Oh man, I wonder if he told his parents that! Of course at age 18 he might not have had to tell them anything, but still... Or even what he told his doctor - it's perfectly legitimate to discuss that with your doctor, but how many of us would be comfortable doing so?
Braces are supposed to have health benefits in addition to cosmetic ones, but I don't entirely understand what those benefits are. I agreed to them when I was a kid, I'm now skeptical over whether I'd do it for my children. I had a palate expander and it was HORRIBLE - anchors onto the molars and someone else shoves a little key into your mouth that turns to push them apart and split your whole soft childlike skull apart just an eentsy bit each time and since as a kid your head's still soft up the middle it's biologically ok and you'll grow it all in later and presto, a year of pain later you have a head big enough for all those teeth that're going to grow in.
If I could be convinced of the medical benefits to normal braces I'd do it. If there's no medical benefits I'm uncertain - it's a trade between having good teeth which makes you more socially acceptable as an adult, and having braces which makes you less socially acceptable as a kid/teen - I'd do it if my partner wanted it. I don't think I could be convinced that hours of pain (think of the worst headache you've ever had, on par with a migraine, but going from the roof of your mouth to the tippy top of your skull) and crying, inflicted by the child's PARENTS for chrissakes (it was my Mom for me, my Dad couldn't bring himself to do it), every night for a year, is better than pulling a few teeth with novocaine.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: braces
Date: 2007-06-19 04:58 pm (UTC)Braces are supposed to have health benefits in addition to cosmetic ones, but I don't entirely understand what those benefits are. I agreed to them when I was a kid, I'm now skeptical over whether I'd do it for my children. I had a palate expander and it was HORRIBLE - anchors onto the molars and someone else shoves a little key into your mouth that turns to push them apart and split your whole soft childlike skull apart just an eentsy bit each time and since as a kid your head's still soft up the middle it's biologically ok and you'll grow it all in later and presto, a year of pain later you have a head big enough for all those teeth that're going to grow in.
If I could be convinced of the medical benefits to normal braces I'd do it. If there's no medical benefits I'm uncertain - it's a trade between having good teeth which makes you more socially acceptable as an adult, and having braces which makes you less socially acceptable as a kid/teen - I'd do it if my partner wanted it. I don't think I could be convinced that hours of pain (think of the worst headache you've ever had, on par with a migraine, but going from the roof of your mouth to the tippy top of your skull) and crying, inflicted by the child's PARENTS for chrissakes (it was my Mom for me, my Dad couldn't bring himself to do it), every night for a year, is better than pulling a few teeth with novocaine.