Introduction |
Appliances |
Discussion Forums |
Articles |
Stories |
Book of Records |
(Fellow Braces Wearers) |
(Braces Wearers Registry) |
Famous Metal Mouths
|
Other Informative Web Sites
... Click on these icons to view a corresponding color or b/w image!
... Click on this icon to view a corresponding newspaper article!
Introduction
You're wearing braces? So do millions of other people!
This page provides lots of interesting information for people with braces.
You can talk to some fellow braces wearers or read about celebrities wearing braces!
If you have some more information for one of the sections please use the
Contribution Form on the Resources Page.
[ Go to menu ]
Orthodontic Appliances :
You're getting a Bionator? An Activator? Or some kind of retainer? I bet you want to know more about it...
- Anterior Bite Plate
:
has a little shelf just behind the top front teeth that the bottom teeth hit on so the rear teeth will grow out to the same length as the front ones
- Bionator I
:
pulls the mandible forward and spreads it so it will grow that way and keeps the front teeth
from growing vertically so the back ones can catch up
- Bionator II
:
holds the mandible forward so it will grow and has plastic over the back teeth keeping
them from growing so the front teeth can catch up
- Bonded Retainer
:
for the bottom teeth
- Celb Nightguard
:
keeps you from bad habits at night
- Class II Activator
:
pulls the mandible forward and makes it grow, makes the teeth grow flat
- Coil Springs
:
are wired in to move one jaw toward the other like rubberbands do, most times they are for kids who won't wear their rubberbands
- Fan Expander
:
has an expander screw in front and a hinge
in back; as you crank the screw it spreads only the front teeth wider
but keeps the back ones in place
- Fränkel I Appliance
:
teaches the mandible to stay more forward where it's supposed to be and so the muscles
pull on your front top teeth to move them back
- Fränkel II Appliance
:
uses the mouth muscles to advance the mandible and make it grow.
It also has a screw on each side to advance it further
- Fränkel V Appliance
:
uses the muscles and a headgear to move the mandible forward so it will grow,
stops the maxilla from growing and flattens an open bite
- Habit Crib ("Habit Rake")
:
keeps kids from sucking their thumb - Ouch!
- Habit Crib & Retainer
: a removable habit crib and retainer, for kids who
suck their thumb; like the other habit crib but you can remove it
- Hawley Retainer
:
an upper retainer but can be used for upper or lower. There's a bunch of different ones
really for minor teeth movement but is supposed to be worn most
times right after you get your brackets off
- Herbst Appliance
:
a splint with tubes and hinges to hold the mandible forward so it will
grow and push the maxilla back so it won't grow It's for kids that won't
wear their headgears or to help headgears work better
- Hyrax Rapid Palatel Expander
:
splits your palate and moves the back teeth apart to make the arch wider
- Lingual Arch
:
keeps the mandible from moving while baby teeth fall out and get replaced
with adult teeth. Its called removable, but only the ortho can remove it not the patient.
- Nance Appliance
:
holds the molars from rotating or moving forward while kids are waiting for their bicuspids to grow in
- Quad Helix W Expander
:
spreads the back teeth apart with a spring
- Ricketts Retainer
:
a retainer often used for Black people and some Hispanics because the top of their mouth is supposedly taller and it's supposed to work better.
Remark: This is quoted from an orthodontics book. We do not intend to offend anyone!
- Saggital Appliance
:
makes space to fix overcrowding in places in the mouth by cranking a screw
to push individual teeth to different places they need to go
- Space Maintainer
(on the right) :
keeps space between teeth so an adult tooth can grow in when it's ready
- Space Regainer
(on the left) :
has a crank to push teeth apart for an adult tooth to grow there
- Teuscher Activator
:
pushes the mandible back to keep it from growing and makes the maxilla grow
- Woodside Activator
:
pulls the mandible forward and makes it grow
Special Thanks to The BoWoW Kids
for all the images and descriptions.
[ Go to menu ]
Braces Discussion Forums:
Other places for braces discussion are the related newsgroups.
Braces Articles:
All articles were provided by Steve. Thanks a lot.
General:
Adult Orthodontics:
Tips & Tricks:
Miscellaneous:
[ Go to menu ]
Braces Stories:
Click on the story title to read it. Clicking on the name allows you to contact the person per email.
If you have a braces story you want to share with us please use the
Contribution Form or send me a
standard email.
[ Go to menu ]
Braces Book of Records:
This section will be redesigned soon. Submitted entries will be added then. Thanks for your patience.
