<p>I am just wondering how many people here have/had braces.</p>
<p>If you got your braces off, how long did you wear your retainers? Do you have the plastic/invisible ones or the metal ones? </p>
<p>I got my braces off in January this year, and I still have to wear my retainers 24/7. It's really annoying that if I take my retainer off for an hour, my teeth change position. Also, I have both the plastic retainer and the metal retainer, but the metal retainer doesn't keep my teeth from moving back.</p>
<p>Ive had my braces off for about two years. Ive got two retainers. I was supposed to wear the top one 24/7 but only wore it at night w/ no issues. </p>
<p>Im trying to get away from wearing them at all now. I can tell me teeth move after about three days and wear it at night on the 3rd. by morning all is good again. </p>
<p>i had braces during middle school..i wore my retainers for about a year after i had my braces removed..they were the metal ones. its been about 3 years since i've worn them..my teeth have moved a little bit, but they are still pretty straight.</p>
<p>I thought the whole point of braces was to make teeth look nice. Now I got my braces off, I need to have plastics cover my teeth to make them stay straight, which doesn't make teeth look nice.</p>
<p>I had orthodontist work for 6 years. 1 year with an expander, 5.5 years of braces, and .5 a year with a retainer. Well... my braces time was split up because I neglected to wear my retainer. And after they came off again, I was just like "eff this, I'm not doing this anymore" and now my teeth are back to how they were pre-orthodontist work.</p>
<p>I get my braces off in October, as a sophomore. They're so annoying--they make me look so much younger! I'm getting a permanent retainer so my teeth stay straight, which annoys me because who wants metal in their mouth?</p>
<p>I had metal braces for two years and just got them off a couple weeks ago. Now I have two retainers I'm supposed to wear all the time, but I don't, because it muffles my speech. Anyone have a solution for that? There's just not enough room for my tongue to move.</p>
<p>I rather miss my braces...at least I never had to think about taking them off before eating.</p>
<p>Thanks Juggler. Annoyingly, I actually had braces before [like a normal person, in middle school] and they took them off in 7th grade, and all seemed to be growing well...but my teeth kept changing. Eventually the dude figured out that I wasn't going to stop growing until like age 25, so I'm going to be rocking braces in college.</p>
<p>I've neglected my retained for 3 months now, and my teeth became crooked again. I wore it for the first time in 3 months last night, and it hurt like effing shiz, so wear your retainer even you dont want to.</p>
<p>Ha...braces aren't that bad, they mostly hurt after you go in for an appointment to get them tightened.</p>
<p>Did anyone have to get rubber bands? I only used them when I was sleeping, and then totally neglected them for weeks. It didn't seem to have much of an effect, because the dentist didn't notice. =/</p>
<p>I've never had braces and hopefully never will need them (I'm 17 now). My teeth aren't perfectly straight, but it's not so bad that I need to wear metal in my mouth for two years. Everyone has minor imperfections.</p>
<p>i had braces since 5th and got them off 9th (4 years) and retainers for life (yeah right) i actually used my metal retainer 24/7 for a year and i know i only use them during the night
i also had braces in 3rd (i have no idea why)
i'm a rising junior and i'll get them my freshmen year of college cuz my dentist sucked and every other dentist i go to said something like "when you get you braces,...." or "i see you didn't get braces yet" which annoys me cuz i had to suffer through them for 4 years
but i'm only getting my top redone for a year (2 teeth going to be yanked out)</p>
<p>Just curious, what was the main motive for you guys to get braces? Was it so bad that you'd have really un-straight teeth later on or your parents (or you) just wanted to have perfect teeth?</p>
<p>My parents just listened to my dentist when he said to get braces, I think. I only needed braces for around 2 years, and unfortunately I don't wear my retainer. Still, my teeth are still fairly straight (I haven't wore my retainer for a year, ever since I got my damned braces off), not as much as they were when I just got braces off, but still they look fine.</p>