Ahh, back to school time. Time to reflect on the happy memories of adolescence.

Reconnecting with friends. High school football games. Successfully asking out that crush on a lunchroom dare.

Of course there were some embarrassing memories, too. Crushing social awkwardness. Acne breakouts. Waking up looking like this…

Yeah, so orthodontics have made some advances over the years.

A modern ortho doc, like VCO Orthodontics’ Harvard-educated founder, Dr. Crissy Markova, has all sorts of modern tech and techniques — from 3D digital modeling to take the gagging out of fittings, to the latest from Invisalign, to accelerated orthodontics to make your braces work faster. She works with patients of all ages, from adolescents to adults.

As school gets underway, Rosslyn-based VCO is sponsoring a contest to help us remember the good ol’ days. Regale us with an embarrassing story from your braces-wearing days, and you could win free, custom professional tooth whitening from VCO. (They do that, along with some other services, too.)

Here’s how it works:

• Share your (true) embarrassing orthodontics story with us via email, Facebook, Twitter or the comments below this article.
• If you have a photo to go along with it, bonus points! Be sure to send that, too.
• We’ll pick out our favorites, then publish them for our readers to see and vote on.
• The person getting the most votes will get free, custom tooth whitening from VCO for two — treat a friend or significant other. Runner-up will get tooth whitening for one.

The deadline to submit is Monday, Sept. 26 Tuesday, Oct. 4. Good luck digging up those old memories!