- Youngest person treated:
- A girl had braces on for 15 years (Wrong category? :) ). She had them since the age of 6. Loves them and does not want to get rid of them. Reported by the patient herself.
- Longest lasting treatment:
- A boy wore his braces and facebow for 6 years and 5 months, then a retainer for a couple years. Then, he had braces put back on because a couple gaps returned (and because he missed having his braces) and have moved a couple more times now. He h
as had his braces back on now for 3 years 3 months, for a total of nine years 8 months and counting. And he doesn't think they're coming off anytime soon "...not if I can help it anyway" he says. Reported by the patient himself.
- A girl (14 at start of treatment) had her braces on for 8 years and four months, including 3 1/2 years in headgear.
She got them on a week before high school and got them off at christmas when she was in graduate school. Reported by a relative.
- A girl (8 at start of treatment) has had braces for 8 years now, including a high-pull headgear for two and a half years when she was 10. Reported by the patient herself.
- A boy (13 at start of treatment) had his facebow wired on for almost two years. Reported by a relative.
- One male patient (15 at start of treatment) is wearing his braces for 12 years and counting. Reported by the patient himself.
- One female patient (15 at start of treatment) has had her braces for 7 years now, including 4 1/2 years
headgear (wired for 2 years). She's also had a number of different
removable appliances and elastics. She also has had two surgeries. Reported by the patient herself.
- A female patient (12 at start of treatment) wore braces for 3 1/2 years including
2 1/2 in headgear. She had retainers for 1 year, then unannounced to her returned to braces with headgear for 1 1/2 years, elastics for 1 year and and just braces for yet another 1 1/2. She thought she was done after 1 st treatment. She was in eighth grade at start of treatment and will be senior in college if treatment isn't extended again. Reported by a friend.
- One male patient's first treatment startet at the age of 11 with upper and lower removables for three years. Second started at the age of 18 with upper removable for four years, third with upper fixed braces, elastics and expander and removable lower at the age of 36 for two years and afterwards a retainer for half a year. Reported by the patient himself.
- One female patient got fixed braces and lower head gear at the age of 10. She wore them for 2 years. Because she wore the headgear for only 8 hours a day instead of 20, she got the headgear wired on at age 14 for 4 years. Gaps returned 2 years later, and braces were put back on at 21. At 22 she had to wear a facemask for 24/7 for 2 years. At age 25 she was finally done... and refuses to have more done. Reported by the patient herself.
- One male patient has had braces for 8 years and started when he was 6. At 7 he had headgear wired in and continues to have it wired in at 14. 3 more years are left in the treatment. Reported by the patient himself.
- One male patient had his first retainer when he was six and then when he turned 10 he had to have full bands with elastics and headgear for 24/7. He wore it only occasionally and unfortunately it had to be wired in. He had those both for eight years. At age 19. he got upper and lower retainers. At age 22, the upper and lower full bands went back on but this time he got a nice facemask wired in. He is now 25 years old and has had Orthodontic treatment for 19 years. He has been told he will probably have them for more years to come... He says "I guess I have enjoyed it though. Maybe I'll hit 25 years of wearing braces!". Reported by the patient himself.
- One male patient (11 at start of treatment) wore braces (2 treatments) for 7 1/2 years, including 5 in headgear. He had three operations, including upper jaw shortening & lower jaw legnthening. Gaps are appearing again, and he is going for 3rd treatment. Reported by the patient himself.
- Another male patient tells his story: "I started having my checkups at 9. They told me i needed braces. So when I was 10 I went to the orthodontist and he gave me braces. I asked him is there any more parts to my braces and how long do I have to wear it. He told me I will have a headgear to wear 16 hours a day. The year will depend how I treat myself. Rubberbands at last year of treatment was needed. I still have them at age 13. Because I fool around with my headgear and do not follow precise instructions they wired it in with my braces. The ortho says i have to wear headgear for approximately for 7 years and braces for 9 years!"
- One female patient is turning 13 this month. She got her braces at age 11. She has to wear braces for 5 years and headgear for 2 years. After she finishes braces for 5 years and headgear for 2 years, she has to wear full bands for until she is 27. The headgear will be wired in when she becomes 16 and until the treatment is over. She is so depressed about it. The reason is that her mouth is small, she has a very bad bite, very unaligned teeth, and has teeth coming our of everywhere. Reported by a friend.
