Braces In The '80s

 The 1980s was a decade full of quirky culture. It was the age of teen movies, and probably one of the most memorable brace faces of the decade was that of Anthony Michael Hall, who played many metal mouthed nerdy roles in films such as Vacation, 16 Candles and Breakfast Club. Those were his real braces, and Hall's characters would not have been the same without them. And neither would the eighties.

 Another well known braces wearing character was Tootie in the sitcomThe Facts of Life, who was frequently seen in her metal mouth during many episodes of that show. As with the Anthony Michael Hall character in Sixteen Candles, Tootie was sometimes even seen in her headgear.

 But probably the most well-known headgear wearer of the 1980s was a character named Miles from the TV sitcom Mr. Belvedere. Miles and his headgear were prominently shown in various episodes, and the character apparently was sentenced to wearing the orthodontic contraption full time. But there were other appearances of the dreaded braces in this show, as there was an episode where one of the show's main characters, Wesley, was told he had to wear braces, and he refused and tried to get away from his treatment, before finally giving up. Although, I dont remember actually ever seeing any real braces on Wesley.

 The scariest braces of all had to be the ones worn by the boy Robbie Freeling in the movie Poltergeist II. In this remarkable horror movie scene, Robbies possessed braces attacked him. I suppose it may have been a common feeling to many who undergo ortho treatment.

Sean Astin wore real braces when he played Mikey Walsh in The Goonies.