My 13 year old wants braces because half his friends have them. His teeth are fine.

moss_sketch_288919 Jun 2026

Three boys in his class got braces over the summer and now they're apparently a thing. He's asked for them twice this week, quite seriously. I'm a dentist, which he thinks should make this easier. His bite is fine and there's nothing to correct. I've explained that, and he's heard it as 'no, because Appa says so'. I don't want to brush him off when the real issue is fitting in, but I'm not putting brackets on healthy teeth either. How do you handle the 'everyone has one' requests when the thing itself is a medical decision?

2 comments

bronze_rain_890819 Jun 2026
Is it the braces he wants, or being part of whatever those three boys are doing now? With my elder son it was the coloured bands on his friends' braces. We found something smaller he could share with them, a matching watch strap as it turned out, and the braces talk faded within a term. It doesn't always work that neatly, but ask him what he thinks braces would actually change.
teal_kettle_167622 Jun 2026
Nose pins, in our house. She wanted one at 13 because her whole group had one, we said wait till 16, and by 16 she'd forgotten 😄 You do have one advantage. If anyone in your practice does braces, let him sit in on a tightening appointment. That may do more than any explanation.