Anonymous
Post 11/19/2025 08:24     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:Invisilign is a huge PITA! I’m 40, I didn’t need braces as a kid/teen but now I definitely have crowding and things moving.

It’s not the money, I just don’t want to deal with the pain and the things stuck in my mouth and the trays and blah blah blah. And a retainer forever?

I’m a happy, busy person and my teeth aren’t so terrible. I can chew and talk and I think I have a nice smile. I’m busy living my life. How important is a little crowding??


This! The retainer forever is really unrealistic. I wonder if orthodontists realize that...
Anonymous
Post 11/19/2025 07:37     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
OP is brainrotted by looking at people with uncanny fake teeth.
Anonymous
Post 11/19/2025 06:25     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Invisilign is a huge PITA! I’m 40, I didn’t need braces as a kid/teen but now I definitely have crowding and things moving.

It’s not the money, I just don’t want to deal with the pain and the things stuck in my mouth and the trays and blah blah blah. And a retainer forever?

I’m a happy, busy person and my teeth aren’t so terrible. I can chew and talk and I think I have a nice smile. I’m busy living my life. How important is a little crowding??
Anonymous
Post 11/19/2025 06:10     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This seems like a particular fixation of yours. It is rare that I notice someone’s teeth.


Thank you,
From someone with bad teeth

Same here. I have a colleague who notices teeth. Meanwhile, I rarely think to look or notice and just don't pay much attention to teeth. Just like some people look at others' clothing, shoes, nails, jewelry, while others never notice.
Anonymous
Post 11/19/2025 01:40     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:I understand not everyone can afford major dental work or handle long procedures, but it’s hard to believe that every person with visibly neglected teeth is dealing with a medical crisis. No one else is thrown off when someone shows up on Zoom with missing teeth or major alignment issues that have clearly gotten worse over decades?

To me, this really does look generational. I’m an older millennial. Pretty much everyone I know grew up with braces, Invisalign, whitening, something. Meanwhile, I see a lot more long-term dental neglect among older generations like Gen X and boomers, who came of age before cosmetic dental care was considered standard. They may simply have a different threshold for what’s “fine.”

And then you look at the younger side. Gen Z and even Gen Alpha kids are whitening teeth immediately after getting braces off. I’ve seen lines of tweens waiting for whitening with their parents. For them, straight and bright teeth aren’t exceptional, they’re expected.

What I still wonder is how people with visibly unmaintained teeth view those who have great ones. Do they think it’s vanity? Excess? Or do they ever wish they’d dealt with things earlier, back when it would have been far easier?


lol, typical millennial. Braces were routine for GenX too, ya know.

Even my boomer mother had braces!
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 23:52     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:I understand not everyone can afford major dental work or handle long procedures, but it’s hard to believe that every person with visibly neglected teeth is dealing with a medical crisis. No one else is thrown off when someone shows up on Zoom with missing teeth or major alignment issues that have clearly gotten worse over decades?

To me, this really does look generational. I’m an older millennial. Pretty much everyone I know grew up with braces, Invisalign, whitening, something. Meanwhile, I see a lot more long-term dental neglect among older generations like Gen X and boomers, who came of age before cosmetic dental care was considered standard. They may simply have a different threshold for what’s “fine.”

And then you look at the younger side. Gen Z and even Gen Alpha kids are whitening teeth immediately after getting braces off. I’ve seen lines of tweens waiting for whitening with their parents. For them, straight and bright teeth aren’t exceptional, they’re expected.

What I still wonder is how people with visibly unmaintained teeth view those who have great ones. Do they think it’s vanity? Excess? Or do they ever wish they’d dealt with things earlier, back when it would have been far easier?


Boomers on the older side of the cohort had dental care that didn’t prioritize saving as much of the integrity of the natural tooth as possible. The standard of care was big old box cuts to get amalgam fillings to stay in- drilling out decay as well as healthy tooth structure.In time, filling margins leaked, restorations broke. Secondary decay set in around a tooth that was already compromised and a shell of its former self. Next comes crowns, root canals and sometimes extractions when these procedures fail. It is far more involved than just lower aesthetic standards.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 23:00     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:
Some simply don't place any importance on their teeth.


Maybe they're not American??
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 20:34     Subject: Re:Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:
Dentists will yell at me about the grinding like it's something I want to do and not really get that I'd do anything to stop grinding my teeth


This. Dentists are awful to people with bad teeth, even if our teeth are straight and we try to take good care of them. My husband will come back from an appointment with a new dentist and be like, oh, he is so nice and friendly, and I see the same person and get major attitude for having worn down, not sparkling white teeth that I have been grinding (and wearing a night guard) since I was a teen. I loved our older dentists who did not have the same expectations for tooth perfection that the newer ones seem to have, and I really don;t want to see the young dentist who bought out his practice.


I could have written this right down to the husband's teeth. Same dynamic- he has big, straight, thick white teeth with no fillings or dental work. I have fillings and thinner teeth (which became crowns over the last 20 years. Older dentist carry their time/values with them. Like in an Austin Powers way- you could have yellowish, crooked teeth and still be considered human and good-looking. New, young dentist have choppers the at are blue white and I can't think of a polite way to say "I don't want to look like you- I just want to look normal".