- One male patient had his facemask wired in for 8 years, and at 23, he still has 3 more years to go. Reported by the patient himself.
- Number of treatments:
- A young woman (in her 20s) has had three treatments (the first one at the age of 7) with different removeable braces and is awaiting her fourth. Seen on Swiss TV.
- A man (26 at start of treatment) is currently undergoing his fourth treatment. He has had high-pull headgear with vertical lingual and class3 elastics for the last 18 months, 12 more months until he's done. Upon completion it will be a total of 7 years and 9 months with braces. Reported by the patient himself.
- Number of elastics:
- A boy (15) has fixed braces with eight elastics. Reported by the patient himself.
- A male patient (13 at start of treatment) has twelve rubberbands and headgear for 5 years now and had it wired in because he didn't wear it two years ago. Reported by the patient himself.
- A girl (16) has fixed braces with twelve rubberbands, wired in facemask, combination headgear and a bite plate. She's had them for nine months and she has to wear all of them 24/7 for at least two years more.
At the moment, contributions to the Book of Records are not possible.
[ Go to menu ]
The local Braces Wearer Registry has been closed down. Please read the FAQ for details.
Check out the registries on other sites:
[ Go to menu ]
Famous Metal Mouths:
- Agatha : model wearing braces, as featured in the premier issue of Jane Magazine
- Shelley Anderson : a top fuel drag racer who wears clear brackets top and bottom
- Tracey Austin
:
teen tennis star
- Tai Babalonyia (sp) : US pairs figure skater, had full bands at '76 Olympics
- Erykah Badu : a singer, wore them as a teenager. VH1's "Before They Were Rock Stars" had a clip of her with her sparkling smile.
- Trya Banks : on Oprah some time ago she said she wore braces as a teenager.
- Drew Barrymore : actress, had braces as a girl. In the movie "Babes in Toyland" she had them on the bottom teeth only, in the movie "See You in the Morning" she had top and bottom braces.
- Bobby Beathard : NFL executive, has been general manager of Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers; wore braces several years ago.
- Warren Beatty : actor; Once accidently threw away his brace/retainer and had to search for it on the garbage dump!
- Cia Berg : Swedish female lead singer of Whale
- Katie Black : model wearing braces, as featured in the premier issue of Jane Magazine
- Lucy Bower : model wearing braces, as featured in the premier issue of Jane Magazine
- Sam Bowie : wore full bands in the NBA
- Dr. Joyce Brothers : psychologist, had braces as an adult
- Carol Burnett : had braces as an adult
- Butthead : MTV's infamous comic character
- Amy Carter
- Phoebe Cates
: had clear plastic brackets as a teen
- Cher
:
wore braces in 1988, photo in People magazine
- Chris of 'N Sync Boy Group : wears full braces since a couple of weeks
- Chyna : WWF wrestler, currently wearing silver braces on top and bottom
- Stuart Cink : pro male golfer, currently has clear braces
- Chelsea Clinton
- Cordelia : model wearing braces, as featured in the premier issue of Jane Magazine
- Shirley Cothran : Miss America 1975, had braces after her reign.
- Cindy Crawford
:
wore (probably fake) braces for a Pepsi commercial and on the Muppet Show
- Claire Danes : actress, played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. She had pretty straight teeth; however her back teeth were screwed up and her bite got messed up and other problems. She has full metal braces, metal brackets, gray ligatures, two elastics! Wears them for 24-36 months.
- Terrell Davis : Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis had braces (silver, on top and bottom) as an adult
- Mary Decker Slaney : (then Mary Decker) wore full bands when she started winning races at the age of 15 in the seventies. She is still running at a world class level.
- Cameron Diaz : lead singer from SWV, picture in August Rolling Stone showing them off
- Phyllis Diller : actress
- Jennifer Elfman : of Dharma & Greg in an interview recently stated that she had braces as a young girl.
- Pervis Ellison : NBA player; while in college at Louisville, wore braces
- Emjay : Canadian dance singer, currently wears braces
- Linda Evans : actress, had braces as an adult
- Brett Favre : Football player of the Green Bay Packers
- Daisy Fuentes : VJ on MTV
- Whoopi Goldberg : actress, dated her orthodontist
- Linda Gray : actress, had braces as an adult
- Scott Hamilton : Former olympic figure skater, now a commentator for CBS. Wore a retainer a few years before the 1984 olympics.
- Isaac Hanson : the oldest of the 3 Hanson brothers has clear braces
- Angie Harmon : supermodel ("Baywatch Nights") had braces when she was a girl.
- Darren Harris : actress, had braces as an adult
- Prince Harry : son of Prince Charles and Diana, the late Princess of Wales, currently has clear braces
- Jennifer Love Hewitt : It probably was her bit gummy smile, and crooked teeth, bit of gaps, that gave her the TinGrin. She is wearing metal brackets (the best kind)! However, she is wearing baby blue, white, and pink ligatures, and 6 elastics.
- Martina Hingis
:
Swiss teenage tennis player
- Bobby Hurley : guard on Duke's 1991 and 1992 NCAA championship teams - had braces in picture on cover of "Parade"
- Hale Irwin : pro golfer, had braces as an adult
- Andrea Jaeger : teen tennis player from late 70's / early 80's. Full bands!
Good closeup in 7/9/79 issue of Sports Illustrated!
- Paula Jones : The woman sueing President Clinton for sexual harrasment has a full set of metal brackets. She was interviewed by 60 Minutes on Sunday, March 9, 1997.
Milla Jovovich : actress and model, wore a removable brace at night when she was 12
- Ashley Judd : ("Sisters", "Heat")
wore brace while in college and until she got to Hollywood
- Nancy Kerrigan : olympic figure skater
- Jason Kidd : NBA basketball player, had braces in college
- Nancy Kissinger : had braces as an adult
- Jack Klugman : had braces as an adult
- Anna Kournikova : tennis player, had braces as a girl
- Elizabeth Kwon : figure skater
- Janet Leigh : actress, had braces as an adult
- Carl Lewis : US top athlete
- Heather Locklear : had braces when she was a girl
- Gwen Macsai : NPR's Morning Edition producer, she said she was shy and in braces in childhood, and had to get a retainer again in adulthood.
- Mary Stuart Masterson : is wearing lingual braces. She was on the Tonight Show about two years ago and she talked about it and showed Jay Leno.
- Joyce Maynard : she once went diving into a trash dumpster to retrieve her lost retainer
- Lila McCann : 16 year old country singer had small article in 6/98 People magazine with several pictures.
- Bobbie McCaughey : the woman from Iowa who gave birth to Septuplets in November 1997 is now wearing braces. She's pictured with them on in a recent issue (May 1999, I believe) of Good Housekeeping. She mentioned that she needed them in childhood, but her parents couldn't afford them. Now an ortho in nearby Des Moines is giving her orthodontic treatment at no cost to her.
- Joe McIntyre : from New Kids On The Block
- Pat Metheny : Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist, wore braces at age 15 in 1969.
- Allysa Milano : Sam on "Who's the Boss", wore a removeable brace, but not on camera. There is a picture in her little paperback bio.
- Dominique Moceanu : She got her braces last month. She will be wearing it for about 4 years. She will have headgear for 2 years. But her gymnastic career is to go on.
- Dottie Mocherie : pro female golfer, had clear braces while playing as a pro
- Monica : singer, had a hit song "Don't take it personal" about 2 or 3 years ago
- Tamara & Tia Mowry : two twins on "Sister Sister",
both had braces within the last year or so. They never appeared on the show,
but there is a good photo in one of the teen star type mags.
- Karen Mulder : supermodel, won her first modeling contest with braces! She had upper ones for 2 months & then lower ones for 6 months.
- Kathy Nolan : actress, had braces as an adult
- Jeff Nyygard : US volleyball player (olympic team)
- Bill Paxton : Commented about wearing braces on the Tonight Show
- Kristie Phillips : US gymnast around 1987 to 1989. Wore metal brackets.
- Paulina Porizkova : had braces during the height of her career. Her early pictures never showed her smiling because of her crooked teeth. She then got braces, finished her treatment, and then the few pictures showing her smiling teeth-bared grin appeared.
- Elizabeth Punsalan : ice dancer
- David Robinson : Center for the San Antonio Spurs
- Diana Ross : had braces as an adult
- Monica Seles
:
tennis player
- Shaznay
: of the band "All Saints"
- Shorty : (from 4 The Cause) has upper and lower fixed braces.
- Annika Sorenstam : LPGA Golfer of the Year, wears clear brackets
- Britney Spears : used to wear a retainer and then braces. Britney's quoted as saying "The retainer was disgusting, I had to take it out before I ate and it was gross" "But I liked getting braces - I thought they were cool. I thought I was a grownup teeenager because I had braces"
- Diana Spencer later Princess of Wales : Various pictures indicate absence of upper first premolars and rather incomplete space closure. Examination of various works reveals NO photographs of Diana smiling in her mid teen years.
