Necessity of braces?

[DualvansMommy]

The other thread on braces pricing opened my eyes a bit. Not at the fact with the price since I know it’s expensive, but just how common it seems!

Every friend I have have gone through this with their kids at least once if not twice with their 2nd kid. Is it because we’re more aware of our self care vs our time when we were younger? I recall seeing few braces in some of my friends but certainly not at the scale I’m seeing now.

I kinda want to do a poll here to see how many posters here have had kids getting braces?? Part of me thinks it’s bit of a money machine thing vs truly a strictly need only basis for really bad cases.


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[georgiegirl]

DD (12.5) doesn’t need braces. Not sure about my two DSs though. Our dentist hasn’t suggested DS1 (9) get a orthodonist consult yet.

Neither DH nor I had braces. DH had some sort of retainer (this was under communism, so not western orthodontia.). We both have pretty straight teeth.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1 has a slight gap our highly regarded pediatric dentist saw no reason to correct it. We left it to ds to decide and he chose no braces.
Ds2 is in good shape too. His teeth seem to be moving a bit so we’ll keep an eye on it but I doubt it’ll be something worth correcting.
Seems from the other thread that there are those 2 schools of thought on waiting until adult teeth are in vs intervening early. Our practice is of the wait mentality which feels better to me but I haven’t had to research it.


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[robinsmommy]

My thought is that they are correcting more now than in the past, and that treatments are more often multistage and more complicated. We lucked out and DD1 needed minor corrections- still not cheap. Dd2 has issues so minor that the ortho advised no treatment.

[marymoo86]

My teeth were okay but could have benefited from orthodontia. Lack of nutrient soil for food and reliance on ptrocessed has really affected teeth of the next generations. I suspect that is what you are seeing now. I don’t balk at these prices and would be top priority to ensure a beautiful smile as possible.

Generally it is the dentist who advises but an ortho that does the work. Dentist isn’t getting a kickback at least in most cases

[smiles33]

My guess is that as we get used to seeing super straight teeth on celebrities/actors, we are less inclined to accept crooked teeth and are more willing to pay for straight teeth. Plus there is the stereotype that smart sophisticated people don't have crooked teeth, so this may be why parents feel pressure to straighten their kids' teeth. Even during the economic downturn, parents were willing to sacrifice and pay for braces by cutting out other luxuries first.

About 30 years ago, I saw some braces on other kids when I was growing up, but usually on the kids with really obviously crooked/protruding teeth. My dentist told my parents not to bother getting me braces as my teeth were pretty straight. Yet my younger brother's teeth were crooked (too big teeth for too small mouth) so he got braces.

One of my college friends grew up with 2 really crooked teeth on one side but an otherwise pretty smile. She'd only smile halfway to try and hide those crooked teeth. About 10 years ago, she paid for braces herself as an adult and now grins happily all the time. Yet I also know a woman in her 50s with horrendously crooked teeth (the worst I've ever seen in person) who is an attorney. I was truly shocked and thought she would have paid to fix her teeth by now. DH (who is an orthodontist) even has senior citizen patients as they finally splurge on themselves to get braces. I think his oldest patient is a man in his 90s, a WWII veteran, who came in for braces. DH insisted on treating him for free given his military service (DH's grandfather was also a WWII veteran), but the veteran was prepared to pay out of pocket to straighten his teeth!

[Jeanne]

I'm old and I had braces. It was an important priority to my parents despite the cost and sacrifice. I do look at people's teeth, always have, always will.

Both of my girls had braces. Palette expanders, retainers, and 2 sets of braces. The treatment was spread out over so many years that the cost wasn't much felt. Modern Orthadontia is sooooo much better vs my time. I had 4 teeth pulled and was lucky my correction held. My brother had 6 pulled and has since had 2 more sets of braces and permanent retainers. Those 6 needed to come out at the the time but created quite the problem in adulthood.

There was never a question my kids wouldn't have braces. Unless they had perfect teeth, I wouldn't have their mouths look any less than mine. It's a top priority for me.

[bisous]

I don’t know. Everyone I knew growing up got braces so it doesn’t feel any more common now. You were the exception if you didn’t need them then. I’m sure a lot of it is cosmetic but I’m really not accustomed to seeing crooked teeth.

Except my own teeth are crooked now. I lost my retainers while I was living in France and my teeth shifted. The irony is that my teeth were always straight before but I had an overbite. I’d like to straighten out my teeth. Some day!

I feel like obsession with a perfect smile is an American thing. I feel like I saw a lot more interesting smiles when I lived in Europe.

[essnce629]

My mom's side of the family has crooked and overcrowded teeth. My mom had braces in high school. My dad has gaps between all his teeth. So mine came out perfect lol! Neither DH nor I have had braces and have straight teeth. My boys (15 and 9) also have straight teeth and no need for braces. DS2 has a slight underbite that we've been watching over the years and it has definitely improved on its own. If we want to correct it it would involve headgear at night, not braces.

I definitely think that braces are way more common now and done at younger and younger ages. I can think of one friend growing up who had braces, and that was in high school. DS2 is 9 and in 4th grade and has already had several friends get braces, same with DS1's friends.

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[magnoliaparadise]

I agree with so many posters here - not as many kids in my time wore braces!
And yes, Americans have a 'thing' about a good smile compared to Europe. As someone who was with a Brit for over 15 years, I completely agree, though that's (very slowly) changing in Europe, too.
And finally, orthodontia treatment is better now so maybe it just 'feels' easier (ie you don't need to pull teeth).

I also feel like - even within the US - cultures around braces vary. In our old state, I'm not kidding when I say that 30%, probably even 35%, of my kid's then 3rd grade class were wearing palate expanders or had already completed them! Some wore braces with the expanders, but they all wore the expanders. Here, in our new state, palate expanders are not as prevalent. Maybe 10% of the kids have palate expanders and many have braces without them. I spoke with an orthodontist who agreed that palate expanders are more often given by orthodontists in certain areas.