Parents & Braces

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#16 Post by **CeliacMom** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:26 pm

I didn't tell my parents either. I didn't really have a reason to not tell them, I just don't see them that often. They came over for dinner about 6 weeks into my treatment and their reaction was, "Oh, you got braces?".

I don't ever remember the dentist saying anything about braces to my parents, but then again they stopped taking me to the dentist when I was about 13 and I didn't go again until my early 20's when I had insurance.

Celiac Mom

#17 Post by **Bekah** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 7:48 pm

I believe the first statement from my mom was "Why would you ruin your smile?" Followed by "You had beautiful teeth, why would you pull 4 perfectly good teeth?" and finally with, "I could think of a lot better things to do with $5000!"

Needless to say there was ZERO support on that front!

#18 Post by **chloerae** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:01 am

I'm 27. My Mom lives in a different state and we don't see each other often at all. I did talk to her to tell her I was getting braces finally, and she was pretty short with me. She said she knew I wanted to do that for awhile, and basically said that it's 'cool'.

My Mom had braces in the late 70's and apparently had a bad experience. The ortho didn't remove all of the cement etc from her teeth and it ended up causing decay. She's had a lot of dental issues since then.

Anyway, I think she's happy for me... but then again it's a sore subject because I really wanted braces when I was young and she wouldn't/couldn't make that happen for me. I wonder if she feels regret about that and maybe that's why she was short with me?

Honestly I've always been kind of resentful that I didn't get braces when I was a teen because I was the only one of my siblings with the crowded teeth. But I've taken responsibility for it in my adulthood and am making the change now!

#19 Post by **llehsal** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 6:17 am

My parents could never afford braces for me but were really happy for me when I decided to get them. My entire family were supportive of it and my mom knew from the first time I saw the first Orthodontist. My friends and co-workers seem to want me to justify my actions of getting the braces and spending this much money on it. I dont. It's my teeth, life and money....so too bad for them.

I love my teeth now even though I have only been braced for 3 weeks or so. I'm glad I did it on my own.

#20 Post by **Steph in Sac** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 6:45 am

My parents and I live in the same town so I see them every week. I told them as soon as the thought crossed my mind to get them. My mom was encouraging and said she never noticed how crowded my bottom teeth were until I pointed them out. My dad didn't say much but when I decided to replace a crown in addition to my braces he said, "Now what are you having done?!!" I took that to mean he didn't understand any of it. I don't care. It's my money and my mouth.

#21 Post by **alimommy1** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:08 am

I had moved out by the time I first got mine, and yes my parents knew but I don't recall if I told them ahead of time or if it was just noticed afterwards lol. It really is such a shame that I didn't have a community like this back then to ask questions of, to get ideas from, and really to give me an opportunity to document everything.

I don't remember either of them saying anything negative about it other than my dad (of course) being concerned about how much I was spending. I believe I told him that it was none of his business - I never really shared financial things with my parents after I moved out. One incident (non teeth related) stands out to me because of how ridiculous it was. When my ex and I bought our first new house, we were excited so we told my parents. My dad proceeded to tell us we were getting scammed and that there was no way housing prices were anywhere near what we told him we bought the house for. The last time my dad bought a house was in the early 80s, and since they have basically remodeled and added on to their house and property, the original house was cheap, like 38 or 40k. It was YEARS later that we bought our new house, probably 98 or 99. I had to go get real estate magazines from my realtor to show my dad that real estate really did cost approx 150-250k so ours was a deal! He was convinced we were being stupid, that we'd end up homeless or have it repo'd or something lol. I was 24... I had read all the fine print, as far as I know, my ex still has the house and has never been in danger of losing it.

As far as this time around, I haven't mentioned anything to my parents, they live in another state and although we do talk on the phone and occasionally thru facebook, it probably would be something that came up randomly and that would be it. It gets mentioned a lot more often oddly enough by my daughter's friends, and not even the ones who are around all the time. Kids are very curious, and some of them will even flat out say 'oh, I think I want braces too, do you think my mom will get them for me?' lol.

I haven't posted much on facebook directly teeth related, if I do I get a lot of messages saying 'I don't see anything wrong with your teeth' ha ha ha. As far as non supportive people go, yes it galls me that they have the nerve to be unsupportive, but the best way of getting them back is not to let their 'non support' alter anything we do.