How Come Every Other Tween/teen Has Braces These Days

I had terrible bugs bunny teeth until braces at age 12. They absolutely changed my life. I would never have developed self-confidence without them. It may be unfair that life is that way, but it is.

Even if the misalignment is slight, if the parents can afford it, why not?

When I was in school almost everyone I knew had braces sometime between 6th & 10th grade, my sister & myself included. As an adult, I definitely notice crooked teeth. If someone can afford to get their kids teeth straightened, why wouldn't they? I guess I don't understand why people or parents getting their children's teeth fixed would annoy anyone...? Believe it or not, small things like that can definitely affect people's lives later on & whether they get a job, or are comfortable with their smiles personally.

My children-4/5 wore braces because when I was younger-I couldn't get them. They all have gorgeous teeth-and I wouldn't have it any other way.

No offense but I found it odd that you would even ask. Braces are to give someone a perfect occlusion (bite). I'd do just about anything to get mine corrected even though my teeth 'look' straight, on one side they are not, weird I know. Probably back in your day, braces may've been too expensive for your parents to afford or maybe, not knowing how old you are, maybe they just were unheard of (aka non-existant...no such thing at the time). Both my cousins need braces but they never got any & I know their parents could've afforded it so I'm guessing the parents probably didn't think the kids 'needed' it. I'd think that everyone, kids especially, would want straight teeth. Less likely to get cavities, easier to floss in-between plus the teeth just look better & nicer, not to mention TMJ issues or mal-collusions that can cause excessive/unnecessary wearing of the enamel or even hairline cracks later on w/bad allignments. There's a lot of good reasons to get braces. With all the new advances, braces take less time & some are even less painful. Back in the '70s they did have wide bands that went around the teeth but in the '80s they just used the bands on the back teeth or perhaps also the molars & just little boxes on the front ones so they've gotten even smaller & even in 'clear' or white now so they're really not that noticable. (And yes, I did have braces before but only to 'push' up the two front ones since I looked like a rabbit but the ortho didn't bother fixing the rest of my teeth for some reason). I think that parents should wait til the kids get all their teeth in or at least wait til age 12 at the minimum age. It used to be that the ortho would not work on a child until they were 12. I too see kids younger & younger getting braces & I do ask myself 'why'. I personally would wait til the kids were at least 12 but that's just what I've always been told in 'my day'. I've actually found it nearly impossible to find an ortho that will work w/me on my issue. They all want me to just 'put up w/it...aka I'm an adult & should just live w/it. Or they want me to file my one tooth down to look like the other one on the opposite side (one's missing by nature...never was there) or they want me to get bottom braces too although my bottom teeth are straight & don't need them so I find it odd that they're more than happy to help kids than adults. I personally think it's disgusting to see someone talking to me w/crooked teeth & I want so badly to ask them "why don't you get your teeth fixed" but I know that's not the proper thing to do, it's their business, I know but it really disgusts me when something can be done & they don't take advantage. It disgusts me that i can't seem to find help for myself so I rarely smile. Just about everyone my age when I was a kid had braces so I hope this helps answer your question & sorry for rambling on a bit, lol. Best wishes!

They are cheaper now and more readily covered by insurance companies.

With the ability to correct dental issues for reasonable amounts of money, why wouldn't we? I think it's pretty awesome.

I know my 7-year-old will be getting them ASAP. If I had to worry less about my smile growing up I might have done it more!

Better insurance coverage in combination with the fact that even "slight overlaps" increase the risk for chronic tooth decay and long-term health issues mean that more kids are getting braces.

I had them (20 years ago) and even then, they weren't "huge things" on my teeth. I think you're just noticing this.

Also keep in mind that a person's smile is often the first thing you notice when you meet someone. If a person has bad teeth- less likely to smile. All I have to do is look at pictures of my inlaws... they are generally happy individuals but you would NEVER know it by the pictures of them! Rarely, if ever smiling b/c they don't like their teeth. As a result- all three of their kids had braces.

To each his own... but if your insurance coers it, there's really no reason not to!

Because braces were never part of your dental plan until around 15 years ago. Even then they only covered 50%.

Like everything else covered by insurance, when it doesn't cost you, or you can share the cost, everything seems needed.

Look at it this way, a couple of your kids teeth overlap slightly but you can only notice when he is laughing like crazy. You must pay $5,000 to fix this, does it seem important? $2,000 to fix it, important now? $500 to fix it and his birthday is coming up and Aunt Judy is getting married and he is the ring bearer?......

