Yeah I quit that shit after the first year.
16 years later and one tooth kinda moved out of alignment but it's nowhere near what it was before braces.
I'm 13 years in. I hated having braces and was so eager to get them off and then they're like "surprise! You've gotta do extra work every day for the rest of your life now or all that expensive dental work you paid for goes out the window!!" I actually need it though. My front teeth will go bow-legged within a week if i dont. One time a dog chewed my first one up and the original ortho wouldn't make me a new one because they just trash your models after yours is made. Cost $300 to have one made again.
This is a roundabout way of saying I feel your dread, comrade
Yup I just got my braces off too. Gotta wear them 24/7 for like 3 months, then nightly probably forever. After years of having shit in my mouth I'll be happy when I can just wear it at night.
im in my late 30s and thinking about adult braces. Probably should have had them as a kid. Top teeth arent too bad but the bottom are pretty bad. Just the thought of having to be an adult with braces makes me sad but luckily im in a committed relationship and not trying to date new people so that helps i guess lol
my mom just got invisalign as adult braces. Not noticeable like metal braces, you just have to take it out every time you eat. I'm not sure if it's as effective as metal braces but might be something to look into if you're hesitant about getting the metal ones.
yea ive thought about that. ive had this orthodontist recommendation for like a year and have been too scared to go.
I've done it for >10 years.
Some people won't wear it and their teeth won't move at all for the rest of their life, some people won't wear it and then will have to do braces again later in life. For me I grind my teeth and my tongue is slightly too big for my mouth so I need to wear it. Every time I put it in I can feel how much my teeth have shifted lol.
At a certain point I stopped wearing my retainers and now I have a tooth gap in front again. Just gotta live with it.
Guy I hooked up with today who is like 55 years old had his retainers in a glass of water next to his sink.
not to be
, but you don't have to. theres nothing wrong with not looking "perfect" comradeI think depending on the work you had done you might be able to stop after 3-5 years. Ask your ortho.
I wore them for a year or so.
Then I went on a trip and forgot them, when I got back a week later they didn't fit on my teeth.
5 years later one of my teeth has shifted kinda annoyingly and is acquiring black parts because I can't brush it properly in its new spot.
Still NOWHERE NEAR as bad as it was before braces, but I have a lot of life ahead of me.
they said that to me also and i continued to never ever put them in again for the rest of my life as soon as braces were off. i will have crooked teeth before i wake up every day to a mouthful of dead mouth skin cells and dried saliva pressed up against the roof of my mouth and tongue. its bad enough without the layer of plastic sealing it in. so far so good but i bet some people probably have it worse than me and would need surgery otherwise. i'm not a doctor so don't take this as medical advice.
I do.
Then again, my retainers also help fight sleep apnea and prevent teeth grinding. So, ymmv
That's really not so bad. What's worse is permanently having crooked teeth.
Putting something in your mouth that doesn't obstruct anything is a tiny price to pay. It's easier than brushing your teeth.
I very much prefer to have crooked teeth than eating plastic every night. The only reason for me not to have crooked teeth would be looking more conventional and I don’t care about that.
Eating plastic? The polymers used for them don't really break down, and it doesn't taste like anything as long as you wash them every so often.
I had braces for over 2 years and wearing retainers at night was nothing compared to that level of discomfort.
For me I would prefer to always be able to bite and chew things with my teeth lining up, to have a smile that looks even, and not to notice anything out of order when I move my tongue around.
Everyone has their own experience with it. I was just sharing mine. To me it definitely felt like eating plastic because I have sensory issues and I am very angry with my orthodontist for not telling me before I got braces that wearing a retainer every night would be needed.
Straight teeth are overrated. Everyone is beautiful when they genuinely smile.
Yes. It's not a big deal tbh. I don't notice it at all unless I haven't worn it for a few days and my teeth shift and it hurts a little. Some days I even forget I'm wearing them until I start talking and have a lisp or attempt to bite something. I think I grind my teeth judging by the cracks on certain areas on the retainer and based on my fucked up dreams. But my teeth don't hurt, and I'm guessing it's because I'm really grinding my retainers and not my teeth.
The controversial alternative is "mewing." The guy behind it is likely a quack with what he claims are health benefits. But the procedure is non invasive and virtually harmless. You just keep your mouth close and keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth. This is supposed to "permanently" keep your teeth in place (or at least be a free alternative to retainers). If you're in your teens, it may give you a gigachad jaw and cheeks. Doesn't hurt to try.
i did mine for like a year and then stopped doing it, turned out mostly OK. they definitely wiggled around and arent in the same spot but it seems to have been better for my bite overall
