

@ Ikuto: Is it kinda bad that I read that and have already resigned myself to having stained teeth? I might try to clean a little better than usual now but I honestly don't mind going in for some teeth polishing.
Are there kids reading this? Cause I am a really bad role model. DX

@ Cherry: I think part of the reason why my teeth are so messed up is because my baby teeth also took a long time to come out or never did at all. As a result I have canines wedged behind the normal teeth. D:
Now that I think about it, I find myself flashing my teeth more often than I did when my teeth were crooked, not that I ever really knew how to smile, but having braces has allowed me to emote in sillier ways, which is a big plus. ^_^ After reading your post I think I have come to appreciate my braces more.. it reminds me that I got the braces to boost my own confidence and not just for other people to look at.
I am glad they worked out for you so well. :3

One of the main reasons why I made this thread is because I got an adjustment just three days ago and my teeth are still bothering the heck outta me. [lol]

I've never had braces. I doubt I ever will have braces.

I've kind of accepted that I'm not gonna have perfect anything. And I've more or less come to peace with that.

There are times I wish I could have perfect and nice teeth. But what am I gonna do? Its not gonna help to get hung up over that kinda thing.

I had a retainer while I was a kid. I would lose and accidently throw it away during lunch, because I had to take it out to eat, all the time. I think that's why my parents gave up when my top was done. I have one snag tooth at the bottom. I've debated having it done, but no one else seems to think it looks bad. Plus adult braces? Eep.

I have people say I have nice straight teeth, but oh god they are yellow!!
I hate when young kids point it out. Or tell me that my breath smells. I try to brush after meals, but no one has time for that.

I'm one of those irritating people who have never had braces but still have near perfect teeth. I have one squint one on my bottom row but you never really see it so I don't mind. Moral of this story: if you're a thumb sucker don't do it when your teet are growing in

I know you meant teeth. But that really made me laugh.

Eugh, braces. I wore them for three years...
In reality, I don't consider braces bad. They were only annoying when they were tightened, but I loved being able to change the colors. However, I don't like letting others know I had them because they expect perfect teeth. And the reality is, if you don't wear retainers you wasted your money. I wish I had been smarter, but they hurt my mouth sooo bad! And don't get me started on how icky they were!! I couldn't do it. I'd look in the mirror and see bubbles in my teeth! I wished for my braces again.
Bottom line? My uppers are phenomenal!! My lowers? Well, I show them to no one.

I never had braces or any teeth pulled. I get asked if I had braces a lot though. My one friend always said stuff about how "perfect" my teeth are. Then I showed him the bottom row of teeth where I have a bit of crowding and that shut him up because one of my teeth on the bottom isn't straight. I never saw a point in fixing it so I just left it as is.

I really badly want braces. My teeth arent horribly crooked but their still not completely straight but my dentist says that unfortunately they probably aren't bad enough for me to be able to get them on the NHS [:(] and to pay for them privately cost around £1000 which I don't have. Kind of unrelated- but I still have baby teeth! I'm a 16 year old, almost 17 that still has baby teeth [lol]

Actually, having baby teeth is pretty bad. Has your dentist done an x-ray to see if any of your adult teeth aren't stuck somewhere in your gums? I had a baby tooth blocking one of my adult teeth. The adult tooth was lodged under my nose! They had to remove the adult tooth and leave my baby tooth were it was to make sure I could eat properly!

I had braces for about 3 years. Tightening every two weeks after the first year or so.

When I got them off, my teeth looked really nice. However, I was 12, so I didn't care.

I don't think young kids care much about their teeth, so they won't wear their retainers. I didn't. Wel I did for about 6 months, and then at night for another few and then at night when I felt like it for a year after that, but eventually I lost the bottom one (I would remove and throw them in my sleep) and I didn't need the top one. Also, the all-plastic clear retainers are GROSS. Nothing can get them clean enough. NOTHING. Plus mine fell in the toilet once-EURGHHH!

My top teeth look decent. They're a tad off, but it's symmetric, so I think it adds character. One of my bottom front teeth is far back and pushed up, but you can't see it when I smile or normally when I talk, so I just embrace it.

Yeah, my dentist is confuzzled. No x-rays cos it wasn't causing me pain or anything, but he said that if it doesn't come out by the next time I see him in a couple of months time, he'll take it out. I was worried at first, but now I just think its funny.

I'm 21 and love my crooked teeth. *laughs* my teeth are far from perfect, but they're not too horrible. surprising considering how little effort I take into caring for them.

