Metal Mouth! Photos of Celebs Before & After Braces

For many, braces are a humiliating teenage life passage. For others, they are something that they experience at an older age. At any age, celeb braces can be a challenge given the blinding spotlight that comes with being famous.

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Some, like Kendall Jenner, got theirs as teens when they were already in the spotlight. Others, like Ryan Seacrest, later shared their awkward photos on social media. Then, you have got to hand it to these celebs who got their mouth wired as adults — like Gwen Stefani!

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Read on and see which celebrities got braces, what they looked like with them on and more importantly, how amazing they looked after. Here are 15 before and after braces photos that will bring a million dollar smile to your face!

Kendall was 13 in 2008, and like millions of teenagers — the future highest paid model in the world — got some work done that proved priceless. Unlike many who try to subtly smile with braces, the proud future runway walker was all sorts of smiley! Kendall said, “I had braces. I wouldn't look people in the eye. It was not a good time for me. It just killed my self-esteem.” Yet she liked the work the braces did so much that at age 17 she got them again (Invisalign). "Kendall only needed a minor tweak to her teeth," Dr. Kevin Sands, her dentist, told Us Weekly.

Currently, Kendall is one of the most in demand models in the world and besides coming into our living rooms every week on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, she has branched out into beauty products, just like her billionaire sister, Kylie Jenner.

While still a child actor, Emma Watson made eight Harry Potter films. Given her job, it was not a bad idea to get orthopedic work done to ensure future sensational smiles. But when you are bringing author JK Rowling’s story to life, the time to step away from the public eye was pretty limited. Lucky for the British actress, she needed just four months with braces in 2005. During one of those months, she walked the red carpet, and we got to witness Hermione being just like us!

For those keeping track, Emma was able to get her work done between the third and fourth Harry Potter movies. Her smile served her well branching out as she scored another role of a lifetime when Disney tapped her to be Belle in Beauty and the Beast. “I had terrible skin at one point and had to wear braces at another, and my weight has fluctuated between a size 6 and a 10. When you’re growing, your body is still figuring itself out, and it takes a while to settle down,” she was quoted in Elle.

Tom Cruise did not need braces as a teenager, but as he got older, they became more necessary. In 2002 he had two red carpet premieres — Minority Report and Austin Powers in Goldmember. Never one to shy away from his duties, the superstar was front and center for both events (and subsequent press tours for Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller), with his metal mouth front and center.

When people talk about movie stars and their million dollar smiles, many of us think of Tom. Remember when all was good in the world at the end of Risky Business? Mr. Million Dollar Smile earned it after wearing braces on his teeth. Radar Online even credits those braces (and then Invisalign) with keeping him looking ageless!

Many teens would not want to be seen in braces, and many are also not the biggest fans of having their pictures taken with their parents. So, you got to give Angelina Jolie heaps of credit for getting her picture taken with her father, Jon Voight, during Hollywood’s biggest night, aka the Oscars — with an audience in the billions.

In hindsight, it is hardly a surprise that Angie walked that Oscar red carpet with her dad. There is very little she shies away from! Here she is with those perfect pearly whites. Someone knew a good orthodontist! Wonder if it’s the same one she sent daughters Shiloh and Zahara Jolie-Pitt to as they were shown with braces by Us Weekly.

The royal was a teen enjoying a ski vacation with his father, Prince Charles, when the world got a look at the young prince’s teeth that were a work in progress — he had gotten braces. Wonder if his brother (also in the photo), Prince William, ever teased him about having a metal mouth? They’re brothers! You can bet on it.

As Prince Harry transitioned from teenager to young man, it could be argued that he was up there on the most eligible bachelor lists for many years. Not every potential mate cares about perfect teeth, especially when it is a Prince of England. But it didn’t hurt things that behind those rugged good looks was an impeccable set of chompers.

Whether in Chinatown or Bonnie and Clyde, there were few actresses more on top of their game in the ‘70s than Faye Dunaway. The legend was even at the center of that La La Land and Moonlight controversy at the Oscars in 2017. Though she may have been rattled, her teeth were gorgeous! That was because the actress was unhappy with her teeth late in her career back in 2002 and decided to do something about it. She got herself some orthodontic help. One of the biggest stars in the world inspired her, and she was quoted in Life and Style Magazine saying, "You just sort of let your teeth go for a while. But it's time to have something done. Tom Cruise has them now so I'm right in style." 

Tennis superstar Venus Williams got her braces before her younger sister Serena Williams. At the time, the pair were making a name for themselves on tennis courts around the world, and both had to spend time with silver smiles for the camera. Neither Williams sister ever appeared to have suffered from self-esteem issues. Venus said, “I was a teenager with braces and into sporty dresses with bright colors and cut-outs.” In other words, she wasn’t hiding anything and expressing herself as a teenager was extremely important.

Another adult who decided to get braces while in the public eye was Gwen. She was 30, and her ska-pop band, No Doubt, was on top of the rock world. Gwen’s look may have changed with braces, but somehow she made the look pure rock star. Perhaps it was the pink hair and braces combo … it just looked “Hella Good.” She was quoted in Life & Style Magazine as saying, “I always told myself when I got rich, that’s the first thing I’d do.”

Gwen had a ball being a coach on the reality competition show The Voice. It is not only the place where she met her other half, Blake Shelton, but it served as a weekly reminder that it is never too late in one’s life to take care of our teeth. The stigma about getting braces was decimated when a ska-pop princess made them look rebelliously rocking.

Faith Hill famously sang “This Kiss” back in 1998. In 2012, Faith got braces (and eventually graduated to Invisalign) to improve her smile, and it appeared that her husband, Tim McGraw’s, days of kissing someone with braces were far from over! An added plus to getting them this late in life was how the singer could serve as a role model for her daughters, Gracie and Maggie, both of whom have braces. “I’m getting used to them,” she told a Phoenix radio station, as reported by Elle. This was actually Faith’s second time wearing braces. On the red carpet, she looked into the camera and said, “I forgot to wear my retainer," as quoted in Life and Style Magazine. "Kids, wear your retainer.”

Drew Barrymore proudly showed off her braces in a Fallback Friday Instagram picture from when she was just 12. That million dollar smile had a little extra shine to it! She captioned it, “Verified TGIF (talk about come as you are!) 12 and loving it. Ps I have a beauty company! Hahahaha.” The child star grew up right in front of us and one of those growing pains for many children are braces. She famously told Seventeen about that awkward time, in hopes of inspiring other young girls to know that it will get better, “I had braces and I felt like I didn't fit into anything, whether it was my clothes or my skin.”

Two years after those braces came off, Drew was all smiles at the premiere of Bugsy with her date, David Arquette.

The host with the most had a little metal rocking his teeth when he shared this #10YearChallenge on his Instagram account showing what the American Idol king looked like with braces from back in the day. In an interview with The New York Times Ryan said, "I wore braces and glasses and was fat and got teased about it, but I was always very ambitious." That must be inspiring to hear for those in a similar position as Seacrest was in high school. Ambition goes a long way.

Ryan, producer of many things — most notably Keeping Up with the Kardashians — must have been so pleased with his parents for shelling out cash for those braces. This is a guy who has literally made his millions with that million-dollar smile.

Cindy Crawford was still putting the “super” in supermodel in this throwback picture of her on the set of a Pepsi commercial. Yup, she’s a metal mouth veteran and proud of it! Sometimes people do not get braces during those teenage years for whatever reason, and even though it might have made getting gigs more challenging, got to give it up to Cindy for seeing the big picture and realizing that a little bit of discomfort now will give way to a lifetime of electric smiles.