As a Tween Mom, I'm Saying 'Hallelujah' to the Latest Gen Alpha Trend
Can we all agree that going to the pediatric dentist has gotten way better than when we were kids? Nowadays, the fluoride comes in watermelon flavor, they stream Descendants on the ceiling and very few children are being told they have to wear headgear to sleepover parties for the duration of middle school.
And yet, the biggest improvement just might be the shift to more discrete forms of braces. Where once we cut our gums and endured taunts like 'metal mouth' and 'pulled-pork-in-teeth' (just me?), now kids are offered up orthodontia that's as no-show as the socks Gen Z likes to make fun of us for wearing. You can essentially fix your overbite or midline mismatch without anybody knowing.
All of which made me do a double take when I caught wind of the latest Gen Z and Alpha trend: Metal braces are cool—the clunkier, the more rubber-band-ier the better.
Indeed, according to The Washington Post, 'Orthodontists across the country are noticing a rise in interest in the uncool oral train tracks of yore among Gen Z hipsters and adults who have no qualms about broadcasting their perceived imperfections,' noting that this trend has also trickled down to the under-thirteen set with scores of girls (in particular) requesting metal braces with noticeable colored bands.
While Erin Fraundorf DMD, an orthodontist in Missouri, hasn't seen wearers of metal braces shift dramatically, she has noticed the extent to which they're now a status symbol. 'Many kids love the look of braces,' she says, 'and enjoy customizing their smile by choosing different O-Tie colors (the little rubber bands that hold the wire in place) at each visit.'
In other words, where once braces were a necessary evil, now they're a statement of personal expression or perhaps even status. (The price tag is, itself, a signifier.)
Lyla Jones, a 16-year-old in Plymouth, Massachusetts, has definitely clocked the rise in popularity, particularly among the junior high set. 'I've seen lots of celebrities like Justin Bieber, Emma Watson and Kylie Jenner who had them when they were younger. I've also seen videos and pictures of girls on social media wearing braces that make them look more stylish and trendy.' And then, of course, there's the snowball effect. 'I think there's an element of 'all my friends have them,' so kids feel left out and want to join the braces trend,' Jones adds.
The good news? Metal braces are, by all measures, a quicker way to get desired outcomes and better for more complex cases. They're also, I would argue, a refreshing pivot away from the supermodel aesthetic of my own millennial youth. 'Once one kid in our fourth grade class got braces, all the other kids were clamoring for them,' says Megan Fishman, a mom to a 10-year-old braces-wearer in San Francisco. 'What was uncool in our day is now all the rage.' Plus, if kids are more forgiving of 'imperfections' like braces, glasses and acne (as is evidenced by the rise of noticeable pimple patches), what else are they capable of normalizing?
Perhaps most importantly, a braces diagnosis need no longer be a social death knell. My eight-going-on-15-year-old daughter was recently given the cold hard truth by her dentist: Palate expander or not, she's going to need braces in about two years. Her response? 'Yay! And I want pink rubber bands.'
If that doesn't take the sting out of $10,000 worth of orthodontia, I don't know what does.
The Latest Gen Alpha Trend? K-Pop Haircuts of Course
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