Hot on HuffPost Parents:
Charlotte Robinson: LISTEN: How Gay And Lesbian Couples Become…
New Turnaround Teacher 'Trying To Get It Right' In Tough School
Trendy Thai 'Fashion Braces' Can Be Deadly
Filed under: In The News
Thai pop singer "Earn The Star" wears braces, which have become trendy in her homeland. Credit: GMM / Grammy
The problem with that, according to a story on the Global Post Web site, is that despite more than five years of warnings from Thailand's Ministry of Public Health and two teenage deaths last year, some Thai girls are still sporting "fashion braces."
What's happening, the site reports, is that kids who can't afford to go to the dentist are picking up braces that come in a wide array of colors and with changeable dental bands at flea markets and living rooms "by entrepreneurs with mail-order dental supplies. Though crudely applied, the braces appear genuine."
The amateur fashion braces ($24 per row of teeth, $45 for a set) can lead to blood poisoning, infected dental tools, nerve damage and swallowing dislodged fittings,Thailand's Dental Council warns, according to the Global Post.
"We just think they're cute. Nice and cute!" Supapich Konkayan, 22, who says her purple braces are real, tells the site. "Some of us have real dental problems. And for the others it's just, well, fashion."
Fashion, however, has had fatal consequences, the site reports: A 17-year-old Thai girl died last August after amateur braces left her with an infected thyroid, which led to heart failure. And an open-air, illegal braces stall was connected to a 14-year-old girl's death, the site says.
"Teenagers shouldn't be deciding whether to get fashion braces, for they only think of what's hip," states a Thailand Dental Council report cited in the story. "All this reflects that Thai society hasn't yet developed into a wise society. It's a society takes advantage of the ignorance of teenagers."
Related: Mouth or Dental Infection
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
How to Model with Blemishes and Braces
Learn some tips about modeling if you have blemishes and braces. The video is about some tips and solutions to be a successful model even if you have blemishes and braces.
-
1990s Performing Live at The Bowery Ballroom
Proceed with caution: The brash and bouncy head boppers 1990s fashion may have you in a neck brace by the time they are through.
-
How to Floss with Braces
Learn how to floss with braces with Dr. Maulik who shows you Learn how to brush, floss and care for your braces.
-
Lingual brace patient information
Dr Sarah Hepburn Specialist Orthodontist, MSc Lingual and Dr Darsh Patel Specialist Orthodontist, explain the benefits of being fitted with a lingual brace. Patient testimonials describe the joys of being able to smile while still wearing a brace.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
1-22-2010 @ 7:49AM
lor said...Now, this is the highlight of stupidity.
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 8:55AM
angel said...ummm, like everything else in the "east" these braces are probably loaded with LEAD. They have no quality control standards over there.
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 9:00AM
Jack Karle said...Well, this kind of stuff just keeps the truly stupid from reproducing and mucking up the gene pool!
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 10:04AM
Carly-GoCardnls! said...If fashion can kill you, you have to have enough sense not to do it!!! Good Heavens!
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 10:05AM
F. CUMMINGS said...Don't blame the kids for using them, it's adults that are manufacturing and selling these things. There should be a warning on them - better yet the U.S.should test all of these products that come from these foreign countries.
Reply
2-15-2010 @ 4:36PM
Rosemary said...It is not only in Thailand, my little cousin's daughter of 12 years old in Oklahoma was on her way to being deathly ill when her mother set out to find out what was making her daughter ill. The receptionist at the dentists office took the initial call and said that NO Way the braces could not being making her sick, so she keep taking her to doctors one after another, all the time her daughter was getting weaker and sicker by the day until when one day she got the results back from a blood test confirming she had lead poisoning in her system, they had the dentist to take the metal braces off and soon she started feeling better and is still recovering from this which the Dr. said would take a quite a while to do. So beware of the metal braces here in the states as well.
1-22-2010 @ 10:15AM
Donna said...All societies take advantage of ignorant teenagers.
