Much to the horror of orthodontists, a growing number of teens are trying to straighten their crooked teeth using braces they build themselves with the help of videos on the internet.
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The DIY braces tutorials have popped up all over YouTube, with teens – mostly girls – crafting their own braces using metal earring backings and small elastics.
Vancouver orthodontist Dr. Colleen Adams has seen these tutorials and wants kids to know they are a really bad idea.
“Teeth do move easily. But the videos oversimplify a very complex process,” she told CTV Vancouver.
Teeth sit in gums and bone and if they are moved the wrong way, she explained, the damage could be so extensive, it could result in lost teeth.
“You can damage the gums and you can actually lose bone. It can be a significant problem,” she says.
Therese Hayes’ 10-year-old daughter, Francesca, just got braces, and says she finds it worrisome that kids are trying to make their own braces.
“I do think it’s the age. We’re in the time we're in where people want to DIY everything but there are certain things that DIY-ing is not a good idea and braces would be one of those,” Hayes says.
Some children craft the braces for fun. Others, whose parents don’t have dental plans or who can't afford braces, are hoping they can actually fix their own teeth.
But Adams says in the end, they could do damage that causes even more costly problems.
“If you're doing things on your own, you can cause things that are super expensive to repair,” she says.
With a report from CTV News Vancouver Shannon Paterson
