cost justification

[tommyfive]

here i am thinking to myself: how do i justify this cost? i'm pouring thousands of dollars into my mouth, and i know at least two family members will have big mouths about it. it's none of their business but i started to think...

...pouring this money into my mouth...

i'll be 40 this year, which in most states means i've been of legal drinking age for over 18 years. So for over 18 years i've been allowed to pour beer into my mouth.

back in the early days gosh we'd buy beer by the case and sock it away, and then as we grew older we learned control and got tired of the headaches, etc. but beer is still nice to have around...

so let's say i've bought a $7 six pack a week for the last 18 years. got your calculator? $6552. it's more than i'll be paying. (all out of pocket; no coverage)

poured all that money into my mouth too, and where did it get me?

need more?

beer boosts your confidence for a few hours, then you get a headache. after a few years you get an extra belly.

with braces you get the headache first (maybe just the inconvenience is the headache), but then it goes away, and the confidence boost lasts. they're not fattening either.

:-)

[manglemouth]

I like that logic!

For me the justification is the fact that even though I am spending quite a bit of money now, I might save just as much in the long run by aligning my teeth correctly so that they are easy "to get to" for brushing and flossing.

The other justification is that I seriously never do anything for myself. There is always something else I think the money is best spent on like home improvements or of course, my son. But I realized that there will always be something holding me back. There will always be something around the house that will need improvement and my son will always need something new as he grows up - clothes, new furniture, computer, hobbies, tutoring, college. I just had to step up and say it's my turn. I have always always ALWAYS wanted straight teeth and I am finally getting them.

And I think ortho's make them so affordable nowadays with their payment plans that I can't even believe I waited this long ..

[Nawners]

I have wanted them my entire life. Well, at least as far back as I can remember. My parents didn't think it was important enough, and honestly my teeth aren't terrible. But that didn't stop me from wanting them badly.
It took me a long time to justify ever spending the amount of money I will be spending on them, but after having a bad marriage and subsequently a bad divorce, I decided it was finally time to do something for myself. This is what I wanted. My mom wasn't all too happy.. "Single mom, how can you afford it...." You know, the normal mom banter. But I am an adult who makes my own decisions, and nobody takes care of me but me, so this is what I'm doing.
You shouldn't think too much about what your family thinks. I know it's hard not to, but do they pay your bills? You do not need to justify this!

[tommyfive]

when i was a kid i wanted to wear braces. all my friends wore them, and i wanted to know what it was like. but braces were much harder to deal with back then - bands on every tooth and wires instead of plastic ligs, no colors. to be honest, most of my friends were miserable about it the whole time, and they were jealous of me who had relatively straight teeth.

after high school, as time passed i was less confident about my appearance, especially since those kids (or most of them) now had perfect teeth and now i was the one who didn't.

my teeth were straight enough to not need straightening; my bite is still good today (we'll finalize that diagnosis with the molds). my parents were caught up in their own stuff and definitely didn't have the cashflow to handle braces; i was lucky in a way that my teeth were as straight as they were because even if they had been awful i think i would have never been treated.

but as my twenties (and thirties) wore on, i've kept looking in the mirror and seeing these teeth, and thinking that it couldn't have taken long to fix, but now it's too late. and then i thought well maybe not, but now i've had this dental work done, and only people who have perfect teeth otherwise can wear braces as adults. man, i was just wrong.

yet in a way i'm glad it took me this long to wake up. i'm ready for it now. if this is my mid-life crisis, i'm glad it was saved until now. for one thing, it's dirt cheap compared to a convertible mercedes!

there ya go: cost justification!

[Julie08]

Having straight teeth helps make oral hygiene easier - and poor oral hygiene, gum disease -all that nasty stuff, is linked to higher incidence of heart disease and other unpleasant consequences. That's a justification.

But I think . . . if you can afford it, it's not hurting anyone else, and it makes you feel better about yourself - then you don't owe anyone an explanation or justification (IMHO).

[lisaemtp]

I see it as not only something that benefits me now aesthetically and makes me feel better about myself, but also as something that will drastically improve my long-term dental health. My oral hygiene habits have greatly improved (I'm OCD now!), and by improving my bite and correctly aligning my teeth I'm preventing cavities and wear to my molars that would have resulted in caps/crowns/dentures in the not-too-terribly-distant future. Those can run into the thousands per tooth...which makes my measly $5K look much better

Lisa

[chicklets]

I ran into an old friend recently who noticed my palate expander right away (I've had it for several months and still talk with a lisp ). I told her that I would be getting braces in a few months. First, she said, "why do that, your teeth look fine." I explained that they have shifted and crowded so much in the last 10 years (I'm now 42), and I'm hoping to prevent worse things like gum disease later in life. Her response: "So basically it's vanity." Then she had the gall to tell me that she had more important priorities in her life. I was really shocked and didn't know how to respond at that point. I basically just nodded and changed the subject. I still can't get her comments out of my head.

Thankfully, my real friends and family are very supportive. Whether they think I *need* braces or not, they are happy for me if it makes me happy.

It may seem like a lot of money to justify spending on yourself all in one place (your mouth), but the truth is, it is a preventative measure. I want my real teeth to last me the rest of my life which could be 70 to 90 years. A few thousand now will be money well spent IMO.

[tommyfive]

i'm anticipating the same kind of thing with my sister who just doesn't undestand, and has no money to boot. when i told her about my wife getting braces and how the cost was going to sting, she said 'well that's just vanity - she doesn't need to spend that money.' (btw that's totally incorrect.)

but my sister is the kind of person who thinks she understands what it's like raising three kids based on her experience raising a puppy.

people sometimes just don't get it or they don't ask questions or do their homework before opening their mouths. sometimes they might even be jealous of your braveness to take this on. whatever it is, it's not your problem if they can't relate; hopefully they'll come around but unless they try to understand, there's nothing you can do to change them. and that's ok.

it's all good.

[ssfw]

I am spending alot for orthodontic treatment and it was a very difficult decision to make, not only because of the cost, part of my concern was I hoped that my gut feeling about the orthodontist I had chosen was correct along with the thought of wearing braces as an adult. I just wasn't the happiest of how my teeth looked, although they were pretty well aligned, I just wasn't pleased. I knew if I didn't proceed with orthodontic treatment it would always be in the back of my mind of how my teeth could have looked alot better. I am so happy to say that my ortho treatment has been great from the beginning and my orthodontist and his staff are the most wonderful and kind people that I have ever met. My orthodontist has even brought up things that I didn't think could be corrected. I have never regretted the decision I made to proceed with ortho treatment.

As KK indicated in her post, you don't need to prove anything to anyone regarding cost justification.

If cost is a reason you are hesitating in going through with ortho treatment, save some money every month and re-think it in about a year. With the money you save towards the cost of the treatment, you can make a good down payment. Also, you will find that alot of orthos office will try to work with you in preparing an installment plan and if you can, making a good down payment will help also.

ssfw

[chicklets]

but my sister is the kind of person who thinks she understands what it's like raising three kids based on her experience raising a puppy.

LOL!!!! I know a few people like this myself.

[Nawners]

sometimes they might even be jealous of your braveness to take this on.

I think envy plays a big part in people's comments, either because they can't afford them or they might have worse teeth than you afterwards. Or, like you said, they aren't as brave as we are to take it on. That's just human nature. But, it sure would be much easier to go through with everyone's support!!