Is it selfish of me? I want braces, and I'm willing to pay on my own. (Information on costs and experiences appreciated) - Comments

carcinoGeneticist is right about braces being a pain in the f*cking a*s. The wire would poke out of the back and hurt my gums, and sometimes the bracket things would come off. Food got stuck in them all the time.

But those things are easily corrected and not that hard to put up with. The end result is definitely worth it. I still have an overbite because I don't believe braces can fix those. If your teeth are crooked and overlapping, braces are the way to go.

Have your parents talk to your dentist. Beg them to see it your way. If they don't agree and you can't afford it now on your own, you can always get them later when you're an adult. I know that seems like a long time away, and it's even more of a hassle when you're older. Whatever you choose, good luck.

Also, when you're done with the braces or decide to put them off for a while, use Crest whitestrips to whiten your teeth. I'm a hardcore coffee drinker, and I was so embarrassed by my smile in my graduation pictures. To fix it, I went out and bought a box of the strips for $35 (it came with about twenty or thirty of them), and after using about ten days worth for five minutes each day, my teeth are noticeably white. I'm so happy with the result. It's definitely worth it.

...God, I feel like an advertisement.

if you really need them then go ahead and get them. talk to your dentist about it and make sure it's the best path.

they won't get whiter, though. in fact they'll probably get darker. food gets stuck in them and so on. /: but they will get straighter. my teeth were pretty bad and i got spacers, an expander (jesus that thing is awful) and then braces for five years and i'm good now. my sister used to have them but my mom couldn't pay for them so she took them off. my sister's teeth are horrible though. -___-

anyway, get them IF YOU NEED THEM and for no other reason. there was this chick on tumblr that said one of her dreams was to have braces (she didn't need them) and i flipped my sh*t on her. you wanna know why? because it is NOT fun, they are NOT f*cking glamorous, and they are NOT worth whatever she thinks she'll gain by getting them. i detailed all the problems with me having braces and you know how many good things there were about them? ZERO. F*CKING ZERO.

so. ._.

Do you just need braces because your teeth are crooked? If that's the case, then it probably won't go up to as high as you think. If you had a bite problem that's a whole new story. I had a 14 mm overbite that needed to be fixed.

I think the monthly payment for mine was 150, but it was brought down by my parents benefits from work.

My parents pay for my brother's monthly. I'm not sure how much a month they pay though.
Put it this way, my brother's braces could have paid for my car.