JCC Welcome to the Braces Club!

So ... who here has worn braces, in the past or currently? Who's getting them in the future?

I had mine put on when I was 12, in March 2002. First six months, it took some getting used to, but by September that year I was kinda comfortable. It was definitely weird trying to eat and disappointing that I couldn't eat stuff like apples, ect.

Then came the palatal expander and the inter-arch springs to pull my lower jaw forward.

What sheer torture.

The day I got the expander put in, we had a homeschool gathering at a local park for lunch later. Mom had bought me an order of fries from McDonald's, but I couldn't eat them. I felt like I couldn't swallow properly and hated the feel of metal in the roof of my mouth. I was pretty upset for a few days. The inter-arch springs weren't nearly as bad, but for weeks I could only speak barely above a whisper and tried to avoid opening my mouth too far so the springs wouldn't pop apart. Fortunately I only had to deal with that crap for a year; I got it all taken out six months before my braces were removed in March 2004.

It's been ten years since I had the braces removed. I only wear (or did wear) a removable plastic retainer over my four top front teeth. All day and night as prescribed, switching to nights only when the orthodontist told me so. My last ortho appointment was over five years ago.

I started getting slack about wearing the retainer a few years later. The last time I wore it was back in early September this year. Tried to put it in a few nights ago - and it won't fit anymore; either my two front teeth have moved forward too much in just two months or the canines have moved back. Kinda odd. I was supposed to have a permanent retainer put in on the bottom, but the 'rents said no and my front bottom teeth are now going crooked again.

Feel free to share your stories, maybe have a good laugh over losing a retainer in the lunch room trash can.

 

Like every good Englishman I've eschewed such things and stuck with wonky teeth.

 

I did wear braces, from age 11 to age 14, I think.

My funniest story was, well, I was playing with my best friend, throwing stones to each other, when he hit me right in the mouth with a massive one and I started spitting metal wires and blood.

 

Had them from about age 12 to 17.

 

My teeth are naturally straight. #GeneticLotteryWinner

 

Did you have to have the expander?

 

I have no idea what that is.

 

I never needed braces. But I was in a straightjacket from age 12 to 17.

 

I would assume no, then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatal_expander

 

Oh, I had something like that, but it was just a large coiled wire that pulled the molars apart. It was very unconfortable.

 

Had them in my teens. They were the old ugly metal ones, not the more cosmetic ones you can get now. I had to wear one of the expander things as well - the pic on that Wiki page brings back bad memories.. I had the headgear and a retainer as well.

 

Your 'throwing stones at each other' game gets my seal of approval.

 

Had them from age 14-16. Waking up to find pieces of food still stuck in them was fun.

 

What's the first thing you ate when you finally got them off? With me it was popcorn. I wasn't allowed to have it at all with the braces on.

 

My sister got braces because she's older than me. I was told "your teeth are good enough." I will be forever vent my bitterness through passive aggressive posts on star wars forums till the end of time.

Also stop whining about your braces, people who get them. Ungrateful undeserving whelps.

 

I never needed braces, my teeth are straight and my jaws are manly and perfect.

 

I had braces, but then I was told to wear a retainer and I was like "I ain't wearing that crap" and my teeth went back to the way they were.

 

Dad told me my teeth wouldn't go back to the way they were before I had braces. He's partly right; I had quite a gap between my two top front teeth before I had braces and it has not reappeared in the last decade.

One of my bottom front teeth has been pushed out a little, so its possible there's a little crowding, but not much. It's probably down to genetics; my mom and I both were in our late teens/early twenties before our 12 year old molars erupted, and like my dad I only have two wisdom teeth. His were on the top while mine are on the bottom. They have not erupted yet, and might never do so.

 

I had braces for a couple of years during my formative teenage years. I basically did not laugh or smile for two and a half years from about the age of 15 to 17. I said few words as well. I believe I was on the serial killer watch list at school I was so grim and serious. When I got the wretched things off I was a changed person. I smiled at everyone. I wore a retainer for about the three minute journey out of the orthodontists office and then threw it away. This was in the mud 1980s so you can imagine how nice braces looked in that era.

 

I had braces from 14 to 17... I think. It was about three years. I remember because the orthodontist kept repeating that it would only be two years, and then he told me I'd have to have them on longer. The food getting stuck; pain in the ass to clean; cutting my mouth on the wires sometimes; the persistent, dull ache in my teeth after every adjustment. It was fun. I'm pretty sure those stupid rubber bands he put between the top and bottom rows to "align" my jaw is the primary reason my jaw pops today and why I'll probably have pain in the future. I wore the retainer for a couple years until I just stopped. It's silly to expect people to put those uncomfortable things in their mouths every night for the rest of their lives. Hey, at least it's easy to clean my teeth today.

I don't remember being all that self-conscious about the braces themselves because at least 1/3rd of the people my age I knew had them or recently had them. I was self-conscious about everything else because I was a ****ing teenager.

 

o so that's why

 

I had to have them twice, from around 12 to 14 and then again 15-17... or something like that. I had them in junior high, got them off and then again in high school.
I had a bar that went across the roof of my mouth, I don't think it was a palate expander, but I don't know what it would have been for other than that.

My funniest/most painful story was a friend threw a couch pillow at my face and one of the fibers got stuck around one of my brackets and instead of carefully helping me get it off, he grabbed the pillow and pulled, it actually ripped the bracket loose.

I also have a permanent retainer on the bottom (still have it), it one time popped loose and stabbed me on the underside of my tongue... that was a lot of fun.

 

I left the braces club 16 years ago.

But, I had been a member for 3 years. That is 3 high school year book pictures!!!

And while they have shifted a bit and aren't perfect they are still much better than they were before. BUT I am slightly tempted to join again just to fix the one evil tooth that won't stop moving, after all this time.

 

One time I had a small section of wire between two brackets snap by accident and had to have Mom call the orthodontist so they could get me in and replace the wire .... and it ended up being on the day we were leaving for a summer camping trip in the mountains.

Urk.

Fortunately he was able to see me quickly and replace the wire before Dad came home from work, so we didn't have to delay the trip. Phew!