BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Free Rants

**Posted by Sammy** July 19, 2012 7:22 pm

train tracks are the kind of braces you can't take off, right?
Hm, yeah, I guess they suck but really, Molly, I know sooo many people you've had them and once they've gotten them off their teeth looked so good!
It's really worth it, when you think about it. Couple of years with braces in trade for wonderful looking teeth for a life time ;).

Oh, it's never good to fall on your teeth... good thing dentists today can do so much about that!
When I was little I fell on my upper incisor teeth and they had to take them out, I looked like a vampire until my second teeth grew, haha... ;)

**Posted by Molly Hooper** July 19, 2012 10:28 pm

Oh, Sammy! You don't sound like you've had much luck with teeth!!

**Posted by Arya** July 19, 2012 10:31 pm

So in the Uk (and maybe in Austraila too) braces are anything that dentists/orthodontists put on your teeth? Interesting...in the US braces are what you people are calling train tracks, and braces that you can take off are called retainers .

Don't really have any teeth horror stories...I just had braces for a year and a half and now my teeth are all straight.

**Posted by sherlockskitty** July 20, 2012 1:08 am

I had braces (elsewhere in the world they are known as train tracks, or other names I've not heard of--) for 4 years and my teeth are still crooked. My ortho pulled the wrong teeth out. That's what I think.

Last edited by sherlockskitty (July 20, 2012 1:10 am)

**Posted by Sammy** July 20, 2012 1:18 am

Nooo, I never had luck with my teeth, that's true. I could tell you a lot about that...
but anyway, regarding my recently pulled wisdom teeth I can report you that everything has healed now! ;) So that's over now.

I actually haven't heard of train tracks yet, that's why I asked. Guess what pictues google showed me... (trains!)

Hm. In German we would say "brackets" to the ones you can't take off. Which, obviously, is an English word... do you use that?

**Posted by sherlockskitty** July 20, 2012 1:41 am

Ok yeah sammy-- I live in USA and brackets are the little things that kind of hold the braces on the teeth. that's what my dentist told me. After I got my braces off, I had to wear a HEAD brace as my retainer. That was really embarrassing as I had to wear it to school, too. But, not all people who have had braces, will have the same results that I had. Every person is different. Oh fiddlesticks, my hearing aid is telling me it's time to change the battery in it.

**Posted by Davina** July 20, 2012 11:39 am

Nowadays once the teeth are straightened then additional retainers are fitted to wear at least overnight. When I had mine done they didn't fit retainers after. They used to think that teeth stayed where they were after braces, now they know they don't. That is why your teeth, and mine actually, are still a little crooked Kitty. They have drifted, as it were.

**Posted by Arya** July 21, 2012 1:59 am

I know someone who had to have her front teeth rubberbanded (is that a word?) together for a month. She had to eat through a straw and everything. Glad that didn't happen to me...

**Posted by veecee** July 24, 2012 11:37 pm

I've never heard "train tracks" for braces before, but it is descriptive. I'm a grown woman who always had straight teeth, but recenlty noticed a shift. I'm going to the orthodontist this fall to see about braces. Will wearing them make me look like a teenager?

By the way, don't the Brits say "braces" for what we Yanks call "suspenders"?

(I still think it's funny to refer to us Americans as Yanks. It sounds so WWII-ish.)

**Posted by veecee** July 25, 2012 2:21 am

SKitty -- You were right about the getting through the trailers at the beginning of the DVD. I just hadn't pressed the right button.

Rant retracted!

**Posted by Davina** July 25, 2012 11:00 am

We do indeed. Suspenders are something else entirely! Lol
I've just put this in the English English translation to explain what e call suspenders in Awkward words in the US thread.

Last edited by Davina (July 25, 2012 11:04 am)

**Posted by The Skull** July 29, 2012 10:58 am

I've got a rant. Hopefully it won't take long:
So, me and my family are going bowling with some friends. My brother and I got bored waiting in line, so we start wandering around checking out the arcade games. We found a claw-machine (not sure what to call it, you know what I mean, right?) and one of the prizes was a hedgehog stuffed toy. I told my little brother I'd give him $5 if he could win it for me. So he puts his money in, the claw goes down in an amazing (but probably accidental) perfect grab. And then the hedgehog fell out of the claw once it reached the top. He tried again. Same story. When it became obvious that we were never going to get it, he decided twice was enough and moved on. *sigh*. Right, I'm done now. That took longer than I'd thought. (And it was almost Sherlock related because of that Martin-Freeman-looks-like-a-hedgehog thing. Which of course is why I wanted the hedgehog in the first place)

Last edited by The Skull (July 29, 2012 11:01 am)

**Posted by Mattlocked** July 29, 2012 11:17 am

Well, yes, that's the way they earn money with those inspiring confidence machines......
Looks so eaaasyyyyyyy.
(Or is it confidence inspiring machines?) You know what I mean.

**Posted by The Skull** July 29, 2012 12:43 pm

I know... but it was a hedgehog! We had to at least try.

**Posted by Molly Hooper** July 29, 2012 12:51 pm

I know! That just makes me so MAD! They're cheating innocent people out of their money!
You know, I'm in the right mind to go and smash up our local arcade game. But I won't because I'd probably get an ASBO or something...

**Posted by The Skull** July 29, 2012 1:01 pm

Thanks for the sympathy, Molly.
I know, it was stupid.. but I'm glad we tried, because it would have driven me crazy for the rest of the week otherwise.

**Posted by Davina** July 29, 2012 1:56 pm

Molly with an ASBO. Naughty girlie!

**Posted by veecee** July 29, 2012 3:44 pm

Are hedgehog and porcupine the same thing? I think there is some variety within the species, so they might be different here and in England, or even within each country.

I know that doesn't help you get one, Skull, but I was just wondering.

**Posted by Arya** July 29, 2012 4:36 pm

I think they're the same thing...although it doesn't sound as good if you call Martin Freeman a porcupine instead of a hedgehog

**Posted by Davina** July 29, 2012 7:51 pm

A porcupine is definitely NOT the same thing as a hedgehog.
Porcupines are rodents and live in America, S. Asia and Africa. They weigh 5.4-16kg (12-35lbs), 25-36inches long (63-91cms), with a tail of 8-10inches(20-25cms).They have quills which are modified hairs which are released on contact and new quills replace old.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcupine

Hedgehogs are MUCH smaller and are not related to porcupines. They live in Europe, Asia, Africa and New Zealand (by introduction). Their spines resemble those of porcupines but are not released on contact. They roll up into a ball to protect themselves. On average they weigh 9-19 ounces (255-540 gms).

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog