I'm 26 years old an have had my braces on for around 17/18 months. I opted for the ceramics on my top teeth. I had to wear e-arches (expanders) for nine of those months and had a hard time adjusting to them being glued into the inside of my mouth. They cause a terrible lisp. I had crowding and a small, narrow jaw that's why the expanders were required. 

I remember how bad the etching material tasted, completely sour!! I was ready to be sick to stomach because it kept trickling down the back of my throat. I cringe recalling this. I had been wanting my braces for as long as I can remember so I wasn't really scared to have them put on. I do recall the way they were so sharp after being glued on, I had no idea that your lips develop calluses after time. I wore wax covering all of the top and bottom for close to two weeks. 

The back bands sounded horrible as they were glued into place, a lot of crunching and biting down hard to get them on tight. It does get tiring and time-consuming with all of the extra brushing that has to be done, especially the flossing, but is worth it. I would be very upset if I slacked on one of the two and caused staining, or cavities due to my laziness. 

They should be off by July, I am so ready. I would definitely do it again, but had no idea of the pain I was in for. Especially in the beginning when you may accidentally click the top and bottom teeth together, yikes I was ready to die!! Several times after getting new wires, having them tightened I likened the pain to having been kicked in the teeth and mouth. Usually within a few days and some type of aspirin this went away. 

I always get a sky blue ligatures since they don't stain easily and don't turn yellow like the clear ones. I tried some pink ones, but was a little irritated when I consumed a corn dog with mustard and had to suffer through 5 more weeks of a bright yellow stained ligature across the front of my mouth!!! The worst pain began when I started wearing rubber bands and have been for close to 7 months now. 

The biggest disappointment when I got them on was how my teeth looked with them on, talk about embarrassing. You see all of these pictures on the walls of people with straight teeth and braces, I was in for a shock when my brackets were all over the place. It didn't take long though for me to notice a difference. Maybe a month or two. Definitely worth it though, not a day goes by that I don't admire what the braces are doing.