Reply
1-25-2010 @ 8:45AM
LMW said...There is NOTHING fashionable about braces! I've been working in a dental office for the past 10 years, and have see the worst teeth in people! the most disgusting mouths! (think long and hard before kissing someone), If you dont need them, then dont wear them unless you want nasty, stained, yellow, permanant cement stains that bleaching does not get rid of! Also, braces can severly damage the enamal of your teeth! people dont realize how important the health of your teeth are! all the bacteria, and the plaque cause HEART DISEASE...for a fact! also, there are many other health issues that can be caused by the condition of your hygeine! Dont mess with your teeth if you dont need to, YOU WILL BE SORRY LATER! you can count on it!
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 1:04PM
Nicole said...Totally agree with you!!!! I had braces for 10 years, yes i had some major orthodontic issues. I was put in braces at 8 years old and didn't have them removed until i was 18. My teeth are straight but i have horrible perminate staining on my teeth. I have went to several dentists trying to get the stains off, but after spending close to $800 on MANY attempts to get them off i have been told my only option is veeners or caps. One of those things they don't really talk to you about when you get braces on as a child!
1-22-2010 @ 10:42AM
claire sargent said...WHAT DID THEY DIE OF???????????
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 12:51PM
tistyen said...According to the article, one of them died of a thyroid infection. It doesn't say what the other one died of, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were lead poisoning.
1-22-2010 @ 10:49AM
george said...i try to aproach most everything with an open mind,but this is totally lost on me,can someone please explain whats attractive about having braces? whats next wheelchairs for the physically abled?
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 11:02AM
kathie said...It never ceases to amaze me when the next fad comes along. The problem is though that these fads are becoming more and more harmful. Where are the parents? (Oh, I forgot - that seems to be the latest fad too). All the negative things in life are becoming the new positive.. Cute? Don't think so. This may be happening in Thailand, but I'm sure it will hit the U.S. soon.. and the 'dumbing down of America' will continue. Shame on the manufacturers and pimps whose greed sucks in our kids.
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 11:22AM
CJ said...While the cases of young people dying from this dangerous practice of "copy-catting" a legitimate therapy is indeed tragic, one has to wonder what's amiss when a 17 year old girl comes home with a mouth full of colorful metal braces who did not have them the day before, and whom you as parents have not taken to an orthodontist...! Where were the girl's parents on this???? They did not think to question where the new addition came from and how they came to be in their daughter's mouth???
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 11:47AM
deborah said...Hmmm. Their society takes advantage of teens. We only pierce every body part possible...
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 12:22PM
Katie said...As a half-Thai girl with an incredibly wise Thai mother, I find parts of this article to be offensive.
Yes, I agree, the braces trend is stupid on the parts of the teenagers. But to blame their stupidity on the "unwise Thai society" is very unfair and uncalled for.
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 12:56PM
JUDY WRIGHT said...And of course, as usual, there is NO PARENTAL SUPERVISION!!! Where are the idiot parents that see their 14 year old come home with purple chain link fencing in her mouth, and dont do anything about it!!!! People, get control of your kids! and in the event you dont already have enough control that they wouldnt dream of arriving at home with metal in their mouths unless they needed it and it was applied by a dentist, then when they DO pull this stunt, pull it out of their mouths!
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 12:59PM
SarahAnn said...Hmmmm..... My daughter needs braces but when I try to mention it to her she gets mad ! Maybe I will tell her it is the latest trend (across the globe) and maybe she will not be so hesitant. I do not think she would ever wear them for FASHION though. I think here in the U.S we'd rather have gold teeth than braces !
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 1:19PM
nikki said...When I was a teen people cried if they had to get braces. I knew a girl who refused to speak louder than a mumble so as not to show her braces. No one knew she had them until she came to school after getting them removed and spoke!
Reply
1-22-2010 @ 1:29PM
robert cian said...heh has some one in this group ever heard of invisiline clear plastic braces
Reply