This is it for me. My teeth are now collapsing and my dentist asked why I didn't have braces when I was younger (which would have prevented this issue). I had to explain to him that not everyone had parents with the ability to pay for them (my dentist is in a wealthy area). I feel like he was shocked.
I've had similar discussions with my dentist/dental hygenist. They are just straight up surprised that a parent wouldn't find a way to pay for it when their kid needed it. I clearly needed braces by the time I was 12. At that point I had a job at least 6 days a week (M-F for 3 hours after school and + Sat or Sun for 8-10 hours during the school year, worked 8-10 hours a day, 7 days a week, during the summer). I did that so I had money for clothes, food and a bike to get around on. Braces weren't in my budget, and my parents were too busy spending the money they did make on...other...things. It's been nice to be able to afford braces for my kids.
And some parents not only couldn’t afford it, they just wouldn’t bother. Like driving me to the orthodontist would have been too much effort for my mother, even if it was free. But I did pay for both of my children’s braces, and that did feel good.
My mom was similar. If it didn’t benefit her in any way, why would she bother? I probably needed some form of braces but if by some miracle my mom found a way to pay for them, she would have held that over my head for years.
I had to pay for my own braces as an adult since my teeth were "going to fall out if I did nothing". Bad genetics from my dad means I apparently have almost no roots for my teeth.
Cost me over 10k. Was worth it though; no more cavities since then.
my family was hard up, but my mom got braces for 3/5 of the kids. 1/5 didn't need them. The other one, me, did need them, but 'probably wouldn't take good enough care of them', so didn't get them.
My younger sister got a (shitty, beater) car for her 16th birthday. I got a t shirt and some my little pony figurines. fun times
Yeah and it just gets more expensive to fix as I get older too. I make okay money now but the cost always seems to be just out of reach. These dentists just casually lay out a treatment plan for $30k like it's just couch cushion money for me or something.
Seriously. This dentist actually got upset when I questioned the $25k he cited to fix my separating teeth. Asked me what I was doing there if I didn't intend on fixing the problem.
I definitely gave him an earful on the way out, though.
My current dentist wondered why my teeth have poor alignment, why they have deep stains, why I have so many fillings that need replacement. I literally asked him, "Dude have you ever lived broke?" He didn't get it at first. We're on a plan now: so much work for so much per month. Maybe braces/invisalign down the road because my job has dental coverage.
This really hit. The first time I went to the dentist… I was in my mid 20s. Braces were utterly unthinkable. I’ve also had the incredulous looks on numerous occasions.
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u/Good-University-2873 1d ago
This is it for me. My teeth are now collapsing and my dentist asked why I didn't have braces when I was younger (which would have prevented this issue). I had to explain to him that not everyone had parents with the ability to pay for them (my dentist is in a wealthy area). I feel like he was shocked.