I fear it is our quest to be perfectly beautiful and thereby accepted.....it also helps pay for the orthodontists new Porsche...their sales tactics are amazing nowadays.

When I was in junior high, the majority of my friends and peers had them. I had braces, had permanent molars removed because my teeth were too big and not enough room in the mouth, so definitely a medical necessity.

While you might think a slight misalignment in teeth give character to a face, a person who is so self-conscious of their teeth might not smile, might be embarrassed by it, and might have issues that can easily be corrected with orthodontia. One of my friends got braces as a 30 year old because she could afford it and had felt so self conscious all her life due to her "chewing corn through a fence" teeth. Her self esteem has increased and she is much happier.

I wish I had gotten braces when I was young. My teeth are pretty crooked, and I hate my smile. I don't have anything giving me pain, but it's hard to properly brush my teeth, and flossing can be a pain in the butt too. When I can afford it, I'm getting some!

Part of it is that they have done studies and found all sorts of things come with having crooked teeth: higher chance of migraines, poorer nutrition, lower income over lifetime, heart attack, obesity and that isn't going into mental issues like self esteem... Why wouldn't you get them braces with all that info?

I personally have a class 3 cross bite. and had to wear braces for 10 years.

I had braces from 12-14, and most of my friends did, too.
It was pretty common in my childhood.

I had braces, all of my siblings had braces, my husband had braces, and most of my friends had them. I think it's typical. I expect that all of my kids will need them (and my baby just got his first 2 teeth).

Nothing like a beautiful smile. I had them from 4-6th grade and got them off right before 7th started. My parents couldn't have timed it better :)

I had braces as a child....& so did many of my friends.

Prior to children, I worked in the dental field for many years. You are seeing adults with braces....simply because without proper alignment, you can live in pain.

Perhaps you just didn't notice how many kids really did have braces! We were out there!

Braces, can be necessary for some mouth/teeth malformations.
Yes, it is being done, at earlier and earlier ages.
Some necessary, some just purely cosmetic and not required.

But, know that, teeth and the mouth, is not static. It is always moving and the jaw is growing etc. In kids, the mouth/jaw is not fully formed or grown. Yet. And their teeth are not fully, in. Their baby teeth and permanent teeth.

I had braces as a kid and had teeth pulled out for it. I had my braces for 3 years. Due to an undesirable bite and a crowded mouth.
But now as an adult, I STILL have to wear retainers... to keep my teeth in line. If I do not wear it, my teeth, moves. Back. Still. My Dentist said, that the mouth/teeth has "memory." It tries to go back to its original formation. So yes, a person STILL has to wear their retainers. Otherwise, their teeth, may get misaligned again, etc.
Which, is my situation.
So, I do not believe in braces per say, for minor issues. Because for me, well I STILL have to wear my retainers. Decades later. Otherwise, my teeth move.
But sure, my teeth are 'straight' now, cosmetically.

I think some of it is better insurance and some of it is cosmetic and some of it is shyster doctors.

We had one orthodontist who treated SS and it seemed that every other week a wire was broken or something. He wanted to put SD in braces when she was very young, like 8 or something. I think he just saw dollar signs. We finally got fed up and went out of network. It was worth it. Funny thing, SS's wires stopped snapping and we had a flat-fee vs being charged for all the little fixes. That orthodontist said to wait for some of SD's teeth to come in/settle and then we did the braces. She was younger than SS because she has a mature mouth (a trend her sister seems to be following). I think if they are done too soon, then the teeth shift and you're doing it again. I keep hearing about people who PLAN to do two full rounds and I think, "WHY?"

My sister should have had them and we couldn't afford it. Now she has TMJ issues and they said the only way to fix her teeth would be to break her jaw and that might not work. :(

my daughter (almost 13) has them, she's actually in phase two which means she's on her second round...we did them for her because she was feeling self conscious about her teeth....I don't think that means we are discouraging her to be happy with herself crooked teeth and all, it's just a minor little imperfection that is easily (not necessarily cheaply) corrected and will last the rest of her life (if she wears her retainer of course!)...the good thing for my daughter is that her orthodontist only uses a newer kind of brace that is much less bulky than that of the past, so it's not so bad...

It is being covered better under insurance. Which gives people a better reason to have it done. I think they are good for people with confidence issues. I had them and well I still tell my mom it was a wasted 4k. She insisted though.

