It’s been 5 years, and like any procedure/orthodontic treatment/plastic surgery, there are pros and cons. You probably won’t regret it if you do it only when you feel you can accept the downsides, and when the benefits feel more important than the downsides.
1. I think it’s usually best to follow what the clinic recommends. Since clinics have seen hundreds of patients over a long period of time, more than I have, I now think it generally would have been better to do what they recommended. Before orthodontic treatment, my protrusion wasn’t that severe, so they said if I had teeth extracted, there was a risk my mouth would go in too much. They recommended expanding the dental arch, shaving a tiny bit between the teeth to create very small spaces, and then closing those spaces again. But at the time, the idea of spreading all my teeth apart was a bit scary, and they said the expander could only be in a prosthetic-looking color, not clear or tooth-colored, so I thought I’d feel reluctant to meet people during that period. I ended up going with extraction orthodontics. Now I think it would have been better if my mouth had gone in less.
2. Retainers are much more uncomfortable than I expected. They say that after orthodontic treatment is finished, you basically have to wear retainers almost for life. Since a retainer is a very thin wire attached to the inner side of the teeth, right after braces, compared with the big, heavy braces that had been attached to the outside of the teeth, I thought a retainer felt very comfortable and fine. But as a lot of time passes and several years go by, it gradually becomes more uncomfortable than expected.. No matter how thoroughly I brush, it doesn’t feel completely clean, and tartar forms easily around the retainer. Almost once every year, the retainer comes loose and I have to go to the clinic. If it comes loose while I’m overseas on a business trip, I can’t go to the clinic right away, so it’s awkward and inconvenient. I didn’t notice it when speaking normally, but when I record myself and listen back, I can hear that my pronunciation leaks more than before. I especially notice it a lot when speaking a second language rather than my native language.
3. Changes in face shape It seems like for most people, orthodontic treatment makes the cheekbones look more prominent and changes the face shape. People whose mouth was very protruded or whose teeth were very uneven and who were very stressed about it may be highly satisfied after orthodontics just from the mouth going in and the teeth becoming straight. But if it wasn’t severe enough to truly need orthodontics, you may feel more stressed about the change in face shape than satisfied with the effect of straighter teeth. Before orthodontics, my facial line was relatively smooth too, but after orthodontics it changed to a bumpy-looking shape. My cheekbones came out and my face became a bit peanut-shaped. I’ve tried to fill that in with lifting treatments and so on, but you have to keep doing them consistently, and it doesn’t completely go back to how it was before.
I hope this helps anyone considering orthodontic treatment.