I had mine for 15 months when I was about 15 years old. It was extremely painful for about 10 days, and I never took drugs because I didn't feel like they did anything. When I got them adjusted during my monthly visits, it would hurt for a couple of days afterward. The pain was worth it, though. I had a mouth full of rubberbands connecting the brackets of braces, but the rubber band thing only works if you actually wear them all the time. All the kids have them nowadays, so I didn't care how I looked.
Now I have a fixed retainer behind my lower front teeth, and an Invisalign-type retainer to wear at night on my uppers. It's really gross after wearing it every night for years, and it's not the most durable plastic, but I'm too cheap to get a new one.
I wore braces in junior high, but gradually stopped wearing the headgear and retainer because it felt too awkward. Thankfully, my teeth needed only minor straightening and aside from a slight overbite and a dime-thick gap in my front two teeth, my teeth are OK. However, I know the longer I delay fixing it, the bigger that space will get. I don't want to inherit my father's Sandra Bernhard gapped grll like when he was in college (he eventually lost 3/4 of his upper teeth from neglect). It can't be that expensive to fix such a minor detail, can it?
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Now I have a fixed retainer behind my lower front teeth, and an Invisalign-type retainer to wear at night on my uppers. It's really gross after wearing it every night for years, and it's not the most durable plastic, but I'm too cheap to get a new one.
I posted pics in another thread about this http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/show...ue#Post1265581.
If you're thinking about it, go for it. Especially if it's something you've always wanted. Shop around for a good orthodontist, though.