Many students at Baker University are familiar with the pains and rewards that go along with having to wear braces on their teeth.

Traditional metal braces are one of the many common procedures that accompany adolescence. Reasons for wearing braces range from reducing crowding of the teeth, to straightening, or correcting a bite.

This procedure usually is done before an individual reaches college, but a few people still wear braces well into adulthood. 

Graduate Assistant Daniel Easton is 23 and has been wearing braces since December 2007. He said when he was younger, his father was in the military and all of the dentists he visited told him he did not need braces. 

Wearing braces into early adulthood can be problematic for people striving to be taken seriously in the business world.

Easton said he has run into common misconceptions concerning his age.

“It is hard to establish yourself as a professional when people see you as younger than you really are,” Easton said.

Easton said the only pain he experiences with his braces is after they are tightened. <br/>"I don't even take Tylenol for the pain any more," Easton said. "It is just something you get used to.""I don't even take Tylenol for the pain any more," Easton said. "It is just something you get used to."
“I don’t even take Tylenol for the pain any more,” Easton said. “It is just something you get used to.”

Sophomore Lena Sweyko has had a much more typical experience wearing braces. She had them for two years in high school and only along her bottom row of teeth.

“The reason the top teeth were so even is because I had a palate expander when I was in second grade,” Sweyko said.

Freshman Stephanie Morse has had braces on her teeth on and off for the last four years. Morse said she got braces on her teeth when she was 14 and then they were removed for medical reasons.

When Morse was 16, she got braces for a second time and has had them for two years.

“The only good thing about braces, besides straight teeth, is you get to put colorful things in your mouth,” Morse said. “It is like another way to adorn yourself.”

Morse said the worst part is the fact that she cannot eat some of her favorite foods such as popcorn. She said it also is much more difficult to floss with braces on your teeth.

Morse said it is odd to be 18 years old and have braces because most of the orthodontic clients are much younger.

“When I go into my dentist office, I see all these kids that are freshmen in high school and I have on my Baker sweater,” Morse said.