WTF Braces?

[Ivo]

I think that more people are using braces. In a way I considered this was good as I figured more people were being clever to consider that short-term pain could lead into long-term gain. But if it's just for vanity sake in the end I guess I was overestimating people.

I don't think young kids should wear braces - they often won't have the discipline to keep good care of them and so on.

For disclaimer purposes, I used braces when I was around 16 to pull out a lower canine from inside the jaw (you only have 2 of those, so getting the 4th is definitively not "just vanity"). As I was going to have braces on the lower teeth I also had braces on the top teeth to have them align a little bit better, but that would be something I wouldn't have done on its own.

Ivo.

[avrame]

Dunno, dentists have merit in some situations, but hurting practices can 'easily' suggest unneeded expensive treatments to line their pockets. But in my family's case, my wife was told to get braces when she was in elementary. It helped her get straight teeth, esspecially after a couple teeth had to be removed at a younger age due to over crowding.

Now, if you had crooked teeth (i.e. some teeth leaning towards a over bite, and others to an under bite), I can see the push to get braces. But for just cosmetic effects like having a mild overbite, not needed.

My parents rejected braces for me at a young age, and like the OP, I have perfect teeth some 15 years later.

[CRTGAMER]

take care of 'em teeth.
I pulled one out last night; I do it by hand, or with pliers; you do *not* want to go there, trust me.

(yes, I am more scared of dentists, than me fixing it on my own, considering last time it cost me about 3,000$)

You must hang out with Jack, same reading interest.
Hope your choppers are better now.

Little Shop of Horrors, Jack Nicholson at the Dentist office, "Don't Stop Now Doc, keep pulling!"

[Limewater]

Do all of you folks really have your braces handled by your regular dentists? Almost everyone I know who had braces saw a separate Orthodontics specialist for their braces.

When I was younger, my from bottom teeth were drastically crooked to the point where I had a severely receding gum line. I needed braces on the bottom teeth and also required a gum graft.

They also wanted to do some aligning on my top teeth, but we said "no." That would serve no real functional purpose and would be purely aesthetic.

[Erik_Twice]

You may decide to not wear braces but it doesn't make anyone who wears them automatically stupid or fashion brainwashed. Let's be frank, people judge on personal aparience and you like girls with nice boobies.

And yes using bracers when you are young is better because it takes less time to correct your teeth at an earlier age. Older people need more time and thus more money.

Permanent bracers (The ones that are fixed to your teeth) are better but need some work done beforehand more often than not and thus a removable one is needed.

[Ivo]

Do all of you folks really have your braces handled by your regular dentists? Almost everyone I know who had braces saw a separate Orthodontics specialist for their braces.

I presume when they mention the dentist they mean just the office, and the specialist works from there.

[JWatts]

I have nothing against braces for fixing bite or jaw problems that would cause serious issues later. However, I see very little point in braces to fix minor tooth issues that will likely float back slowly over time.

I have one tooth that is completely sideways, twisted 90 degrees. No one notices, I can tell people who have known me for years and they had no idea it was there. Yet, dentists referred me to an ortho several times saying that it would help me professionally and I would feel better about myself, neither of which have been an issue so far.

[aaron]

i was told i didn't need braces by my reasonably practical dentist as a kid. i had a bit of a gap between my two front teeth but it wasn't that bad so i just lived with it. then this happened:



i got veneers and that took care of the gap. basically i paid as much as i would have to have braces, went through the same amount of pain only in a much, much shorter time period, and got about the same result.

[pepharytheworm]

I got bottom braces put on when I was 9. I had a backward tooth. Later on I had to get top braces for an overbite and gap. I had to wear a retainer but the gap eventually grew back. I still have a permenant retainer on my bottom teeth which I will have to wear for almost the rest of my life for my tooth to stay straight. If you don't want your kids to get braces don't let them suck there thumb.

[Limewater]

Do all of you folks really have your braces handled by your regular dentists? Almost everyone I know who had braces saw a separate Orthodontics specialist for their braces.

I presume when they mention the dentist they mean just the office, and the specialist works from there.

That's still weird to me. I have never been to a dentist office that had an in-house orthodontist. These have always been completely separate for me. Every dentist office I've been to has done ONLY regular dentist stuff. The only orthodontist office I've been to did ONLY orthodontics. When I needed to get a gum graft, I went to a separate oral surgeon's office who, as far as I know, did only oral surgery.

Do most of you go to a dentist's office with an in-house orthodontist?