Brace yourself! Are you an adult who needs orthodontia? Here's what you should know

I was 6 years old when I grew my first monster teeth. Two lateral incisors had poked their way through my gums, but the baby teeth that they were to replace had not fallen out. The new teeth were growing right in front of the old ones, like high-rise condos threatening to take over the neighborhood.

When my mother noticed the errant teeth, she decided to play dentist. She cut two pieces of red string, and to my horror, attempted to tie them around my baby teeth. I bolted into the other room. "You're going to look like a bumpkin if I don't pull them out," my mother said.

Despite my kicking and crying, my mother managed to lasso my teeth with the string and tug them out of my mouth. The pain wasn't nearly as bad as I'd anticipated. More surprising was how the baby teeth looked outside of my mouth. Tiny and irregular, they were nothing like the cheery cartoon teeth printed on toothpaste packages.

Many years later, during a routine dental check-up, I was shocked to hear that I needed braces. Those first two incisors that had caused so much trouble during my childhood were now collapsing into my center teeth like a house of cards.

But I had grown so used to the way they looked that they seemed to be a natural, unalterable part of myself. I hadn't thought about straightening my teeth any more than I'd thought about changing the color of my eyes or the length of my arms.

Besides, the idea of wearing braces as an adult seemed ludicrous. I was in the midst of a career change and I worried about the impression I'd make during interviews. There was also the issue of dating. I had a hard enough time finding a good boyfriend. What would the men in Seattle do if they saw Jaws coming after them?

I consulted a friend who grew up in England. The British are notorious for having bad teeth, and my friend is no exception. His top teeth are short and gapped and look as if they'd been pried with a can opener, but that never bothered him until he came here.

"In England, nobody notices your teeth unless they're really awful," he said. He looked closely at my teeth. "I don't think you should get braces," he said. "I think your teeth have character."

I looked at him with doubt. I wasn't sure if I wanted to have teeth with character. I wanted straight, white, American teeth.

According to the American Association of Orthodontics, the number of Americans wearing braces has more than doubled in the past 20 years, from 2.5 million in 1982 to 5.7 million in 2004. Nearly a million of them are older than age 18.

There is some comfort in knowing this, but as an adult braces-wearer, I still feel alone in many social situations. Just days after I began my two-year process, I had to walk down the aisle at a friend's wedding as a bridesmaid. Cameras, the enemy, were everywhere, and I kept my mouth firmly shut. Four teeth had been extracted to make room for the others to move. If I smiled openly, I looked like a jack-o-lantern.

While a perfect smile is the most obvious goal, braces aren't only about cosmetics. The majority of Americans suffer from malocclusion (bad bite), which can cause a host of health problems.

This explains why Erich Tietze, an engineer from Shoreline, has been in braces for 17 months. The braces were part of a prescription to correct sleep apnea. His throat was closing up when he was sleeping, causing him to stop breathing about 40 times an hour.

He got the braces to correct his bad bite and jaw surgery to move his tongue forward so that it wouldn't fall back into the throat. Thanks to his treatment, he's sleeping much better these days and is in better general health.

If you're an adult who's been advised to get braces, take heart and learn from my errors. First, interview several orthodontists as if you're hiring a job seeker. Take advantage of the free consultations. I made the mistake of beginning my treatment with someone who wasn't well-versed in adult orthodontia, and wasted time and money.

In the Seattle area, you're looking at a financial investment anywhere between $5,000-$9,000, so it's wise to shop and compare before making the commitment.

Not all orthodontists embrace procedures that are popular with adults, such as Invisalign. Special training is required of professionals who offer lingual braces, which go on the back of your teeth, and SureSmile, a technology that involves three-dimensional computer-imaging and custom wires crafted by robots.

In Washington state, Leone & Vaughn (www.landvortho.com) was the first practice to offer SureSmile earlier this year. Sixty-four percent of their clientele is older than 18, and Dr. Paola Leone is in braces herself.

Second, don't wait as long as I did. I dawdled for years before I finally bit the bullet. Older teeth are generally harder to shift, so the longer you wait, the more work there will be to do.

Finally, don't feel singled out. You will see other adults with braces, and most of them are not dorks. I recently went to Veil, the restaurant of the moment. Just as my meal was being served, a very tall, stylish woman walked into the dining room. She had the gait of a runway model and spoke with a European accent.

I saw my boyfriend's eyes, as well as the eyes of several other people in the room, waver toward her. Just as I was about to smack my boyfriend on the head, he whispered that he'd been looking at her teeth. I glanced over, and indeed the woman, so tall and chic, was a fellow metal mouth.

Soyon Im is a Seattle-based writer; she gets her braces off in August.