I hope I am posting this to the right area, if not someone let me know so I can copy and paste my brace story to the right area.
First of all thank you to everyone who administers this web site and also the people who post on here, it is a major part of what finally made me take the plunge and get braces.
Okay, so here is my story. Right now I am 27 years old, and I have considered them since the age of 17 or so. When I was 14 or so my bottom wisdom teeth started growing in and I just thought this was normal. I really hated going to the dentist (like most people I think), so I did not really say much to my mom or dad. But like I said I being only 14 thought it was normal for wisdom teeth to grow in this early, and did not think anything of it; so I did not think to get my wisdom teeth removed and my teeth crowded on the bottom more and more over the years. I think that is what caused most of the crowding in my opinion.
The condition of my teeth... From all the other peoples teeth on here since I have been lurking on here for the past 4 months, I would consider my teeth being a 7 or 8 with 10 being the worst I have seen on here. The ones that are most crooked are number 23 and number 26 on the bottom (with a couple of the surrounding teeth being affected a little because of those), and number 10 on the top, resulting from the first of my wisdom teeth growing on that side and pushing it out a little, and my number 8 and 9 in a little. I say this was caused by my wisdom tooth b/c it happened at the same time. Plus an overbite. So not too horrible, but not something I want to still be facing when I open my mouth and look in the mirror when I am 60, and I am tired of saying I am going to do something about it so I am actually doing something about it.
The first consultation I went to was when I was 17 and it was at a place in Hilliard, Ohio. The guy told my mom $5,000 and she was like uh, we are going to look around some more. The next place was in Dublin, and they said $4,900 and my mom said let's look around some more, again. Then we went to the O.S.U. school of dentistry and they said it would cost about $3,500 with payments of $1,200 up front, $1,200 halfway through and $1,100 when finished. My mom said that is more reasonable, but we will have to talk to your dad and look at our budget and see what we can do.
So a couple of months passed and it just kind of got forgotten. I thought about it more and more and I kind of realized that I did not want to have a mouth full of silver when I was 17 and 18 and look like a little 13 year old kid and a 'dork'. So I did not bring it up again, and as I have read on someone else's story here parents usually look past their child's imperfections and do not even see them; so my mom never brought it up again.
Time went by I got married to my beautiful wife and had a beautiful daughter and just bought a house. I have always been considered good looking by most people so it was not a huge deal. Over the years I never really thought about it that much and when I did take a good, long, hard look in the mirror and I got a little depressed, so I never did it. Then I started looking at my teeth more and more and taking better care of them more by flossing more, so I was forced to look at them. So I started to look into braces more. I went to a consultation in Gahanna, Ohio and they said $6,300! So I started to look into things on the internet. I ended up finding about dental discount plans which give discounts from 25% to 40% off of adult orthodontics. I ended up going with a company called SPAMPLAN USA, any other adults who have not started with orthodontic treatment yet should consider a dental discount plan like this to save money. Just Google dental discount plan, you will probably save money that way.
So I am really doing it now, I have (finally) already chosen my orthodontist, paid my down payment, paid for my records, had my records done, got my wisdom teeth extracted and got a cleaning and cavities filled.
I went in again yesterday and had some more impressions taken for and appliance that is being made for me. I am going to be going back in in a couple of weeks to get it put on behind my top teeth to start pushing them forward. I am getting clear braces on the top and bottom because I am a professional and make $60,000-$70,000 a year selling homes and do not want to lose any sales because of having a bunch of metal in my mouth, even though most people say it does not matter, it does to me and the less noticeable the better IMO.
I also quit smoking 3 1/2 weeks ago with a drug called Chantix
So this has been an eventful month for me. I feel pretty happy with my selection for an orthodontist, but I do have a couple of specific questions for you guys and girls. I will probably ask them later today or tomorrow, I have already looked in the FAQ, but I have specific questions so please check back.
I will post pictures of my self and my teeth when I get a chance. Thank you for reading.
Although it is a hard decision for some, it is worth everything!!! Personally, it think getting braced when you are older and have to pay for it yourself is better. I have some friends that had them when they were younger and don't appreciate that their parents paid for it. All they remember is the negative. So if you feel ever like a 27 year old "dork", just think, you will be a "dork" with straight teeth 
I'm currently just at dork status 
