Adults Brace Themselves against Mistakes of the Past
In America, there have been warnings that neglecting teeth in your youth could lead to braces in middle age, and Britain should take note.
The dental systems in America and Britain are different. In Britain, we have the NHS, in America all healthcare is dependant on expensive insurance. But the dental services in the UK have undergone drastic transformation. The news has been filled with horror stories as millions of people have been unable to get on the books of an NHS dentist. The result? Many are simply not visiting the dentist to avoid the expense. Even those with an NHS dentist will know that there are many procedures the NHS won’t cover – essentially cosmetic procedures and dental work still costs. But we’re learning the hard way. By avoiding dentists, we’re simply stock piling an expensive problem that will hit at some point in our lives. Seeking treatment in childhood and in our teenage years will help ensure any problems are caught early – such as the need to wear braces or undergo any extensive orthodontic work. And then as adults, regular check-ups and routine care are essential.
Hard Lessons from the Past
Columnist Melanie Lauwers wrote in America’s Cape Cod Times about her regret at not investing in her teeth in her youth. She wrote about how her 14 year old stepdaughter, who had just got her own braces off, was grinning widely flashing her new smile and mocking her step mum with the words ‘train tracks’: “I was the joke, her middle-aged stepmom who, after 20 years of considering it, had decided to get braces,” she wrote. She goes on to explain that the reason she was now getting braces in middle age was because after 20 years of paying for mortgages, student loans and cars, she could now afford to invest in braces and orthodontics. But her teeth had made braces a priority too as the pain of eating and drinking had become too bad. Braces are not always for cosmetic purposes to straighten teeth for a perfect smile. For Lauwers, her braces were to fix a decade long mistake when she decided in her early twenties to ignore her wisdom teeth as they were coming in.
Adults Brace Themselves
The result of ignoring her teeth was drastic. The wisdom teeth loosened her bottom teeth, which then tightened up in a crooked line. Over the years, the pressure of the top teeth on the bottom pushed them inwards and eventually her teeth became severely crooked – and painful. Ignoring her teeth ended up costing her a considerable amount of time and money to get them right. The indignity of wearing metal braces in middle age however can be avoided thanks to developments in orthodontics. Now, braces can be virtually invisible. But metal braces are cheaper. Adults wearing braces is increasingly commonplace. As Lauwers noted, “Of course, I'm not alone in this braces thing. Every time I go to the orthodontist — who I really like and in whom I have deep faith — I see mirror images of myself in the faces of other middle-aged folks who have finally reached the point where they can (or must) get braces. Data suggests that upwards of 25 percent of orthodontics patients are adults.”
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