Metalmouth.

At age 24, I'm getting braces. I'm getting some teeth extracted in 8 hours. I figured I'd ask the general public of GFF a generic question that may come from their life experiences.

I decided I'd put this thread in the Quiet Place since some things people share may actually be something personal and "touchy" to them.

If you've had braces, what was your experience of it? What were the pro's and cons for you? What were some of the best, worst, funniest, etc. stories you've gotten out of wearing your braces? What was the worst part about it? What did you miss while you wore braces?

I'm getting braces for the first time in my life and I am excited. Sure, I'll have the aches and painds of having metal in my mouth for couple of years. But how I see it, the benefits far outweigh the cons, because when I'm through with the teeth-aligning treatment (aka braces):
5) I'll be able to clean, brush, floss and take care of my teeth so much better when they're aligned more perfectly.
4) People won't refer me as to "Buggs" anymore (I have horrible buck teeth which I'm severly conscious of).
3) I'll be able to eat both top and bottom of a hamburger bun or sandwich evenly. (Currently I always eat through the top bun far faster/more than the bottom)
2) I'll be able to chew foods better (I'm hoping this would help with the sore shoulders from time to time).
1) I won't have to hear the words, "Oh dear, you're such a beautiful woman if only you didn't have such fucked up teeth." (Yes, quite a few people have mentioned this to me, including people who aren't that close to me)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by How Unfortunate

P.S. Congrats for finally making a post that didn't involve your bf!

rofl. I'm sorry, I'll try to lighten up in the future.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by nadienne

They're worth it. Just be prepared for people to suddenly start thinking you're way younger than you are.

Check. Got that covered already; being asian has those effects.

Originally Posted by tenseiken

The fact that you're excited about it is kind of amusing. You'll be much more excited about finally getting them off. The results are nice, but it takes forever. All of that stuff I listed up there you have to deal with for years. I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I was supposed to wear a retainer indefinitely after getting my braces off. I didn't do it.

I agree with you I'm probably being a bit over zealous about the after effects of the braces; I'm sure the whole braces experience is something I'm not particularly going to enjoy per say. However, considering the fact that I was promised braces at the age of 6 when I actually needed them in my adolesence (my parents never could afford it during my childhood) and continued to need braces my entire life, I think it's enough to be excited about.

My entire life, I've never been able to fully smile for a camera since I was so conscious about my crooked teeth. I've always photoshopped all pictures I post on the web so that they're slightly blurrier around my face and slightly out of focus so that my teeth are slightly indistinguishable. I've never been able to close my mouth fully at a relaxed state, since my buck teeth stick out out of my lips. I've never been able to chew foods correctly, and thus gotten into the habit of cutting food incredibly small (which my braces-experienced friends told me that it would be a good habit to have while on braces). I've always finished the top bun of a hamburger first before the bottom. (My ex used to make fun of me for it enough times that I became really conscious about my teeth being fucked up). I agree, the after effects of the braces and not having to deal with the psycho-drama involving my "crooked" teeth is probably more of what I'm looking forward to than anything else.


At this time, I'm having to puree most of my foods to prevent any big chunks from getting stuck in the fresh wounds where they took out my two bottom wisdom teeth. I'm not enjoying the flavors of pureed food at the moment, but after those gashes are closed up and healed I'm sure I'll be able to have a better outlook on what I can eat.

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by NES Oldskooler

I was just reminded now, but there are a few different kinds of braces you can get. My friend had these braces where the brackets were made of some white material (porcelain, maybe?), and her braces looked totally invisible except for the thin wire. I was extremely jealous at the time. If you're getting a big discount, maybe that's something to look into.

Those are ceramic. I looked into those and also the invisalign system (they're like silicone cover-braces that are molded to shape your teeth into place), but it's all just because of aesthetics, for those really consciencious people about their looks. Me, I decided that I'm going to have braces either way, I'm going to be living with it, I want it to be the most effective in straightening out my teeth in the shortest amount of time and has the longest effects after taking the braces off, so how it looks inside my mouth is the last thing I'm going to worry about.
Besides that, the ceramic kind are 1) more fragile than the traditional metal 2) stain easier 3) are much more harder to keep up maintenance 4) twice the price, and 4) much more prone to problems than the traditional kind. Because I'm getting the family rate out of my orthodontist due to my mother working there, I'm sticking to the cheapest option they have, which happens to be, good old fashion metal braces.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by K_ Takahashi

show it off as much as you can, kinda like grillz but somethign moar purposeful.

::Jelous::

I do hope you're not shooting for Furby's "wurst typing skillz" award.

Anyhow, it's been about a week since I got the braces, and the first day I got them I tried eating udon noodles...well, I practically ended up just swallowing those noodles whole. So I whipped out the blender again to puree soup to liquid states so that I don't have to chew. Since then I've upgraded to rice and noodles (yay, somewhat solid and chewable!) the past couple of days. Once I'm able to bite off chunks of carrot sticks without pain, I'll be happy.

Oh yeah, getting used to vigorous brushing routines, still.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?