Reply to Teen daughter wants her rhinoplasty soon. How young is too young?

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Reply to "Teen daughter wants her rhinoplasty soon. How young is too young?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Teach your kid to love themselves regardless of looks, don’t raise a superficial child [/quote]

I don't really see rhinoplasty much different than getting braces.  And yet, getting braces is a socially acceptable way of improving your appearance.  Sometimes there are medical reasons for both procedures/treatments, but often braces and rhinoplasty are just for aesthetic purposes. The difference is that no one gets accused of being superficial or not loving themselves for wanting to fix their bad teeth.[/quote]

It is very different than braces.  Straight teeth that are aligned are easier to keep clean.  Crooked teeth are higher risk for decay and misalignment is bad for your whole face/jaw over time.

A nose job, unless there is a breathing issue (which the actual correction for doesn’t change your nose appearance in most cases), is purely cosmetic.  And teens always hate things about their face and body.  Would let your teen get lip filler or fat injections in their butt? Breast enlargement? These are the things comparable to a nose job.  Teen years are fraught with wanted to look more “mainstream” beautiful, like so so on Instagram, like the blonde popular girl at school, etc.  This is not a time I would let my child make a permanent surgical change to their body for appearance sake. [/quote]

There are some cases where a kid obviously needs braces, but let's not pretend like a large percentage of teens/kids in the US who get braces would be subject to a lifetime risk of decay or would struggle to keep their teeth properly cleaned without them.  In many, many cases, especially in this country, kids, especially ones who are from families that can afford $5K+ for them, get braces even if there are only slight imperfections.  For better or worse, having less than perfectly straight teeth is associated with lower levels of income so many people are, in fact, conforming to mainstream standards of beauty when they fix their teeth. It's why we see tons of veneers and Invisalign on adults, which are often done solely for cosmetic purposes.

In most cases, I don't support cosmetic surgery for teens younger than 18 because sometimes I think you need a chance to grow into your features. The way you look can eally impact self-confidence and self-esteem. I'd support seeing a counselor or doing whatever you need to do make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and the teen's/young adult's expectations are reasonable. I don't, however, see the problem with wanting to change something that would improve your confidence, rather than just being forced to accept it. I wouldn't support all procedures, but I'd strongly consider my child's feelings if they wanted something like rhinoplasty, otoplasty, or breast reduction and after 18, it's really not up to the parents anymore anyway unless, of course, they are footing the bill.

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