@ Dystopia: Eh, braces are one of the few things I actually have control over.. as much of a pain in the ass it is the least I can do is work to keep up the payments so I can have some sort of substantial reward in a few years. It's not entirely about being perfect, and I do think that society and culture plays a big part in the prevalence of braces and that people getting all crazed when they see someone on TV with less than stellar teeth is sort of ridiculous. If you don't care about playing along with society's expectations then more power to you. But in the future if you ever do feel like getting braces. We will be right here for all your retainer wearing, food caught in bracket, and gum poking complaining needs. [mrgreen]

@ Nikki: It probably doesn't help to drink coffee or eat onions, maybe when you are out just avoid particularly smelly foods. Whenever I eat smelly stuff I always carry a pack of mints. No way I can brush my teeth and eat my dinner in the 10 minute break my work gives me. <_<

@ Ikuto: I have trouble brushing around the brackets.. but maybe it will help that I compulsively pick at all the plaque buildup around there? DX Are you certain that it was your brushing that caused the staining though? I have other teeth where there used to be dental bonding and I'm fairly sure that it was the bonding itself that left a tough white mark on my teeth.
I know I seem like I'm trying to avoid brushing at every chance I get but at the end of the day I will always reluctantly end up compulsively brushing, so I'm not that irresponsible about my teeth, promise!

@ Vinyl: No teets, gotcha. [;)] I'm just joshing though. XD

@ N • B ! L ! T Y ♥: Changing colors is definitely the best part about the braces. Sucks about your retainer though. I will have to take a lesson from your experience. ):

@ Mystic: Ah, the joys of having good teeth genetics. :3 Even with the crowding I have a feeling that your teeth are still worth admiring especially considering the fact that you didn't have to spend a dime to get 'em that way. [lol]

@ Princess: I would recommend getting them started as soon as you have a steady income supply since you want to have braces anyways. They will pull out those baby teeth regardless, too. [mrgreen]

@ Queen: Since I'm paying for my braces out of pocket I won't have the luxury of choosing to wear my retainer. Dentists said I would have to wear them for the rest of my life although only when sleeping. That still leaves lots of opportunities for a retainer to fall into a toilet. <_< And you are right about kids not caring as much. But as a kid what do you care about anyways? XD

@ Codette: Ah, the joys of having good teeth genetics. I think that if your teeth are a little crooked that it would look just fine as long as they were nice and clean. I feel more self conscious about my teeth whenever I am aware of the presence of plaque.. straight or not. *nod*

I wasn't sure which posts I should reply to, so I just replied to everyone! Haha.

Ahhh!!! Thank you for replying! I know how hard it is to reply to everyone on a thread. And yes! Take my example as a lesson! There are times I wish Icould redo my teeth dilema again and get it RIGHT this time!

See thats the hilarious part. I always forget to brush my teeth. I'll go like 2 weeks and then a week of brushing every day, or something. But I do have horrible cavities :P I'm almost afraid of the day when I go to my dentist and they tell me they're going to file my canine teeth flat. I have wonderful 'vampire' type canine teeth, a little bit longer than the rest and nice and pointy. :)

The best way to hide that you forget to brush your teeth. Deep red lipstick. Its not only great on my skintone, but it makes my teeth always appear whiter than normal.

Tom Hardy's one of the most gorgeous men ever - his teeth are very crooked and he's amazing. I do think not everyone's going to like his teeth but I personally don't think they detract at all from his appearance.

I had a lot of work done to my teeth and I still wouldn't say they're "perfect", but they do look normal and that's all I ever wanted. I was born without one of my front teeth, broke my two front-most teeth as a kid, and the last front tooth was unusually small since it was basically a permanent baby tooth.

I had braces to fix the positioning a bit and fix my overbite, but I probably could have lived without all of that if my front teeth were normal. In the end, I had to have a surgical implant and three crowns put on to fix them. But I have to say having normal teeth was a great boost to my confidence and self-image. Even though I could probably get away with crooked teeth in Japan since even celebrities have crooked teeth here. [lol]

@ N • B ! L ! T Y ♥: It's easier when everyone actually puts thought into their posts though, which is why I like this topic. Lots of people have interesting input. [yes] You are still young, a little bit of invisalign wouldn't hurt. I am of course assuming that we will all eventually settle down and find a nice career and steady flow of income so we can actually afford such lavish things! </3

@ Codette: Maybe you need a reminder every two weeks to keep your brushing habit. It's easier for me to remember to brush my teeth cause by the time I start getting lazy it's time to get an adjustment again, and I wouldn't want my ortho to tell me that I got a cavity since the last time I went in. [oops]
You have cool canines! Better work to keep them.

I can't say that I can pull off lipstick, but that is a neat trick regardless.

@ Diaveborn: Well he *is* British, and you know what they say about the British and their teeth. [lol] Just joking of course. He is very handsome and talented, and the teeth are a cute quirk. <3

@ Ferra: It is unfortunate that you had to get so much work done but I'm glad you like the result.
And as for perfect teeth, I don't agree with the practice of filing teeth down to make them even. It feels so unnatural. D:
Funny that you mention how Japan's celebrities don't make a big deal out of teeth, cause there are many places in the world where it's just not that big of a deal, haha.

When my brother was getting his teeth checked the Orthodontist got a glimps of my teeth and made me sit down so he could take a look for free... he spent about 5 minutes looking for a missing tooth that, apparently I was born without (3 on the bottom middle instead of 4) and it confused him so bad XD

Thankfully no braces ever needed... but I miss my "between the teeth" straw holder though

Oh my gosh. Talk about uncanny. XD

Nope, I've never had any braces. :P My teeth have always been pretty good, yep. Not much more to say here. xD