When I was a kid my parents couldn't afford any dental care for my sister and I. She inherited our dad's strong, medium sized straight teeth. I got my mom's weak, large, and crooked teeth.
The first thing I did when I got a job with dental insurance was book myself an appointment to have a good cleaning and three badly rotten molars removed. That was 1999. In 2000 I had my badly protruding, pointy canines removed, I know now after seeing a competent dentist that was a bad move. My new dentist is the president of the Alberta Dental Association!

After I had those removed, I had the cavities in my front teeth filled. Yep, I had three big cavites in my top front teeth. I was 30 when I had those fixed. After living and working for 15 years with cavities in my front teeth, having braces is a snap. I had two root canals with temporary crowns done in 2001. In 2003 - new job, new insurance - I had more cavities filled and some silver fillings replaced. 2004 saw the removal of one wisdom tooth, the best cleaning I've ever had (Medina, the hygenist is a goddess. I love her) and the first consult for braces. The first ortho I saw told me right up front he was retiring but he would do the initial consult and pass me off to his very competent replacement. He also said it could take up to three years to get my teeth to an acceptable position. He asked me how committed I was and I said I was so committed that I wanted to do all the prelim stuff right then.
Six months and one periodontal exam later, I was braced.
I'm not even a month into this and I've seen so much straightening and movement that there's no way I'd go back. My front teeth are straight, most people don't know why I got braces. I got them for all the teeth you can't see when I smile. My molars slant in toward my tongue like this \ on both sides, I have half exposed wisdom teeth, gaps from extractions and two temp crowns from root canals. Before I invest in permanant crowns, bridges or anything like that I want to do what I can to make my teeth straight, healthy and easy to take care of. This is the sixth year of working to improve my teeth so if I end up with a little gap between my front teeth, well, considering where I started that's no big deal at all.