Does EVERY kid get braces now?

[WhistlePig]

I'm working on a publication's graduation issue that has tons of pictures of 8th grade "grads" and almost every kid has braces! Especially the girls.
When I was in school one in about every 100 kids had braces on their teeth. It was rare. Now one in every 100 doesn't have braces!

Are kids’ teeth really that bad or do parents just want them perfect?

[Snacks]

I think more kids get braces now b/c their parents can afford it. Back in the day braces were too expensive, now they are more affordable. Parents may also want their kids to have perfect teeth because they should have had them themselves and dont want their kids to deal with it when they get older.

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

I know a lot of people our age are getting braces (I even had a retainer a few years ago). I think family dental plans are better now than when we were kids. The only people I knew to get braces back then needed major orthodentia.

[JPMNICK]

I think it is covered more by insurance, and people have more money. also, parents who did not have them and were jelous of the few kids who did probably swore back then that when they had kids, they would make sure they had braces.

kind of like wanting your kids to have a better life than you type thing

[King Hippos Bandaid]

I had Uber Cool Plastic Braces

Still looked like a Geek

:king:

[WhistlePig]

So is it the parents that want their kids to have them or do kids actually want them? I always thought it would be horrible to have to get braces, and was glad I didn't need them. I'm wondering if kids think they're cool now, or maybe a status symbol?

[JPMNICK]

So is it the parents that want their kids to have them or do kids actually want them? I always thought it would be horrible to have to get braces, and was glad I didn't need them. I'm wondering if kids think they're cool now, or maybe a status symbol?

i would say both. the parents want them to have braces, and since so many kids have them, there is not the negative stigma there once was. plus who doesn't want nice straight teeth. 2 or 3 years of braces when you are 12 means a lifetime of nice teeth

[AcolyteAndy]

No, not every kid has them but it is alot more common today..Looking back, I can't remember many kids in my Jr High or High school (1987-1992) who had them that I remember.

There was no way my dad wouldn't of paid thousands for anything unless it was life and death and I had to be rushed to the OR.

I've been teaching CCD and doing other youth work for the past 10 years and yes, Braces are so common, Kids don't even get called metal mouth or braceface anymore(excpet maybe by a very younger sibling)..youngest I ever saw have them was a 2nd or 3rd grader. Avg age seems to be Jr High Age until 9th or beginning of 10th grade.

I think it's a racket sometimes. They nail the parents with "preventive care"..Get the braces BEFORE the prob occurs not treating crooked teeth. I seen neighbor kids with almost prefect teeth getting them

Lastly, no kid wants them(it takes over 2 hours of sitting in the chair to get them on) unless they have really really bad teeth that they are getting teased at school about or something or is causing pain

[AcolyteAndy]

"2 or 3 years of braces when you are 12 means a lifetime of nice teeth"

Not always true. You need to wear a retainer afterwards plus sometimes braces are "needed" again...How many adults(besides models or actors) have perfect teeth anyways.

[cougarjake13]

id have to agree that its more affordable, some insurances cover them and more people are just image concsious

[Yerdaddy]

Does EVERY kid get braces now?

They'd better!

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/403/simpsonsbritishsmilesij9.jpg

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1736/simpsonsbritishsmiles2yw7.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/278/simpsonsbritishsmiles3sk2.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7731/simpsonsbritishsmiles4rw7.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6869/simpsonsbritishsmiles5dv3.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2502/simpsonsbritishsmiles6ql4.jpg

[PapaBear]

The only reason my oldest son doesn't have them is because one tooth hasn't busted out through his gums. Yeah... that's what the Medicare (or is it Medicaid?) requires. I'm on the public dole. I admit it.

On a side note... My second wife got braces. She got them in her mid 20's. It was paid in cash. She's 4' 11", and looked like a young teen when she got them. People thought she was a teen whore, when she showed her braces, while holding our child.

Braces suck. At least, none of the people mentioned above, have ever had a cavity.

[Lumber]

I'll be getting mine shortly.:tongue:

[Yerdaddy]

I'll be getting mine shortly.:tongue:

When you do I want you to change your name to "Chainsaw". That'd be sweet!

[sailor]

i thought this was going to be aboot some polio outbreak. whew!!

http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/fdrbrac.jpg

[sailor]

When you do I want you to change your name to "Chainsaw". That'd be sweet!

hahaha nice!

[drjoek]

Right in my wheelhouse I am an Orthodontist

Most of the points have been stated above and they are all the right factors.

*First and foremost is probably economic prosperity. Insurance coverage
*Second is the relative affordability. Our fees have risen but not at the same rate as say a car. compare what a car cost say in 1978 and a car now then compare Ortho.
*Improved technology smaller, faster, less pain, less complex more comfortabletreatment
*Kid to othodontist ratio When I was growing up lots more kids and about the same amount of Orthodontists therefore Only the most severe cases were treated to keep up with demand Now lot fewer kids a few less Orthodontists more malocclusions treated lesser problems addressed
* Health conscious society nothing is left untreated now a days. Plastic surgery on TV kids arent walking around snaggletoothed anymore it just doesn't happen
* "Braces are cool" much less social stigma to braces Although Im not sure why wearing braces being called brace face was worse then having Fangs your whole life. Plus kids see ther friends with braces and impress upon their parents to go see us. They all want them until they get them then its "when do I get them off"


Thats about enough

[A.J.]

My parents couldn't afford braces for me. That's why I have a smile like Jewel's.

[drjoek]

My parents couldn't afford braces for me. That's why I have a smile like Jewel's.
Jewel is HOT no matter what her teeth look like. Her nose is a bit big too but she does it for me.
http://www.go4celebrity.com/wallpapers/Jewel-Kilcher/go4-Jewel-Kilcher-013.jpg

[Yerdaddy]

My parents couldn't afford braces for me. That's why I have a smile like Jewel's.

Hey, those teeth got her cast in Ang Lee's excellent Civil War movie "Ride With the Devil". I've always pictured her at the audition and Lee saying somthing like, "Well you're a singer not an actress, but you do have Civil War teeth. Ah hell! You got the part!"

[Snacks]

Jewel is HOT no matter what her teeth look like. Her nose is a bit big too but she does it for me.
http://www.go4celebrity.com/wallpapers/Jewel-Kilcher/go4-Jewel-Kilcher-013.jpg

I would rathe rhave jewel with her nose being big then that awful hook tooth. she might bite the tip of your tongue off.

[lleeder]

Allen Sniffen forces them to