- Jill St. John : had braces as an adult
- Gwen Stefani : lead singer of No Doubt, currently wearing braces. She was spotted with a full set of silver braces on her upper and lower teeth at the Rage Against The Machine show in Los Angeles. Stefani is trying to tighten the bridge between her teeth and will only be fitted with the braces for six months.
- Poly Styrene (Marion Elliot) : lead singer of UK punk band X-ray Spex, was known for her distinctive glittering smile and voice to "disinfect the Roxy toilet". She wore braces in the late 70's
- Dominique Swain : actress
- Nikki Taylor : supermodel. She commented once in some magazine (Sports Illustrated ?)
that when she had braces she looked like she was under construction. :-)
- Debi Thomas : olympic figure skater
- Gwen Torrence : American athlete is wired with transparent braces
Barbara Walters : had braces as an adult
- Vanna White : in an interview for a special orthodontic project in NY that she donated money to she said that she had braces as a girl
- Venus Williams : teen tennis pro, currently has braces
- Lee Ann Womack : Country singer, wore braces from Oct 1998 to May 1999
- Kristi Yamaguccia : olympic figure skater
- Rozanna Zal : actress, had braces as an adult
- Kim Zmeskal : teen gymnast in mid-80's, currently wears braces, was on Sports Illustrated front cover w/ tin grin. She was interviewed recently after one of here routines for the ESPN Rock 'n' Roll Gymnastics show.
[ Go to menu ]
Informative Braces Web Sites:
This section needs some work. Any help is appreciated!
For links to pages for professionals try Rich Masel's excellent
Dental And Orthodontic Links for Orthodontists.
If you know some more braces Web sites please use the Contribution Form on the
Resources Page to tell me.
[ Go to menu ]
:
has a little shelf just behind the top front teeth that the bottom teeth hit on so the rear teeth will grow out to the same length as the front ones
:
pulls the mandible forward and spreads it so it will grow that way and keeps the front teeth
from growing vertically so the back ones can catch up
:
holds the mandible forward so it will grow and has plastic over the back teeth keeping
them from growing so the front teeth can catch up
:
for the bottom teeth
:
keeps you from bad habits at night
:
pulls the mandible forward and makes it grow, makes the teeth grow flat
:
are wired in to move one jaw toward the other like rubberbands do, most times they are for kids who won't wear their rubberbands
:
has an expander screw in front and a hinge
in back; as you crank the screw it spreads only the front teeth wider
but keeps the back ones in place
:
teaches the mandible to stay more forward where it's supposed to be and so the muscles
pull on your front top teeth to move them back
:
uses the mouth muscles to advance the mandible and make it grow.
It also has a screw on each side to advance it further
:
uses the muscles and a headgear to move the mandible forward so it will grow,
stops the maxilla from growing and flattens an open bite
:
keeps kids from sucking their thumb - Ouch!
: a removable habit crib and retainer, for kids who
suck their thumb; like the other habit crib but you can remove it
:
an upper retainer but can be used for upper or lower. There's a bunch of different ones
really for minor teeth movement but is supposed to be worn most
times right after you get your brackets off
:
a splint with tubes and hinges to hold the mandible forward so it will
grow and push the maxilla back so it won't grow It's for kids that won't
wear their headgears or to help headgears work better
:
splits your palate and moves the back teeth apart to make the arch wider
:
keeps the mandible from moving while baby teeth fall out and get replaced
with adult teeth. Its called removable, but only the ortho can remove it not the patient.
:
holds the molars from rotating or moving forward while kids are waiting for their bicuspids to grow in
:
spreads the back teeth apart with a spring
:
a retainer often used for Black people and some Hispanics because the top of their mouth is supposedly taller and it's supposed to work better.
Remark: This is quoted from an orthodontics book. We do not intend to offend anyone!
:
makes space to fix overcrowding in places in the mouth by cranking a screw
to push individual teeth to different places they need to go
(on the right) :
keeps space between teeth so an adult tooth can grow in when it's ready
:
pushes the mandible back to keep it from growing and makes the maxilla grow
:
pulls the mandible forward and makes it grow
:
teen tennis star
: had clear plastic brackets as a teen
:
Swiss teenage tennis player
:
tennis player
: of the band "All Saints"