Social Inconvenience

The human mouth is not actually made to accommodate orthodontic braces. Inevitably, therefore, all braces cause discomfort to the teeth or the sensitive surfaces of the tongue, gums and lips and cheeks. Most of these discomforts are well compatible with a normal life, but particularly sensitive patients suffer greatly at times from their braces treatment. The decisive factor is always the extent of the discomfort, and humanly-minded orthodontists will always prefer those braces that cause the least discomfort to their patients’ lives. In addition to the often painful discomfort, many normal oral functions are also impeded or made completely impossible by braces.

Speaking

For example, many removable braces hinder speech so much that most patients only wear these braces at night. However, this is not successful, so removable braces are simply unsuitable for most patients. The speech impediment is so severe with many removable braces that only difficult-to-understand sound speech is possible with the appliances in the mouth. The speech impediment alone is an irrefutable reason to reject the use of most removable braces across the board. Orthodontists know this very well, but still like to use those braces because there is a particularly large profit to be made with them.

Eating

Similarly, eating is not possible with most removable braces. Even though the advocates of removable braces, which are almost always outdated, claim that they can be removed for eating, the fact remains that the most important functions of the mouth, speech and eating, are massively disturbed by them, whereas both are possible almost without restriction with fixed braces.

Psychological Aspects and Well-Being

Last but not least, the human mouth has a great erotic significance when courting a partner, kissing and having sex. This may seem insignificant to some orthodontists and severely ossified contemporaries, but for most people it is not at all. A little browsing in internet forums for brace wearers quickly shows that this topic is of great importance to many people and that restrictions in this area are experienced as very stressful. And the bottom line is quite clear: no removable braces are compatible with erotic activity – while most fixed braces are really up to anything!

In addition, braces cause an entirely subjective restriction of self-confidence and communicative security in sensitive individuals. This restriction depends very much on the customs and traditions of the patient’s social environment. While in the USA brackets are considered normal for adults, in Germany most people associate fixed braces with childhood and adolescence.

For this reason, even film stars in the USA have no problem showing themselves in public with visible brackets, while in Germany teachers or engineers think they cannot be seen with brackets. In reality, adults with fixed braces in Germany are not usually met with scorn and ridicule, but with friendly interest and respect!

The Advantage of a Fixed Brace

Fixed braces interfere very little with most oral functions, while removable braces interfere greatly with speech and make eating completely impossible. Clearly, therefore, fixed braces are the more functional, biologically and socially superior type of orthodontic treatment. In Germany, a peculiar mixture of poor education and greed for money means that to this day the treatment of children and adolescents is still predominantly carried out with the outdated and socially extremely annoying removable braces.