How come the upper class always wear braces?

[in_newengland]

When I was in school in the 50s and 60s everyone had braces. It was an upper middle class town, not upper class. It does take money to have braces but even if your parents didn't have money, if the dentist recommended braces, you got braces.

Poor people can't afford braces so they don't have them. I've seen braces on kids who didn't really need them (from what I could tell anyway) so I wonder if maybe some people think it's a status symbol for their kids to have braces.

[Pikantari]

I think people have always needed braces. I needed braces when I was younger, and so did my sister. It was not deemed necessary by our parents. We were middle class. My sister got them on her own when she became an adult. It was not that important to me.

My son really needed braces. My daughter did too but she got a spacer which helped her. We did not have the money for braces. You had to put a down payment and make monthly payments. I took out my 401k so that he could have braces and then my ex and I made the payments.

I think people just think it is more important and they do it for their children. Now if you just do not have the money, you are not going to be able to do it.