Abstract for the day.
Why do orthodontics keep coming up here?
Anyway, this study looked at how getting braces improves or doesn't improve your life. In Britain, the researchers found there was no significant difference between people who had braces as a kid and those that didn't in terms of "well-being and self-esteem."
There were minor correlations between getting "necessary" tooth fixin' and later satisfaction but all in all the best predictor of "well-being and self-esteem" 20 years down the road was self-esteem at a young age.
I will make no comment about the generalizablity of this study beyond the following:
The authors didn't control for culture so you can't expect the same to hold true here in the US or in other countries because how people feel about their appearance depends on social norms.
7 comments:
Congratulations on not taking the easy road on this blog. I couldn't have resisted the temptation to make a British dentistry joke.
Wes!
You didn't click on all the links...I just couldn't resist. I decided not to say anything on the blog though.
S
OK, so has anybody studied whether or not most people get braces to promote self esteem? Because I thought braces were to prevent surgery later in life and to make eating easier. Hmm. I guess there's also the moral question of defying evolution...
Hey Serena,
the first link of the post is to the abstract of the study. The full text of most studies aren't available online so I just link to the abstract.
The generalizabilty- does this apply to other people or cultures? Austin Powers is supposed to be an uber-confident Britisher with bad teeth. (Reflected in the results of the study). But they might not hold true for the US.
I saw it before and thought it would be a joke. But it isn't.
I had braces and personally I felt better after I finally had them off. And it did save me from a lot of hassle later in life.
I'd like to see this study done in the U.S.
I would guess it has mostly to do with culture, which, as you pointed out, wasn't controlled for.
The Royal Family, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson...they're idols even with their dentilemmas.
I think I am strong because, not in spite of, the fact I had to wear headgear to school in fifth grade. If you can brush off that humiliation, you can brush of anything.
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