When did straightening teeth become a right of passage for middle class kids?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I grew up in a lower middle class home with horribly bucked (?) teeth. My mother felt it was imperative that they be fixed, so I had braces from the age of 12 until 18. The reason for that inordinate amount of time was because I was constantly plagued with cold sores and many an orthodontal appointment was wasted because my dentist said he couldn’t work on me while any of those things were present. I’m assuming it was solely due to the pain factor inflicted on me, but I could be wrong. I know they are transferrable in certain ways, but I’m not sure if it could only be passed along touch though. Anyone else know?

Also, I LOVED having braces and hated it when they came off. My teeth looked a mile long to me and while I had them, it at least seemed like one thing made me different/special. (In every school I’d been in, both in Dallas and rural east Texas, I was the only one. It was kinda neat.)

22

I wore braces from about 10 years of age through most of college–and I still had screwy looking teeth. Like NinjaChick I have small jaws, and several teeth were pulled including the two outer upper incisors. The other two incisors didn’t grow long enough so my canines looked like fangs. All that time in braces, and for what? Well maybe it would have been worse without them, but I did get my upper four front teeth bonded, and later veneered, and I have never regretted it.

My bottom front teeth are somewhat scrambled, but that’s not so bad when your uppers look OK.

23

Wisdom teeth coming in can screw up previously straight bottom teeth.