Now, fast forward about 12 years. I'm now 24 and have always hated my teeth...even when I was a teen, but at the time I was willing to sacrafice my teeth for my social life...go figure. For the past few years I have been seriously thinking about getting braces. Then oneday last fall while I was at the dentist office for a checkup, I mentioned to my dentist that I did not like the look of my teeth. He then took some molds of my teeth and made me an appointment for a consultation about a week later, as he was going to come up with different options for me.
Consultation day came and I was so excited to hear what he had to say. He gave me 3 options. First was full braces, top and bottom for 18+ months...costing approx $4000 (Eeeek!). Second was I could wear a retainer for years, and it may fix my teeth or it may not fix them at all, but it would take years for any kind of result (not what I wanted to hear). Third, he said I could get braces on the top only (since top is mainly what I hate most about my teeth, bottom aren't perfect either but are less noticable) and it would take approximately 6 months, 8 max, or as little as 4!! I was impressed! This would cost $1500 CAD. I think the retainer afterwards will also be included. So this is the option I chose. Actually I decided I was not going to do it at first, because I have other bills to pay. And then I thought...hey, I am very unhappy with the way my teeth look. I don't smile often because of it and when I do, I look dumb because I try to hide my teeth. So a few months later I went back to the dentist and things got started from there.
He took some panoramic x-rays and another kind as well. Turns out my left canine (as I had always known about) grew in the roof of my mouth (palette?) instead of beside my other teeth like normal. Of course...only me would have a tooth in the roof of my mouth. And of course I couldn't get braces without it first being removed. It was too close to the roots/nerves of the front teeth, and if I had gotten braces without it being removed the tooth would touch the other teeth in front and I would lose front teeth. So this is where I am today...
On April 23rd, I had my canine removed through local anestesia. It wasn't the best moment of my life, but I got through it. The first day was quite painful, after that it was (still is) just a dull annoying pain...and I can only chew on one side of my mouth without pain which is a bother.
Anyway, on May 10th, I get my spacers, and on May 17th I will be braced! I am so excited to be on my way to straight teeth.
So thats my story so far...sorry its so long. If you want more details on my canine extraction, I posted my story of that in the Oral Surgery section. Good luck to everyone on their treatment!
Just wanna say it DOES get easier.... I went the exposure route... but I had all my exposures done under local anesthesia too (cheapskate that I am).... it's kinda rough, but not that bad afterward, huh? 
This morning I went to get my spacers put in, and as I was waiting to pay afterwards, my dentist came back out and said he had a cancellation in the slot after me and wanted to know if I would like to have my brackets put on. I figured I may as well get it over with now, so here I am. Spacers in, and brackets. No wire yet, and I think I need a few teeth banded? I dunno.
