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The New York Times ran an article on adults and orthodontic appliances and found that "the most recent survey by the American Association of Orthodontists showed a 37 percent increase in the number of adult patients from 1994 to 2004, and the growth appears to be continuing. More than one million adults in the United States are currently in braces, according to the association, and adults now account for one of every five orthodontic patients."
Even Tom Cruise got them!
No longer are braces one of those awful teenage things.
Since teeth shift with age, even adults who have had braces in their teens are getting refitted in their 30s and 40s.
I never had braces as a kid, though I probably needed them. So about 6 weeks ago I took the plunge and got fitted- uppers and lowers- and they will be in for about 22 months. I'm not liking them at all, the first couple of weeks were awful, the glue on the brackets gets discolored but I chose the clear (ceramic) brackets rather than the metal ones (or heaven forbid, the multi-colored ones! I'm in my 30s, I want to draw as little attention to these braces as possible!) But I am getting used to them and have lost 5 lbs because I can't eat a whole lot of junk.
It'll be worth it in the end. The cost is huge, especially if you want clear ceramics, but a straight white smile is worth it for me.
Do any of you have braces? What made you decide to get them? To those of you who had them fitted as adults - are you glad you did? Was it worth it?
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Add a Comment3 Comments
A friend of mine just told me she is getting braces again. she had them about about 5 years ago, but now -- on an impulse -- she has decided to get them on the bottom again. I am not sure exactly what kind they are, but she says they are invisible.
May 10, 2008 - 2:17pmThis Comment
I also had braces in my late 20's, because my childhood dentist had told my parents that I should wait until then, since my teeth were still moving and probably would into college. It was sound advice, but I appeared on my wedding day in full metal jacket - on my teeth, lol! The timing just happened that way.
As it was, it took several years, yes, you saw that right, because my teeth continued to move well into my 30's. In fact, they moved even after the bands and retainer were no more, and I've seriously considered having Invisaligns done. My father even had his teeth realigned in his 50's.
I absolutely hated the tightenings and had major headaches, to say nothing about how my jaw felt. The football style mouth guard of a retainer was no fun, either. My dentist assures me that Invisaligns are not painful.
My daughter's going to have them done (she's in her 20's). So, I guess I'll hear from her whether they hurt.
April 8, 2008 - 5:13pmThis Comment
I had braces as an adult (in my mid-20s) for about 18 months. I'm happy I went through with it although I have to admit getting used to them was initially pretty tough for me as well. The tightenings also got to be somewhat of a drag and did cause me a few headaches. Minor inconvenience really.
The only down side (overall) was I had to have some teeth filed, which led to some cracking and subsequent dental work later on, but all and all, had a pretty good experience.
You may find this link helpful ...
http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&query=braces
February 15, 2008 - 2:02pmThis Comment