My fetish with — specifically — orthodontics started when I was about 5 or 6. A female playmate across the street (my age) at the time (1950’s) had an older sister who was having braces put on her teeth. I remember “big sis” going to many, many appointments just to have her braces put on. After each appointment, she “proudly” showed the kids in the neighborhood all the additional bands that were added to her teeth. It started with the back molars until the last four bands were applied to her front, top teeth (taking 4 or 5 appointments). THAT was a real mouthful of metal in the mid-1950’s! Bands took a long time to be individually fitted and applied. A few years later (early 60’s), I moved to another state and quickly noticed kids having — and getting — braces. The orthodontist in that city gave patients a choice on how there braces would be applied. You could pick a Saturday appointment at 7 AM (!) which lasted well into the afternoon! Parents dropped off their kids at 7 and were called 7-8 hours later after the deed was done. As a patient, you were there with 4 or 5 other kids, all in reclined dental treatment chairs, as the ortho team terrorized your teeth. It was NOT without considerable pain and pressure having bands fitted and pushed onto each tooth. It was truly an assembly line process. OR — If Saturdays didn’t work for you, you could choose FOUR approximately 2-hour long appointments where 25% of the metal bands would be added at each appointment. I can’t tell you how many of my friends went through this. Some wore their braces for as long as 4-5 years. Very few “got off” with less than 2 years. One good friend had braces TWICE — ALL Three years of Junior High and had them removed before entering High School. At the beginning of her Senior year, she had them installed again, finishing high school as a veteran “Metal Mouth”! She was not thrilled. I think she had them removed before she entered college.
I needed braces, but my parents weren’t going to pay the $1,000-1,500 which was the price in the early 1960’s. In 6th grade, I DID wear a plastic retainer from my regular dentist for a year to bring my front two teeth back in line. That removable device eliminated my “Bucky Beaver” look, but did absolutely nothing to address my severe overbite. At 42, I had full metal braces put on for nearly 3-years to fix the overbite and to alleviate other “TMJ” (jaw) issues.
That’s my story. I’d love to chat with anyone who wants to chat about braces. Just PM me. BTW, I have a large collection of dental pictures (with MANY nice banded braces shots) in my “DENTAL FETISH COLLECTION” album here on Zity. Please check it out if you share this fetish!