I fought with my parents regularly about getting me braces when I was a kid. They kept saying they couldn’t afford it, meanwhile came home with 1) a new solid cherry wood bedroom set 2) a new solid maple living room set 3) a Porsche. To this day my mother still claims those purchases were out of necessity.

Fast forward 25years and I got myself Invisalign. I excitedly told my grandma and she said she was happy for me because she and my grandpa offered on more than one occasion to pay for braces when I was a kid and my parents said no because I “didn’t need them”.

I guess their kid’s self esteem wasn’t a necessity.