Braces, a load of bullshit: advice needed

I was told, in the summer before my eighth grade year, that I needed braces because my teeth were TOO straight and gaps would appear -- unless, of course, my folks forked over a few grand for the corrective curvature that only the braces would provide.

I was staunchly opposed, and convinced my folks that the ortho was full of it.

Twenty years -- and no braces -- later, my teeth remain perfectly straight. No gaps. Even as an eighth-grader, my bullshit detector worked rather well.