Aside from holes in teeth, visible decay and missing teeth, a non-perfect mouth doesn't tip off wealth or poverty. In the same way that younger people will lease or buy a new car they can't afford the upkeep on- same with teeth. Lots of younger people walking around with mouths they can't afford. As each generation ages, they are going to learn/understand what it means to age and what it does to teeth that were both 'fixed' or never 'fixed'. I used to be super judgmental and now that I've had increased wear, I realize that sometimes you do everything right for your health and crap still happens.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 20:19     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
My 55 year old husband is a doctor and has significant crowding on his lower teeth which has happened since he was about 45. Fixing this would entail pulling a tooth and getting Invisalign. it's not a priority for him and hasn't hurt him professionally or socially. I would love it if he fixed it but I get why he doesn't hasn't.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 19:49     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
I feel badly about my teeth. I go to the dentist every 6 months and do all the right things. Weak enamel and slightly sensitive; they’re yellow but whitening doesn’t work. They’re crooked even w traditional braces as a teen. I’m 55 and starting Invisalign in January.

I’m healthy, active, fit and have a successful job. It’s a me thing, but I feel like my teeth show that I lived an unhealthy lifestyle.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 19:42     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
I assume fear
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 19:36     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:This seems like a particular fixation of yours. It is rare that I notice someone’s teeth.


Thank you,
From someone with bad teeth
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 19:34     Subject: Re:Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:
Dentists will yell at me about the grinding like it's something I want to do and not really get that I'd do anything to stop grinding my teeth


This. Dentists are awful to people with bad teeth, even if our teeth are straight and we try to take good care of them. My husband will come back from an appointment with a new dentist and be like, oh, he is so nice and friendly, and I see the same person and get major attitude for having worn down, not sparkling white teeth that I have been grinding (and wearing a night guard) since I was a teen. I loved our older dentists who did not have the same expectations for tooth perfection that the newer ones seem to have, and I really don;t want to see the young dentist who bought out his practice.


+ 1. I miss my former dentist; he never judged. He recently retired and the young dentist is trying to sell me the Brooklyn Bridge in cosmetic dentistry.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 19:03     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I understand not everyone can afford major dental work or handle long procedures, but it’s hard to believe that every person with visibly neglected teeth is dealing with a medical crisis. No one else is thrown off when someone shows up on Zoom with missing teeth or major alignment issues that have clearly gotten worse over decades?

To me, this really does look generational. I’m an older millennial. Pretty much everyone I know grew up with braces, Invisalign, whitening, something. Meanwhile, I see a lot more long-term dental neglect among older generations like Gen X and boomers, who came of age before cosmetic dental care was considered standard. They may simply have a different threshold for what’s “fine.”

And then you look at the younger side. Gen Z and even Gen Alpha kids are whitening teeth immediately after getting braces off. I’ve seen lines of tweens waiting for whitening with their parents. For them, straight and bright teeth aren’t exceptional, they’re expected.

What I still wonder is how people with visibly unmaintained teeth view those who have great ones. Do they think it’s vanity? Excess? Or do they ever wish they’d dealt with things earlier, back when it would have been far easier?


I think they probably don't care. If they did, it is very easy these days to whiten, straighten, etc.


Nope. It’s neither “very easy” nor affordable for many. I’m not going to irreparably damage my healthy teeth with veneers or bleaching because standards have changed. I did briefly have braces as a kid — with the focus on changing my bite. I’m glad that I have had excellent, conservative dentists who have focused on health rather than cosmetic issues.

How long do veneers last, anyway? The thought of damaging my healthy teeth for a process that has to be repeated regularly is a No.


This. People who think it's easy to whiten and straighten were born with good teeth, and can just get some Invisalign and whitening.

For the record, the only time I really notice dental issues in other people is when they are severe. I met a woman last year who had missing and broken teeth. Like front teeth, not molars. It was hard to look at and I assume she's had a hard life to wind up with that situation. She was not a "high earner." Sometimes I'll notice crooked teeth when it's severe, and I can't help but notice very yellow teeth because we're all being conditioned to expect white teeth. But I have serious dental issues of my own, I have nothing but empathy for people who also have them, and I don't judge people for not going and whitening their teeth or getting them straightened. Unlike OP, I get it -- it's not always as straightforward as you think. Some things are just not a quick and easy fix.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 18:39     Subject: Why Do High Earners Let Their Teeth Fall Apart?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I understand not everyone can afford major dental work or handle long procedures, but it’s hard to believe that every person with visibly neglected teeth is dealing with a medical crisis. No one else is thrown off when someone shows up on Zoom with missing teeth or major alignment issues that have clearly gotten worse over decades?

To me, this really does look generational. I’m an older millennial. Pretty much everyone I know grew up with braces, Invisalign, whitening, something. Meanwhile, I see a lot more long-term dental neglect among older generations like Gen X and boomers, who came of age before cosmetic dental care was considered standard. They may simply have a different threshold for what’s “fine.”

And then you look at the younger side. Gen Z and even Gen Alpha kids are whitening teeth immediately after getting braces off. I’ve seen lines of tweens waiting for whitening with their parents. For them, straight and bright teeth aren’t exceptional, they’re expected.

What I still wonder is how people with visibly unmaintained teeth view those who have great ones. Do they think it’s vanity? Excess? Or do they ever wish they’d dealt with things earlier, back when it would have been far easier?


I think they probably don't care. If they did, it is very easy these days to whiten, straighten, etc.


Nope. It’s neither “very easy” nor affordable for many. I’m not going to irreparably damage my healthy teeth with veneers or bleaching because standards have changed. I did briefly have braces as a kid — with the focus on changing my bite. I’m glad that I have had excellent, conservative dentists who have focused on health rather than cosmetic issues.

How long do veneers last, anyway? The thought of damaging my healthy teeth for a process that has to be repeated regularly is a No.