Hello lemmies,
Yesterday was a bit of a shocking moment for me as my dentists told me I need to get braces to fix the alignment of some of my teeth. For context; as a young kid (11years)I broke my four front teeth, and had them replaced with fake ones (i believe they are known as veneers in English). They are now slowly falling off, as I have had them for a while (I am now 24). But before they can put on new ones, they want me to straighten out the positioning of the current ones, with braces.
Obviously this is the right choice, but I’ve always hated the thought of getting braces, especially this year as I will soon be starting work life and meeting new people.
Was therefore wondering what experiences people have with braces, especially if you had it as an adult / young adult. Anything I should know for upfront?
Correcting your teeth is something you’ll enjoy the rest of your life. Don’t let your worries about how people will precieve you now impact the rest of your life
Thank you, i believe this is the right way to think about it; just difficult to grasp. But you’re absolutely right!
Yes. Do this. It’ll be unpleasant but you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t do it.
I had the same thoughts when my dentist suggested it, but fortunately nowadays we have more choices for doing it.
I don’t know where you live and how much you can expend in it, but I’ve decided to use these removable invisible aligners (like Invisalign) and had no regrets. They’re faster to do their job, more trustable to get the alignment you need and, well, they’re not too visible as regular braces.
As other people said, correcting your teeth is something you will enjoy for the rest of your life. So, if you can afford invisible aligners and can follow their instructions (like using them for 20h per day, regularly brushing your teeth etc), I totally recommend going this way.
Besides what method you’ll choose, remember that everyone of them is temporary and you’ll be really happy with the results in the near future. I get the concern about what other people will think, but you should remember you’re doing something for you and to feel happier with yourself! :)
I’m in the mid 30’s and I have braces for a year now, go for it if you can afford! It will hurt for some days but it’s worth it.
I’m just going to comment on work life - the truth is, the older I get the less I care about things like appearance. Depends on the profession of course but for f.e. office work - people don’t care. Especially not if it’s for medicall purpose (they could even have a problem with HR). I meam look at the older colleagues, they themselves look like shit, they don’t care.
But I remember my mid 20s and I was exactly the same, now I look back and it’s a bit funny. It’l be good, go for the braces :)
Braces are a government ploy to monitor civilians through covert surveillance.
Riiiight…
My wife did the Invisalign thing in her early 40s. Worked great! Nobody even knew she was wearing them. She’s much happier with her smile now and everyone benefits from even a small daily confidence boost. Expensive, but money well spent imo.
I’m 43 and am doing Invisalign as we speak.
I had braces in my teens but my orthodontist was an escaped nazi scientist who reveled in cruelty. I completed the course, but it gave me a phobia of dental work so I kinda… avoided dentists after.
Long story short: Invisalign and modern orthodontics is a world away from the 90s. No more mallets to hammer bands into teeth, no more night braces, etc. 3d models, computer aided treatment, it’s all like magic.
Do it, you’ll be happy you did. If you want more deets hit me up
Nope no difference! Other than adults can be more trusted to wear them (some kids take them out and don’t put em back in so generally kids get normal braces). He figures if an adult pays and doesn’t wear them, not his problem.
Don’t be put off by the initial discomfort. It’ll feel weird at first.
Periodic tightenings are also slightly painful, but if you’re a weirdo like me then you’ll actually come to enjoy the feeling when it happens.
I had them as an adult. They were annoying but worth it once they were removed.
No one made a big deal about them. They could make my teeth sore when I first got them or had anything adjusted, but again - more of a minor annoyance than outright pain. Nothing to be afraid of and I’m glad I did it now.
I had braces in my early 20s. Its not a big deal. Just be ready for it to feel like youve been hit in the face with a train.
My wife got hers last year and is turning 30 soon. No one cares, and any comments she gets are people liking the colors she picked.
Remember, 99% of people you encounter are so self involved they won’t notice or remember something you think is super noticeable.
Buy a water flosser, though, because you absolutely have to brush and floss twice a day when you have them.
There’s low level constant pain that’s not easily comparable to anything else, which gets worse the day after any adjustments are done. And make sure you get a retainer you can wear each night.
My mistake was not asking for an alternative retainer, and grinding teeth at night kept breaking my retainers until it got too expensive to keep getting new ones. Now I’ll have to get braces or Invisalign or something to redo the straightening.
Good news is, I can still eat better than I could before I got braces.
In other news, seeing the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist about my sinuses ended up curing the grinding along with mouth breathing and swollen sinuses.
I’m an old adult and i went for Invisalign instead of braces two years ago.
Was pricey but an absolute breeze compared to the horror of having braces i experienced over two decades earlier.
I’ll see if I could have this instead, seems alot better.
I got some knockoff Invisalign from smile direct club, I wouldn’t recommend them because they’re undergoing a chapter 13 realignment or something but before 1850 bucks they did the job.
I have a much better smile, I don’t hide half of my teeth when I’m smiling, honestly it was one of the better decisions I’ve made.
I’m sure there’s some other company out there that can do just as good of a job, but ask your doctor if you’re a good candidate for Invisalign and if you are then go for it.
Braces on adults are common enough that most people don’t care. There are options like Invisalign, ceramic or clear braces, and lingual braces (brackets behind the teeth) that you can ask about. If you work somewhere with a strict dress code you might want to stick to clear and white colored rubber bands, too. Though outside of that, people still won’t care and colored rubber bands are cute.