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It astounds me that in all the years of braces being in use they haven't found a way to make them less ugly. It's like they're frozen in time.
by wldcordeiro 12y ago
It astounds me that in all the years of braces being in use they haven't found a way to make them less ugly. It's like they're frozen in time.
- nilkn 12y agoThere's Invisalign, but it can easily cost twice as much as braces.
- to3m 12y agoVirtually everybody I know who's had braces on their teeth had them when they were 13, 14, 15 years old - presumably at that point your adult teeth are through but they (and you!) are still new enough to be flexible. So there's probably not, historically, been much demand. The parents don't want to spend extra on making the stuff look nice, so they just tell their children to put up with it. And their children don't really have another option, so they put up with it. "Character-building" was the stock phrase my school teachers and parents would use for stuff like this. I'm sure I've seen people with whitened fixed braces (perhaps made out of plastic rather than metal?), so clearly there have been at least some attempts to make them look less ugly - but I'm not sure it represents a huge improvement. If that costs extra, it's not great value.
- TheSpiceIsLife 12y agoNot sure about the flexible thing. Every month after seeing the orthodontist I spent two or three days laying in bed for hours crying, unable to eat. The pressure was awful, but mostly only when I had the time to focus on it.
- greedo 12y agoYep. My dentist keeps mentioning the need for braces for my children, despite one being age 8 at the time. I hated having my braces, and my teeth ended up shifting at a later age anyways. The pain was terrific, and the idea of putting my kids through that when they don't even have all their adult teeth seems like the worst of scams. Makes me wonder if my dentist gets a referral fee from the orthodontist.