Poll: At What Age Did You Get Your Braces?

[stepher7]

I'm 25 and got braced a little over a month ago. I'll be 26 in about 2 months, so this was a big decision for me to go ahead and do it. I've wanted them for years and it couldn't be afforded so I kept putting it off. Now I'm paying for them and decided to just do it. It's only been a month, but I'm so happy I finally did it!

[Isabelle]

I was in my teens when I first got braces. I'm now in my mid-30's and I got braces again for some slight adjustments. When I was young and had braces, they had just come out with the ceramic braces but they didn't have any of the cool invisaligns or other products.

[Foxsong]

I just got mine, ten days after my 50th birthday. All my life I've looked like I had twice as many teeth as I could fit in my mouth, but I could never afford the estimates I would get to have them done. Finally I met a new dentist who works with a team of ortho, endo, oral surgeons, and so on who helped me work out a payment plan I can manage. I am SO GLAD!!!

[Chiara]

I'll be getting braced for the first time at 26. Just 16 more days!

[braced33]

A week before I turned 33! Wish that I would have done it a long time ago...

[revelvia]

Mine will be very soon, so when I'm 23. I'm still very unsure about it but seeing so many people aged 50+ here has made me think I should get it out of the way now rather than spend years continually worrying and wondering about it.

[kreyFL]

I am 25 years old, female...I got ceramic braces up top, metal on the bottom. Uppers went on 10-6-10 and lowers didn't go on until 5-11-11, almost 7 months later. I was slated for 24 months of treatment, but it looks as though that has already been cut down to 18. I never had braces before, but did have a "palatal expander" when I was 9.

I decided to get braces at 25 because I suffer from bruxism, and had an ill-fitting crown put in that caused me MAJOR jaw issues, literally overnight. This ultimately caused an open bite within 8 months. (A LOT of teeth shifting) My open bite became pretty severe and I even developed partial facial paralysis due to the grinding at night and change in my bite.

Here I am, 7 months into treatment, no night guard, no jaw pain, and no scalloped tongue in the morning (means no grinding)

So far...BEST decision I have EVER made. I have my days of feeling angry, ugly, and frustrated. But 90% of the time, I feel GREAT and HAPPY...and it gives me something to look forward to every single day. I am super happy with my decision and I hope more people who have frustrations with the appearance of their smile, or people who had crappy dental work done (like I did) take the plunge and get braces. Now a days, braces are as cheap as a monthly electricity bill. Seriously.

[jen11]

I'm 27 year old female, that got ceramic braces on top an bottom, I have a anterior crossbite, an the treatment should take 14-20 months. So far I got my braces on April 6th, 2011 but I couldn't get the back metal band things on all of them at once so I had to go back April 20th, 2011 to get the other four put on. So far it hasnt been to bad, but at first it made my mouth feel so big. But I'm glad I got it the dentist and orthodontist both said that because of my bite my lower front teeth would eventually fall out if it wasn't corrected, lets just say I want to keep my teeth for as long as I can.

[Molly25]

I got my brace fitted yesterday at the grand age of 25 and literally thought I was the only one! What a relief stumbling upon this forum has been! I'm still in the "I hate it" phase but really hoping it disappears soon...

[jen11]

[quote="Molly25"]I got my brace fitted yesterday at the grand age of 25 and literally thought I was the only one! What a relief stumbling upon this forum has been! I'm still in the "I hate it" phase but really hoping it disappears soon...[/quote]


I know I've had mine for about 4 weeks an its getting better ..i'm still dealing with the i think everyone is staring at them an stuff... but i can tough it out

[kreyFL]

[quote="Molly25"]I got my brace fitted yesterday at the grand age of 25 and literally thought I was the only one! What a relief stumbling upon this forum has been! I'm still in the "I hate it" phase but really hoping it disappears soon...[/quote]

I am at about 200 days of my braces (Oct 2010) and I STILL get the "I hate its" every so often...

Most of the time I just don't care...but there are certain places and events that I wish I didn't have them...you get over it though. I would say about 3 or 4 days a month I just hate them, in every single way and you cannot make me feel different. I love them the most right after an adjustment...I guess because I can "feel" them working. The more your teeth get straight, bite gets fixed, etc etc the less you feel any emotion toward them.

My big problem now is teeth obsession. I LOOK AT EVERYONES TEETH hahaha.

[Kru2tu]

I got braces a month after I turned 23 in June,8th 2008 and I had a bad experience with it although it straightened my teeth. It ruined my life with its side effects!

[Molly25]

Jen11 - Glad things are getting better 4 weeks in - I'm feeling much more positive...I'm 2 weeks closer to getting them removed now! Course you can tough it out!

KreyFL - I think thats exactly how I'll feel, most of the time i'll forget about them but weddings, big nights out etc. much more concious of them. You're totally right though I'm obsessed by people's teeth and profile too...I definitly stare more at other people's teeth that they stare at my brace!

[kreyFL]

Molly: Yeah its the big events for me too...date nights mostly, lol. I got braced Oct 6th and had a "theme wedding" on Oct 13th. I was less than a week into my braces so I was miserable and self conscious. My husband says it is obvious when I try to hide them because "You smile all funny and its more noticeable" LOL ahhh well.

[RinaBee]

Braced at 31. Have had them on for 40 days to date. I waited for several reasons (appearance and financial) and made an almost impulse decision to get them. It's been an interesting experience but not one I regret.