Adult braces

My teeth are something I'm very self-concious of - my dad hates dentists and as a result, us kids only got taken to the dentist a handful of times when we were younger. As a typical teenager, I said no, I didn't want braces - instead of insisting, he said fine, and here I am with wonky adult teeth
I spoke to a dentist briefly about having braces but haven't discussed cost or anything. She mentioned that you can have it done at the reduced NHS price if there is a medical reason, e.g. pain, rather than just cosmetic, and one of my teeth is set back behind the others which makes it difficult to clean so I was wondering if I could maybe see if that would qualify me
Anyone here had braces as an adult? Did you have it done on the NHS or privately? If it was the latter, do you mind saying how much it cost? Were they painful, and did they work?
The dentist did say that up until 30, your gums/teeth are more malleable, so I have a few years yet but it's sitting there in the back of my mind, just know it's a big portion of money especially when OH and I are saving for a house. I just wish I had a nice smile though - I absolutely hate having my photo taken and that's mostly because of my wonky teeth. I'm even reaching the stage where I'm reluctant to go to group events where I know people will be taking photos and posting them publically without checking with people if it's OK, as I just hate how my teeth look and know someone will catch me mid-laugh or something.

Ask your dentist about DenPlan & if DenPlan would cover bracing, if it did you would probably save a lot. For instance my mother is at the minute getting a tooth crowned, it is costing her £510 (horrendous). I had one done about a month ago & its a big back double tooth. I paid £180 Lab fees & thats it . I pay £23 a month. I need it though as i have soft crumbling teeth so it pays me to pay for DenPlan insurance.

Worth asking - my brother only pays £16 a month to Denplan

I lost a chunk of front tooth end of last year and had never been happy with my front teeth anyway (i think having a full on train track brace top and bottom contributed to the weakness in my teeth) so i went for a sort of smile 'makeover' i had something called an inman aligner (clips in and out) and once my teeth were straight had 2 crowns and 2 veneers at the front and had top n bottom whitened i had cashed in an old company pension so fortunately didnt have to sell an organ! But the aligner itself (had that to straighten teeth as much as poss so he didnt have to grind off as much to do the crowns and veneers) was £1,250 my dentist did offer 10months interest free or something like that but i fortunately had the cash. The aligner had dont the job in about 12weeks!

theres lots of diff things you can have done now. i would prob go for a cosmetic consultation and see what your perfect smile would cost and work back from there thats what i did

i now have a retainer to wear at night but its clear plastic so you cant see it and it doesnt make you talk funny

PS It wasnt painful at all (the only pain caused was to my bank balance!)

Cheers, I looked up the DenPlan thing and about 6 or so dentists came up in the area so that's somewhere to start. One has an offer for free consultations for cosmetic treatment in June so I may ring up and see if they'll see me to give me an idea of pricing and any payment plans they do. OH keeps telling me he thinks my teeth are "cute" - I don't want cute, I want nice!

I'd like that nice brilliant sparkly white teeth all film & pop stars have

Good luck!

No advice myself although my eldest niece hasalways had biggerfront teeth and the rest crowded together when family photo's or any photo's are taken she never opened her mouth or covered her hand but she did not want aything done. She reached 17.......and not at college and wanted a brace........... i has been in now for almost 15 months now and boy has it made a difference but most of all her confidence has flown so if you want it done I say have it done. Price wise she was in the £1000's well my sister and BIL are but they pay on a treatment basis. Intrest free too.