I recently bought a WaterPik and it is the greatest thing in the world. Seriously. I have a fixed (cemented-in) bottom retainer and flossing around it is a PITA (and I don't mean the tasty pocket-bread). Plus, I'm lazy, and now "flossing" takes like ten seconds. I am usually horrid at it.

Teeth: Discuss dental care, braces (have you had them?), or the indie film.

...Uhm, I seriously got lost reading that. xD

But no, I've never had braces..my teeth are straight :B

Yeah, my thoughts are a little....dot-dot-dot today. xD I had the misfortune of having teeth that were too big for my jaw. I had to have all of my bicuspids pulled before I even had braces put on.

I had braces, fixed and a plate. That was 30 years ago and people still compliment my smile! They hurt, they make you feel ugly for a while and yes they are horrible to clean. A water pick sounds like a cool invention. Who needs frayed floss wedged in their metalwork?
I have always had really strong teeth but age is wearing them now and I really freak out about the dentist, mostly the cost and memories of the extractions when I was 9 before the braces went in. Too many teeth for my jaw! I feel for you, Golden Goose but it is worth it.

Haha, I had my braces off when I was 17 (I wore them for about four years). They were godawful. I'm 22 now and haven't had a cavity since baby teeth (no fillings in my permanent teeth). My husband isn't so lucky; he inherited weak enamel from his mother. Having the fixed retainer, imo, is better than risking having my teeth shift or having to wear a removable one at night for forever.

My bottom teeth are a tad crooked but I refuse to get them fixed because it could mess them up even more. My top teeth are perfect. I never had any braces or anything like that. I do wear a guard at night because I grind my teeth though.

I have horrible teeth.
I didn't take care of them at all when I was younger up til I was like 11, but now that I use logic and realize I need teeth, I take care of them. The damage has been done though.

I need to get braces because i have an overbite (Not noticeable ), but my mom doesn't believe I take care of my teeth now so she won't let me get them. >>

My smile is a little bit gummy and it bothers me sometimes. My teeth are straight though, so it's not really that big of deal to me. I always realize how much I love my teeth when I have a nightmare about them falling out. That's the worse! Or one time that they were all hollow. BLEH!

I have top and bottom braces on at the moment. They've only been on since December, and they said I will have them on for a year and a half, but I am betting more.
I have like 4 of my teeth that have fillings. I hope to have none more, and no need to refill or anything like that. D:

I am terrified to get my wisdom teeth out. They told me I will after I get my braces off.

I'm too poor to afford dental care...I have horrid teeth...much to my dismay...

I went through every dental procedure known to man. We kept moving to different states when I was a kid, so every new orthodontist, for reasons I'll never understand, ripped the former braces off, put his own on, and started me all over again. I hate dentists with a burning passion now xD I also had an expander, a retainer I didn't wear, and I've had lots of other stuff done.

This is dorky, I know, but my only frequent nightmare involves my teeth getting loose and falling out, or rotting... it scares me a lot of the time, and I wake up with the desire to scrub them as hard as I can.

Waterpiks are amazing. I've been wanting one for ages.

I so need braces, but first I need to get my wisdom teeth taken out. All four of them are impacted something terrible, but I can't get any of my wisdom teeth taken out nor can I get any braces. The wisdom teeth alone will cost 2k, the braces?

Well, if braces cost 4k when I was 13, I imagine they cost a few grand more fourteen years later.

I know I have a mess of cavities, but the last time I went to see the dentist I panicked. Things have changed since when I was a kid, the procedures seem different. They tilted the chair WAY back and that panicked me. I remember in the past they didn't tilt one back that far. I thought 'I will choke on my own saliva' and decided against doing this.

Also when I was younger nitrous was less expensive so I could afford to have nitrous. I can't see how anyone could sit there and do this stuff stone cold sober.

I've had a LOT of work done on my teeth. The lesson I'd like to pass on to everyone that can learn from my mistakes:

YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IMPORTANT YOUR TEETH ARE UNTIL THEY START DECAYING!

I used to drink so much soda that my dentist said it was worse than if I just never brushed my teeth at all. I've had three teeth pulled and need at LEAST two more. I've had a few root canals, filled cavities....
Thousands of dollars worth of work when I'm fully done with everything. I even need to get two partial dentures for my lower jaw....eventually.

Please, TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH! :gonk:

I have a total of three fillings, and I got them all in the past year... (strangely, since I discovered how awesome free refills at subway were.) I almost had to have braces too, but luckily my teeth fixed themselves after the dentist pulled out about four teeth. I still have pretty awesome canines though. Rawr!

I had braces for 2 and a half years and then a retainer for like another 2.
At some point while I still had to wear my retainer I had my bottom wisdom teeth taken out.
And I'm going to have to go back at some point and get the top ones out too.
Never had a cavity though :)

Don't really have crooked teeth so no braced here.

My teeth were crooked because they were crowded--I have a pretty small jaw. I'm hoping I don't have any cavities (haven't been to the dentist in two years), but I'm pretty fastidious about cleaning my teeth.

My bottom teeth are slightly crooked. It's not really noticeable.
I have a cross bite which isn't noticeable at all unless you're my dentist.
My top teeth are pretty straight.

I have had two root canals, though, currently have 4 cavities that need to be taken care of.
And I need to get my wisdom teeth removed. Yuck. ;(

I also think there's a WaterPik in my bathroom - I've never used it though.

The name of the topic made me thing of the HORRIBLE TERRIBLE BAD AWFUL HORRIFICALLY DISGUSTING BAD movie.

::.shudders::
NEVER AGAIIIIIIIIIN!
NEVERRRRRRRRR.

But my teeth are okay.. they are a little squished together in the bottom, and my top teeth aren't perfectly straight but it's nothing I really need braces for or anything. I think the little imperfections (as long as your teeth aren't like, RIDICULOUSLY HORRIBLE) give smiles character.

Well, when I was a little youngling, the dentist said i needed braces, but I didn't want them. My teeth aren't really crooked, only one that you can't see anyways, and it doesn't bother me.
It's been 8 years since I've last seen a dentist, cause I simply can't afford it, but just today my grandparents and I were discussing dental problems, and they agreed to pay for a consultation. Now I have an appointment in two weeks, that I'm not looking forward too. I'm sure I have caveties, cause it hurts to eat sweets (not that I do it that often..), and he's probably gonna want to charge me an arm and a leg to get them fixed. >_> and I do NOT like needles.

I've never had to have braces; my teeth have always been really straight. In fact, I never actually went to a dentist until last year, and I only had a few very small cavities.

Never had braces although a couple of teeth at the bottom front are wonky due to all the teeth wanting a possition of their own. Mostly it's not noticable but I know they're like that.

Really I could do with having my teeth crowned because I have a terrible problem grinding them but the denist hasn't yet deemed it neccisary to crown any.

Originally Posted by Explodey

I know I have a mess of cavities, but the last time I went to see the dentist I panicked. Things have changed since when I was a kid, the procedures seem different. They tilted the chair WAY back and that panicked me. I remember in the past they didn't tilt one back that far. I thought 'I will choke on my own saliva' and decided against doing this.

Also when I was younger nitrous was less expensive so I could afford to have nitrous. I can't see how anyone could sit there and do this stuff stone cold sober.

Nitrous is expensive? Oxo My dental plan covers it. I'm extremely needle-phobic, but I panic even worse when I can't SEE the needle... I used to literally try to fight off the dentist, ha. Even now, before they do fillings they have to give me a prescription for a sedative and put me on the gas.