This month's poll deals with the reasons why you got braces. Was it purely a cosmetic (aesthetic) decision, a functional decison (your teeth were in danger of chipping, you had TMJ, you had an overbite, etc). Or was it a combination of the two? Perhaps braces was part of a larger treatment involving jaw surgery or other cosmetic surgery. Whatever it was, take the poll and let's discuss it!

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I'm the owner/admin of this site. Had ceramic uppers, metal lowers ~3 years in my early 40's. Now in Hawley retainers at night!

Actually, my dentist nagged me into it.

Purely because I didn't like the way my teeth looked. I didn't even know adults could get braces. I'd been told when I was 18 that nothing could be done, and I hadn't realised that orthodontics had come a long way in the intervening 20 years. Despite my weird bite and wonky teeth, I had no trouble with my teeth and hadn't needed a filling in 20+ years, but once I found out adults could get braces, and that I could afford it, I decided I'd treat myself to a smile I wasn't ashamed of. There's the added benefit that my teeth will probably last longer being in better alignment and thus easier to keep clean, but that wasn't a factor in my decision.

Every dental professional I have ever seen has bugged me about my wonky bite. A dentist pulled my top two pre-molars when I was a child to make room for my teeth as my mouth was not big enough. I am being told now that this is what has caused my weird bite.

Personally, I always thought my teeth looked straight. Now that I see the ortho pics I can see the mild crowding. I have an underbite and it is affecting my jaw. I don't have pain, but I do have aching and I have a lot of headaches. I am also experiencing wearing on the top two front teeth. That bothers me.

I have never been able to afford braces until now. I had a tooth removed recently due to a failed root canal and the periodontist told me I should really consider getting my bite fixed. So I decided to go for it right there and then. I called an orthodontist the next day.

I decided to get braces after years and years of only showing one side of my face in pictures... while the teeth on the left side of my mouth align up nicely, the right side refuses to do any such thing This past September I started working in a dentist office and (believe it or not ) as a result I became even more aware of how awkward my smile was. SO (just last week in fact) I finally put my fear of braces on the shelf and visited an Orthodontist who works just down the street from our office. Today is my first day in braces, and boy, if I thought my smile looked funny before..! Overall though, very excited to finally have braces, and am very much looking forward to perusing this site further to read up on everyone else's experiences

My decision was made for me really, if I didn't do it, I would be in trouble later on in life as my back teeth are being worn down due to an open bite.

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I wanted braces purely for cosmetic reasons(overlapping front teeth, crowded bottoms) so I voted that way, although I have them for functional reasons(overbite, crowding causing my teeth to wear down in places and clenching/grinding in my sleep).

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Keep smilin'!
Jenny


Braced for 18 months: Damon 3mx all around with Damon 3's on "social six". Now is Essix retainers for 10 hours/night.

As was stated above, I really wanted braces for cosmetic reasons. You know how when someone tells a really good joke you just want to laugh your heart out? Well I never can because I'm more concerned with not showing off how terrible my teeth are! However I have been told by my dentist and ortho that if I don't get my mouth straightened out now I will have jaw trouble in the future.

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~Nikki~
23 year old brace face and proud of it!

My story is well under way! Follow along in my thread.

Wow, what a great poll.

After getting a recommendation from my dentist (whom I love), I visited my orthodontist and said, "I want my upper six front teeth to be straight." That's literally ALL I wanted to be corrected; I couldn't care less about my bite, teeth alignment, etc.

My teeth looked OK (except for the set of baby second premolars on my lower jaw). There was no crowding on my lower arch, and only very minimal crowding on my upper arch. Generally, I was satisfied with my teeth, but one thing always bugged me: my two upper front teeth. The two teeth always seemed to take focus away from my smile as if they were elbowing their way in front of the other teeth. Additionally, they're significantly larger than their adjacent incisors, so they stood out (to me) even more. Over the years, I simply learned to smile a certain way to ensure that I'd be happy with resulting pictures. But after consulting with orthodontists, finding the procedure affordable, and being assured that my insurance would cover a significant portion of the cost, I was all in!

I'm still happy that I'm going ahead with enhancing my smile. Additionally, I've learned so much about orthodontics that I'm practically addicted to this website and all the knowledge it has to offer. I especially like learning about technological advancements, primarily the technical documentation. (Engineer here.) Great reading material.

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08 Apr 2008 - Front teeth braced.
...
30 Aug 2010 - New bracket brand placed on upper four incisors.

Initial Ortho Sentence: 18-20 months.

open bite and underbite
cosmetically straight otherwise

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<-- Charlie and I used to share an underbite...

click here to read my braces story: updated Dec01

Mine were functional, however I am now beginning to see the cosmetic differences and loving them! I have severe TMJ, a crossbite, and crowding. I had tipping teeth, so I was not biting correctly and was getting cavities easily -- hard to clean teeth too.

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Cosmetic for me. I've wanted to fix my crooked teeth for a long time now, decided this year that that was my new years resolution, so I'm sticking to it!

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http://hkygrls2ksurgery.blogspot.com/

Another cosmetic here. I've always hated my teeth and wanted to get them fixed. We just didn't have the money. Now that DH is deployed (:() we have the money so I finally get to start my journey! YAY!!!

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*SKYE aka Amanda* 25, Army wife and Mommy of 5 ages 10, 5, 3, 19 months, and due in December!

for me getting braces, was something that needed to be done, i have a herediterly tmj jaw problem, which was graciously passed down to me and my sister and my brother from my dad side. So i was told if I didn't get braces i would have a lot of respiratory issues and digestive problems in the future. So something definetly needed to get done! For a while i was a bit uneasy about getting braces cuz my stupid old dentist said my teeth woulnd't be able to handle braces due to the fact that they were molded when i was younger. I had to be put out for 2 weeks when i was very young for testing cuz they werne't sure what was wrong with me. As a result of the anesthetic it screwed up my teeth, they didn't form properly without getting them molded. Once i went to my new dentist he said that my teeth would have no problem handling the braces and that he thought itd be a very good idea! I started to get lock jaw and itd crack (man that really really hurts). Now I've had my braces for over 2 months now. I go for my first surgery in 2 weeks! Getting impacted wisdom teeth out! I also have to have jaw surgery next year around may or june depending on the teeth aligment goes.
so ya thatz my story!

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Braced: March 19th 2008
Impacted wisdom teeth extraction surgery: June 20th 2008 1pm (13 hours of fasting)
Jaw surgery (upper and lower)Lefort 1 with Madable Advancement: June 2nd 2009 @8am!!!! 1 surgery down 2 surgeries to go!!
debrace day: jan 18th 2010!!!! *has 2 fixed retainers and an essix retainer for night time now!

At the time I finally decided to go to the ortho, it was purely for functional reasons. I have a really deep bite and (had) a cross bite on the left premolars, I had also gotten to the point that my teeth were beginning to get chipped and cracked as a result of my bad bite. I had successfully avoided going to a dentist for about five years after losing all faith in my then family dentist (of many years) when I lost a filling in one of my molars, of course I had every reason why not to get it sorted and walked around for about four months with a huge hole in my tooth. Eventually I faced the music and made an appointment with a local dentist who ended up replacing most all of my fillings and also commented on my "incredibly" deep bite and asked if I had considered doing something about it as my chipped and broken teeth were a result of my bad bite. Five short months later I plucked up the courage to go see an ortho and "just see what he had to suggest". Well here I am nine months into my sentence, and I must add I am very pleased with the cosmetic improvement so far (bonus).