I got my braces when I was eleven and got them off when I was...fourteen or fifteen. I can't remember at the moment and I'm not about to do heavy thinking like that (...shut up) at two in the morning. XD;
At first I merely had braces on my upper teeth because there was an impacted tooth there and it needed to be pulled down. ;_;' When I moved here to Toronto, my new orthodontist decided to replace my braces with "speed braces" or something, which were basically just smaller braces as far as I know. When he made the switch, he also put in bottom braces to give me a slight overbite or something. o_O I dunno. Finally when they came out, I got permanent (or at least until I'm 18 or so) braces on the inner-side of my teeth and a retainer. The retainer I was supposed to wear 24/7, then it was reduced to nightly, then one night every few days and now...a wisdom tooth came in and it no longer fits, so I just don't wear it.
*is way overdue for an ortho appointment, now that she thinks on it* x_X