My mother in law has been telling my hubby for years she would pay for his. He has always told her thank you. He thinks not having straight teeth is also a character thing. I see his point. I love british actors at have gnarly grills:) they just seem so much more spunky.

My neighbor had to get hers due to the fact her teeth and jaw were cause ear pain aka TMJ.

I remember in middle and high school it seemed like everyone had braces.

My nephew had braces. He never used to smile and show his teeth, now he smiles for all photos. It seems about the same amount when I was growing up. It helps that lots of people now have dental insurance. More people are going to the dentist than used to.

It's simple: $$$
I wore braces from 12-just shy of 14.
My new dentist wants me to invest in Invisalign to re-straighten my bottom teeth. Hits me up every time I see him. Mind you, I wore my retainers religiously for years, and they always go back to being a little crooked.
I told him I like my crooked teeth, perfect teeth are boring. ;)

My 15 year old gets them off in 2 weeks, my 14 year old gets hers off in dec, we are just starting my 9 year old and i know my 6 year old will need them. My husband and i have a small income. I feel (so does he) that this is important. It is their smile, an extention of their beautiful personalities. It is our responsibility to make sure it is the best that it can be. That being said, it was worse than a couple of crooked teeth. Two of my four will need/needed expanders so far. Maybe parents realize how important it is? I don't know how other parents feel. I can only tell you how i feel. I do not mind scraping the money for each child. I would have hoped that my parents would have done the same thing.

I had braces as a preteen & in teen yrs I had all the contraptions back then my mouth was to small for my teeth to fit now as an adult they aren't straight anymore they are causing me pain & I feel that they can eventually fallout prematurely from pressure after many years of them being squezzed together as they don't line up properly do I want that to happen hell no I want them fixed but with lack of Ortho insurnace I have to wait.
Now my son is 7 he is going in because he has been referred to an Orthodontic to make sure his ped. dentist isn't missing anything to treat him & prevent furture misalignment as he grows & his baby teeth fall out & adult teeth move in.As of right now he has had to have teeth pulled because of tooth decay not from poor oral care or sugars it is hereditary he also has baby teeth being pushed aside as his adut teeth are coming up making no room for the baby tooth that hasn't fallen out yet to have space for when it does.This isn't an option i'm willing to take to let my childrens teeth fall where they may NO NO NO that would be neglect on my part as a parent.

It's better for older kids to have dental work done. Putting braces on children are just done by slimy dentists putting young kids through torture and getting tons of money since the work will be extended. Seriously, my braces were on for 1 year... my friend's were on for 3 years because her dentist put them on while she was too young and her mouth was still shifting

I had to have 8 teeth pulled and my adenoids removed for my braces, I even had a permanent retainer explode in my mouth and caused painful damage and scarring to the roof of my mouth. However, I wouldn't change any of that b/c my teeth were awful and greatly affected my self confidence..

And yes, dental care is important and I would do it for my kids if they need it.

I wore braces when I was in my mid 20's. I did opt for them more for cosmetic reasons vs actual need.

We have a 16 yr old daughter with an absolutely perfect set of teeth, no orthodontics needed at all. The pediatric dentist said she was about 1 in 10 of his hundreds of patients over the years who just does not need them.

We recently changed over to our regular dentist because the other one retired and the current one could not believe she had not had braces. I guess she got good genes from someone down the line.

Our teen had perfect teeth, then with one cleaning this dentist in Mckinney pulled the scrapper through her front teeth causing her to get a freakin' gap. Then suggested braces. We got our money back and even reported her. After we moved back to Plano, we found a good orthodontist and got her braces to fix the gap that horrible dentist created. I feel its scamming dental professionals trying to get money. On the other hand for others, maybe they have the money now to fix their teeth (my sister did for an underbite) and/or they want their kids to have perfect smiles (this was why my parents got me braces as a teen.)

I think because you grow up in the UK you do not understand that Americans see the importance of orthodontics for cosmetic as well as health issues. My daughter had two phases of orthodontics including an expander when she was 8. I cared about her future enough to do it.

I have been noticing the same thing. I have called them "starter" braces. I personally think it is ridiculous. Why not wait until the baby teeth are all out and see what happens before getting braces. My own sister at age 11 had them. hey pulled baby teeth! Now she is 16 and still has them and big gaps where teeth will eventually be. Crazy!