I just found about this page, what an awesome site. As of 2 weeks ago I had braces put on and I'm really excited. The need came due to a TMJ issue derived from my teeth not aligning properly. So figured it was just going to get worse with time. Initially I had my reservations since I'm a 34 years old professional who deals with clients. It doesn't help my cause since I look extremely young for my age, (I get mistaken for a 19-20 YO) and braces just adds to the effect.

So I bit the bullet and figured the benefits of going forward with braces outweighed the cons of not doing it ever.
I already noticed that I don't clench my teeth as much as before. Even though I have metal wires poking and scratching the insides of my cheeks I do feel a difference in just two weeks in terms of how I am able to chew food. I can't wait to see more progress.
I'm also curious to see how it will effect my dating life in the short term. lol But like in the romance section of this site, if a girl is that shallow that she will disregard you for having braces she isn't worth your time.
