How common is it for adults to have braces?

[Mimi31]

I live in Nairobi, and around here braces are not a priority, even for kids/teens. I'm the only person I know with braces, the the only other person I can ever remember having braces was a girl in my highh school dorm. Everyone keeps asking me why I'd have them, esp at my age. I just got tired of hiding my smile behind my hand, and decided to do something about it.

@Mimi31 - this is very interesting, Nairobi Kenya is one of the places where I've been where I noticed no people with braces. I'm very happy at least one person does now. I hope you start a whole new trend over there, and show off the power of braces to everybody you can. It must feel amazing to be the only person around with braces. Here braces are so common that nobody even notices them. I would be fascinated to learn about how one would go about getting braces in Nairobi, cost, treatment time etc.. I would imagine you go to a general dentist who has a few orthodontic cases. Are they handling any other braces cases there at the same clinic?

It's a bit weird for me because the braces draw a lot of attention, mostly staring, but I'm happy to be doing something to improve myself, if it'll inspire someone else to do the same, that'll be good. Getting braces was easier than I thought because after I had mentioned it to my dentist and made the necessary payments (orthodontic treatment isn't covered by myinsurance-it's considered cosmetic...) , a few days later we were having the moulds done and the brackets put in. My dentist is a general dentist, if by that you mean she doesn't specialize. I haven't met many of her patients, but I haven't yet seen anyone else in braces. But judging from the speed and ease with which she put mine in, I think she may have others in braces. She estimated that it'll take about 18 months to 2 years.

[tsmurfenator]

@Mimi31 - very interesting, thanks for sharing.
I think it's very cool to have something that nobody else does. I haven't encountered any staring at least that I notice. I salute you for doing it in a place where it is uncommon - really you're helping us all out here. Best of luck with your treatment, I'm looking forward to more updates from you.