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The rite of passage of orthodontia: Our Best Life

cleveland.com 2 days ago
Braces are a right of passage for many American teenagers.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – I’ve reached the point in life where orthodontia is a recurring topic of conversation. Not just in my house, but wherever moms are gathered.

Book clubs, holiday parties, sidelines of soccer games:

“Oh who are you guys seeing?”

“Is it impossible to get an appointment?”

What we underwent as kids, what our kids are facing now, who they’re seeing and how expensive it all is.

I’m not sure why the topics of braces and expanders are more riveting than, say, pediatricians or music lessons. Maybe because this is important and new, and we want to get it right -- the same way we used to swap tips on breastfeeding or share potty training horror stories. We all want our kids to have perfect teeth.

Well, that, and we want to make sure we’re not getting ripped off.

Braces are a rite of passage for American teenagers, who in some cases wear the wires and brackets in two separate stints.

Of the 4.5 million Americans who are undergoing orthodontic treatment, about 3.5 million of them are younger than 18, according to the American Association of Orthodontists.

Their treatments are not cheap. One round of braces could cost $6,000 and last two years.

And that doesn’t include other orthodontic interventions, like palate expanders.

Braces have existed since the mid-1800s, but in the 1970s, they exploded in popularity, thanks to innovations in stainless steel and dental adhesive. Modern braces are made up of brackets affixed to teeth and wires threaded through slots in each bracket.

By the 1990s, when I was a teenager, getting braces was a normal phase of middle and high school. Just like a United Colors of Benetton T-shirt, I wanted braces because everyone else had them. They were a status marker, proving you’d reached a certain age and maturity.

I managed to avoid braces only because my mom took us to the orthodontist early. I started wearing an expander in second grade. I remember lying on the living room carpet once a week, beneath a floor lamp, while my mom reached into my mouth and turned the expander with a key. It hurt.

I also had a bunch of other appliances, cemented in or removable, although thankfully I never had to wear headgear. I swear I had one called a univator, meant to improve my bite, with a little silver ball that my tongue would flip, but the Internet keeps telling me that’s not a thing.

I wore my retainer regularly until college, when like pretty much everyone else I knew also gave theirs up, which is why my bottom teeth are no longer perfectly straight.

(I now am fanatical about my night guard, not to improve my smile, but because I grind my teeth terribly. It’s like a security blanket; I have a hard time sleeping without it.)

More adults are opting for braces now, either because they didn’t get treatment as a kid, because they didn’t wear their retainer and their mouth shifted back, because they are correcting issues that are causing pain or because they want to improve their smile.

Apparently, all those Zoom calls during the pandemic created a boom in the adult braces market.

The global orthodontic industry is growing all over, valued at $5.6 billion in 2022 and expected to reach $38.5 billion in 2031.

One of my friends had braces when her kids were little. She said the worst was getting food stuck on them and the feeling of wanting to brush your teeth constantly.

My mom, who didn’t have a chance to get her teeth fixed as a teenager, got braces in her 30s, so we all took trips to the orthodontist together. She might have been the only adult in the practice who opted to color-coordinate her brackets for holidays.

My son chose white brackets for his first bout of braces this month.

He started orthodontist appointments at age 8.

The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that children have their first orthodontic examination at age 7. We went then because my mom was always pushing early intervention. (That and the ingenuity of playpens. She doesn’t understand why parents no long embrace playpens.)

My son wore his expander for years, and after years of intermission, his teeth look perfectly straight. Now, at 14, his new braces are meant to correct his jaw alignment.

I’m still hoping my daughter can avoid braces.

Because our dental insurance covers only about a quarter of the cost. And once you use the benefit, there’s no more for a second round.

Thankfully, there are health savings accounts. And mom friends to solicit on which water flosser is best to buy. Or what to do when a bracket breaks. And what about those rubber bands...

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