Hopefully things will turn out well for your son. You will always hear more "horror" stories than good ones. Many of our extended family members had braces going up and no one had an issue with permanent staining. None of our friends or their children have an issue. Both of my children had braces and came out fine. I had braces for five years and also came out fine.
I also like the fact that they start braces much earlier now. My son started wearing some appliances when he was 8, real braces when he was 11, and was done when he turned 13. Back in our time, we didn't start until age 12-14 and ended up looking ugly through out high school. Some of us still had braces well into the first few years in college.
