<p>i had braces for almost 4 years
oh man they were so bad aaah</p>
<p>I had braces for 26 months, from the summer before 6th grade till right before 8th grade started. I had to do the stupid rubber bands like all the time, and had the "chain" elastic stuff at some point.
THEN I got them off, yay! :] But they told me I'd have to wear my silly clear retainer [which makes my teeth look not half as great ;D] pretty much all the time until I'm 21.
Yeahhhh right.
I wear both the top and bottom ones one night a week just to make sure my teeth don't move.</p>
<p>Although.. I guess around 3 years ago [9th grade-ish] I lost my bottom retainer [because it's clear!!] and didn't wear it at all for a number of months... I didn't really think my teeth were moving (much) and didn't really care. But after a while I noticed one of my bottom teeth was a little crooked-ish, so finally got around to going to the orthodontist to do something about it. He frequently works with invisalign [which is pretty much the same as my retainer, except mine just doesn't move your teeth], and I thought he could do that for my bottom tooth, but no such luck! I now have a permanently crooked tooth [seriously, my new retainer easily shows a really crooked tooth].
BUT I don't regret letting my tooth move, I'm sick of EVERY SINGLE PERSON having the exact same teeth.. My teeth still look really nice, just a bit different than everyone else's.</p>
<p>edit - Oh, I got braces because my teeth were SERIOUSLY messed up and off-center, and yeahh it was cute when I was like 10 lol but we quickly got over that.</p>
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^Invisalign = retainers, not braces. I'm using those now after the metal braces.
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<p>No, one of my friends has Invisalign braces.</p>
<p>My rubber bands had zebras on them.</p>
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I had braces for six months in the fourth grade, the doc took them off, saying my teeth were straight. About a month later, I get two more teeth growing in and that throws everything off.
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<p>My ortho refused to do any work on me until all my baby teeth were gone.</p>
<p>I had braces from 6th to 8th grade. Hated them. After that, I had a permanent retainer put in and am still wearing it. It's simply a short metal band behind my front teeth.</p>
<p>No braces for me. YAY!
I have pretty teeth! lol</p>
<p>I apologize for rubbing it in.</p>
<p>I had braces for two years, and I just got them off in July. Right now I have a plastic retainer on the top that I have to wear 24/7 until September 16th. Then I'll just have to wear it at night. I've taken it out twice in my sleep. I also have a permanent retainer on the bottom, but you can't tell and after a week I didn't even notice it :)</p>
<p>I agree w/ everyone - rubber bands are baaad. I feel jipped- I din't have animals. I had "Fred" and "Joe". </p>
<p>Apparently if I didn't get braces, I would have problems with my digestive tract....</p>
<p>I got braces in July 2006 and got them taken off in January 2008. Yeah, I had rubber bands for a while. I remember having zebras on my rubber band packet thing, but then I got bears. Badass. I wear a retainer now, but I'm going to get that off in a week!</p>
<p>Had braces for 2.5 years, broke all my brackets at some time during that period ^^ Kay more like 7 of them. I'll have retainers 24/7 for a year and then at night for the rest of my life, but I'm hoping that if I wear them religiously this year they'll just... stay that way. It depends. Some people's teeth move after an hour without wearing them and some people's stay in the same position naturally.</p>
<p>I've had braces for ~3 years. I had to wear a retainer 24/7 for 6 mos, but now I just wear it at night. But my orthodontist told me that I have to wear it at night (well 12 hrs, but who sleeps for that long?!) for life, or my teeth will go back to the way they were! :/</p>
<p>Never had them.</p>
<p>Anyone else think that wearing braces when you were young was pretty cool? I dunno, I always thought having a mouth full of metal was kind of awesome, lol. Never had braces, though.</p>
<p>never had them! :D</p>
<p>my parents said i could pick either braces, or keep the teeth i have, and i choose my teeth, they're pretty good anyway, but i couldn't stand having braces in high school</p>
<p>Yeah, they put permanent retainers behind your front top and bottom teeth. It's just a little metal wire (like braces wires) that they glue to your back 4 or 5 teeth to keep it all in place.</p>
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Anyone else think that wearing braces when you were young was pretty cool?
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<p>I had braces in high school. Just before I got my braces off, I ran across a girl in 5th grade who just LOVED braces (she doesn't have them yet). That girl was staring at my braces for a long time and told me braces is the coolest thing in the world. I was just like -____-</p>
<p>By young, I meant like in elementary school. No offense to anyone who still has braces, but I can't imagine having braces throughout high school.</p>
<p>I know a girl who, in the 6th grade, got braces JUST because everyone had them and they were cool. Her teeth were perfectly fine before them.</p>
<p>I am going to be a senior and still have braces. They haven't affected getting girls like I thought they would...</p>
<p>I have braces and I have to wait for them to expose a tooth before the orthodontist can tell me how much longer I will have to wear them.</p>
<p>I've had them on for two years already but when I get them off as a present I get to have my teeth whitened...yay?</p>
<p>Alot of orthodontics is cosmetic only. The dentists get a referral in my area to refer to the orthodontists. It is a racket. Also, there is a big range in price of orthodontics depending on the area you live in.</p>
<p>I got my braces on in 7th grade and off in 7th grade. No that’s not a typo. However, I had orthodontal work before that continually since probably 2nd or 3rd grade. I now have to wear metal retainers at night. If I don’t wear them one night I can definitely tell that my teeth have moved by the next morning.</p>