Woman Ruins Her Teeth With Mail-Order Braces and Then Blames Her Mom for the Whole Ordeal

Many of us have grown up having to get braces to correct the positioning of our teeth. We may not have liked having all of that metal jerking our teeth around during middle school and high school when most kids usually have to get them, but they're ultimately good to have to make sure our teeth don't cause any problems later on in life. Plus, there are few more gratifying moments in one's adolescence than getting them removed once and for all and getting rid of that metallic taste in your mouth.

Unfortunately, it's not always easy for people to get braces for themselves or their kids. In fact, most kids might even contest the idea of getting them at all to avoid the hassle it might cause in school.

In one cruel ironic twist, however, one daughter's plea to get braces went unheard by her mother, who insisted that she didn't need them. Eventually, she allowed her daughter to get mail-order braces, which may have contributed to the daughter ruining her teeth entirely. The mother explains in an AITA post.

In a thread posted the AITA subreddit in late June 2023, the 48-year-old mother discusses the drama between her and her daughter, now 21 years old, over never having gotten her braces in an argument years in the making.

According to the mom, she was told by several dentists over the course of several years that her daughter didn't need braces for anything other than straightening.

"I thought it would be quite useless to put her through years of orthodontic treatment," the mom confesses. Can you blame her?

Despite this, her daughter consistently asked for her mom to get her braces as a teenager. She claimed that her teeth were becoming crooked and never quite let up on the request. The mom insisted that "her teeth were fine" and never really budged on the topic.

It wasn't until the daughter was 17 that the mom decided to give in just a little. Instead of outright getting her braces, she got her daughter mail-order aligners. These custom-made invisible retainers reportedly realign one's teeth over a period of time without the need for lengthy and expensive orthodontic procedures.

"I didn't have to hear her whine about braces anymore," the mother wrote brusquely about her daughter.

Unfortunately, the aligners made the situation worse. When the daughter finally was able to schedule an orthodontist appointment herself, she was told that she needed "serious treatment" after developing a crossbite from the aligners her mother had gotten her.

According to the mom, the treatment is estimated at a staggering $7,500. The daughter "became" furious upon hearing this news and is apparently demanding that her mother pay half of the costs.

Not only do other Redditors believe the mom to be the a------ in this situation, but other users opened up about eerily identical experiences with braces that they share with the daughter. Many have come forward about parents who opted to ignore their children's need for braces only to have the situation bite them in the back, so to speak.

Even folks who share their woes over not being able to afford expensive oral procedures for themselves are siding with the daughter on this one. One Redditor even argued that the mom should pay in full.

It's not often that a child asks to get braces, and the internet has decided that it's important for parents to listen when they do ask.