Braces were my savior but the orthodontist was a freaking devil that just stole my money and my folks as well.  My first one gave me braces for 4 years off and on with retainers and finally after a second opinion had them on for one more final year and whoalah!  Some dentists go to school for so long, ya think they hated that so much they try to get as many patients as possible to repay those loans?  Damn braces.