I have very bad teeth and I live in the US which places excessive amount of attention on nice straight white teeth. Consequently, I want braces. But at the same time lately I've been thinking that getting braces is nothing more than vanity, which is sinful or at least can be. I feel like a true saint wouldn't let heinous (yes I'd describe my teeth as heinous lol) teeth bother them too much. And honestly what's the difference between braces and  plastic surgery? So what do you all think about braces? 


P.s. My mother has told me a few times that no woman will wany me with these teeth, which makes me want braces a little more. Mexican mothers are very blunt sometimes haha

I would say read about the difference from US and UK orthodontics.  In the US orthodontists try to make everyones teeth exactly perfect in every way even if it takes years and years, this also increases there profits.  In the UK they try to make your teeth look normal, not perfect, which I think is the more Catholic way.  You could contact orthodontists and tell them you just want your teeth to be normal and not amazing, and it will probably be cheaper

If your teeth are very bad I don't think it is un-catholic to fix them, humans teeth have gotten worse over the centuries so I don't think trying to correct them is bad.

I agree with Miseremini and Student of Qi, it is not vanity to get braces. Vanity would be getting plastic surgery to change things that there is nothing wrong with, or which would be purely for purposes of seduction (like "breast enhancement" surgery). But I don't see anything wrong with taking good care of one's self and being attractive. We are not Calvinists.

To the OP --

I am 100% certain that getting braces isn't vain, and certainly not sinful.

You might as well say that brushing your teeth is sinful, because it's "worshipping your body" -- after all, hundreds of years ago people commonly lost most of their teeth by age 40 due to tooth decay.

Sorry. It doesn't work that way.

God gave us a body (one saint called his body Brother Ass), and we can spend a reasonable amount of time taking care of that donkey. But what reasonable man would spend hours a day taking care of his donkey? Or dressing it with expensive clothing? But on the other hand, you WOULD feed it, water it, make sure it didn't get sick or die prematurely, etc.

You wouldn't pamper a beast of the field. You wouldn't prepare exquisite meals for it to thrill its palate and give it every possible taste experience. Long story short, if you consider your body like a beast of burden, that should give you some perspective on what things you SHOULD do to take care of your body, and what things are vanity, gluttony, or even idolatry.

And another point: for most people, taking care of a donkey would be a CHORE, even a BURDEN -- not something you avidly look forward to every day.

If you NEED braces, that's different than WANTING them. It should be for the sake of FUNCTION (not having tons of pockets where food settles and decays your teeth, etc. You have to be able to clean your teeth so they don't rot. Just having imperfect teeth (a single gap, for example) isn't a big deal. But a toothbrush isn't a miracle worker -- there are limits to its reach.

But when you have crowded teeth, with various teeth overlapping and forming spots where it's near-impossible to clean -- that's something you need to get fixed through pulling some teeth, and then braces to straighten the teeth out to fill the gaps.  My teeth were crowded in this way, and so I can understand that there is a medical need for some people to get braces. In my case, they started by pulling 8 teeth (including 4 wisdom teeth) and you wouldn't know it to look at my smile today, because there are no gaps. That's how many extra teeth I had! Sometimes genetics throws a monkey wrench in things.

God gave us teeth for a reason. We need them to properly consume and digest our food.

No kidding, you're absolutely right. It's reflected in the salaries, too.

Orthodontists in the UK: £60,098 (US$77,000/CAD$98,000)

Orthodontists in the US: US$225,000 (CAD$282,926/£173,000)

OP, in the end, you're getting something that betters your health. Improving your health is not vanity.

Get it done in Mexico, likely they get paid $12,000 per year.

My opinion is that braces are vain.

Unless it is for some medical reason in which the protruding tooth or teeth are going to cause serious damage, I can't in conscience see how braces can be something a good un-worldly Catholic should get.

Save your money up for something more worthwhile, like a wife  and family who won't be so superficial as to worry about things like that.

There doesn't seem to be too many like that on Cathinfo anyway, if it is "unanimous" that they are not vain.


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"The Emperor is naked!"

Taking good care of oneself is NOT vain.

He believes that the Earth is flat - such people cannot be trusted with logic, abstract thinking and truth. Of course he'd believe that good oral health is vanity.

My teeth never had braces, though I wish now my parents had forced me to get braces when I was young. I keep biting myself on one tooth and it takes some diligence to keep plaque off the teeth that are crooked and tight together. I never did it as a child precisely because I was vain, because I did not want to be two++ years with a metal mouth.

If I wanted to get braces, I would not give a damn what anyone here thinks of it, one way or the other.