I'm getting braces on next month so don't know the good or bad right now.  I saw the picture you had on the bigger loop wires - what was that used for in your treatment?

I had braces when I was younger - I appreciated them, but I'm much more into appliances. I was a bit miffed that I never needed anything except regular braces - I had a spring for one very crooked tooth for a few months, but no elastics, no expander, no bite blocks, nothing! I always wanted something extra that would give me a harder time, but I didn't need it. My teeth were crooked, but no bite problems, I guess. I still wonder what an expander would feel like, with say, a habit device!

Walking out of the office after finally getting them was very cool. I was a bit shy about them at first, but it was fine after a day or two. Like I said, because I didn't need any extra treatment with different appliances, my braces didn't stand out and ended up being a bit boring for me. Sometimes there was a bit of pressure on my teeth (to be expected) that I liked, but that was about it!

I'm getting braces on next month so don't know the good or bad right now.  I saw the picture you had on the bigger loop wires - what was that used for in your treatment?

I think they were to close gaps between my teeth, which I guess they did successfully, although in the years since those teeth have actually started to overlap each other, and I've developed a reasonable sized gap between my front two teeth.

Hey, I think this a great question

Did any of you feel the treatment was too much or annoying or even a mistake?
Did they ever get boring or wish you had a different applince?

What was it like to walk out of the office and be the guy (or girl) in braces?
How was morning after?
When you meet old friends and family?
Or the day to day life?

I really would love to hear about the good and the bad.

Good questions, though my answers probably not the most exciting.

Growing up in middle class suburbs, it was pretty common for most kids to get braces, so walking out with them on (in middle school) wasn't didn't really engender any unusual feelings.  In fact, I think the orthodontist in my town liked to start kids in braces early, because even though I was maybe 13 or 14 at time, it seemed like I was one of the later kids to get them.  So there wasn't really any "being that person in braces" thing.  I guess I enjoyed wearing them, but more in a way that they didn't bother me at all, and I was happy to comply with elastics and so forth.  In hindsight, maybe I would have had them longer if I had been a little less compliant!

My own treatment - 30+ years ago - was uneventful. Just plain metal braces, without even elastics. Lots of other young teens had braces, so after the first day it was unremarkable in school and among friends. Lowlight has been some post-treatment shifting of my teeth, since I very stupidly left my retainer behind when I shipped out for Army basic training and never recovered it. I can't say my memories of the experience are strongly positive or negative. In terms of interest, it did nothing for me, since my interest was and is confined to women wearing braces.

My wife's current treatment has been different, since it plays directly to my interest (which is why she did it). Lowlight has definitely been the detested bite stoppers that prevent her from eating many of our favorite foods. That's a frustration we're REALLY hoping to get away from with her next adjustment, since her ortho plans to move some brackets. Highlight has been the tremendous amount of fun we're having in the bedroom - and out of it. 

I forgot to mention this in my initial post, but before my braces went on when I was maybe 13, I not only wore a cervical headgear for a year or so (though to be fair, I didn't wear it that much), but I was also given this weird and super bulky retainer that looked something like this (https://dereferer.me/?https://dereferer.me/?http://www.bronskyorthodontics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/06mda-1.jpg and https://dereferer.me/?https://dereferer.me/?http://www.bronskyorthodontics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/06mda-2.jpg), and which had a bulky plastic-covered wire over my front teeth and springs in the back that hooked above my molar bands.  Suffice to say, it made it difficult to talk, and I fully admit that I basically never wore it, despite having to wear it full time.  I'd simply remove it the moment my parents dropped me of at the bus stop.  I have no idea if the ortho even knew, because a year later my braces went on and it was replaced with a purple removable bite plate, which I also never wore.  And seeing as I only had braces for about two years, I'm not sure if it even really mattered.

At age 50 I had braces put on for the second my highlights of both experiences were having to wear a headgear 20+ hours a day during first treatment I was one my orthodontist's full band patients that was awesome for 3.5 years. My second treatment I had to wear a tongue with my headgear that was awesome. The only lowlight was when my braces were removed.

The second time I was braced the whole experience was a highlight.

I started out my treatment over 6 years ago when the orthodontist placed a blue bonded expander on my upper arch. (A bonded expander means it fully covers your molars). I also had a lingual holding arch that had tiny springs to push out and make room for my erupting baby teeth in my lower jaw. Those tiny springs hurt like heck and I eventually got them removed after they broke off a bunch of times. I got four brackets on my upper front teeth and they helped a lot. After about 2 years in those appliances, they were all removed and I had an upper Hawley retainer that also broke many times before I stopped using it. (I used to put it in and out with my tongue hundreds of times before it came loose. Looking back now I miss the feeling of the expander and the small lisp it gave me.
Fast forward two years after I stopped wearing the retainer, I got full braces this time to fix my bite and minor imperfections in straightening them. After two appointments, I got the FORSUS Appliance to fix my bad overbite and crossbite. They are very unnoticeable and I am able to smile, talk, and eat without them showing. In fact nobody but my doctor, family, and orthodontist know I even have them which helps in social situations. I currently have about a year of treatment left and I am glad to have at least some appliances other than just braces but I always wished I had something more.

I had a bass dynamax appliance from age 12. It wasn’t too bad at all, but I never wore it anywhere near as much as I should have as I was really self conscious of my speech with it. Just felt it never improved.

Then got fixed braces for a year and a bit - was alright and nothing too stressful. Didn’t even mind elastics.

Highlight for me was getting a power chain. My case was pretty run-of-the-mill without appliances, but it was a pleasant surprise to find my teeth so sensitive over something otherwise so routine!

Lowlight was getting them off and not being thrilled. Might that mean round 2 in my future?

Lowlight was being a teenager and going to school for the first day with upper fixed metal braces. I also received upper cervical headgear which was a bit of a surprise. The orthodontist made me walk out the office into a full waiting room which was terrifying and humiliting. Only outside did I have the courage to take it off and rush home.

Admittedly that last experience through the passing of time turned into a highlight. Other highlights were being reclined in the chair and the assistant tying a bib around my neck. I also enjoyed the lip spreader and trying to hide my braces.

Well I’m still in treatment and what I’m wearing right  now is definitely the highlight. I’m wearing wired in combination headgear With full metal bands top and bottom along with 4 elastics on each side of my mouth. I’ve been doing this for about a year and a half.

Hello,

It would be nice to have an overview of your treatment, if of course you want to add photos.

Pictures?

Sorry I have no camera available

You might have got away with it in the 'Dream Treatment' thread, or a story post, but please, spare us the the pretending. Or at least make it less easy to spot!

The high light was probably the time I spent in elastics to fix my bit 4 elastics on both sides. The low light was the time in headgear.