Sara Martos, 10 years old, has what she describes as a “nightmare”: “The irons”he calls them. “I have friends who wear braces, but they told me I should wear braces. I don’t like them at all, but the dentist told me that in less than two years I will surely be able to take them off.” Counting the days until I stop wearing them, admits that “the important thing is that the teeth look good,” although he makes everything possible so that they are not seen. In fact, one of his classmates has even joked about his mouth, comparing it to “train tracks.” However, for some time now, he feels that his orthodontics are less visible, less laughable. And he blames the ‘brackets’ of Lamine Yamal this kind of restoration. “I love that he brags about them,” Sara emphasizes.
It is true that the “irons” – martyrdom and adolescent shame in the 80s and 90s – no longer have anything to do with those exclusive and torturous treatments that could last for years. Decades ago, “paying for orthodontics was almost equivalent to buying a car,” says Miguel Merino, head of the Orthodontic Service at HM Nens Hospital. However, the creation of new techniques and his proliferation in dental consultations democratized its use.
In fact, the great ‘boom’ of the sector is being experienced in the field of invisible aligners –which cost between 50% and 100% more compared to the traditional ‘bracket’– and in the lingual orthodonticswhich is placed behind the denture. Even so, in adolescence, braces are often recommended because they are more effective and, above all, practical, beyond the price factor, since they are more accessible. “The fact is that many children forget to put on the invisible covers, so they do not progress or even regress in the treatment. For this reason many parents end up giving up of the invisible method and return to the more traditional one,” says the dentist. After all, invisible covers –Invisalign– only work in 30% of cases.
“They don’t want to take them in any way”
“That’s when kids go crazy, They don’t want to wear it in any way”Merino admits. Anyone who has worn braces is well aware of their side effects: sores, repeated visits to the dentist, problems chewing… It is clear that in this adolescent apocalypse there is a part that has to do with the conditions and another with aesthetics, with shame. “In general, children and adolescents flatly refuse to wear visible braces,” explains the dentist.
“Ten years ago, children came asking to wear them because everyone in their class wore them, but now they do everything possible to make sure they are seen as little as possible: for example, they are almost no one uses colored rubber bands”, he adds. And that’s where the factor comes in. Lamine Yamallike fabulous teen shame dissolver. “He has so much personality that he is capable of showing off his braces and breaking stigmas,” says the doctor. Surely the braces have never had an advertising campaign as fabulous as the day the young player appeared with orthodontics tuned in the Barça colors. in a scenario of million-dollar audiences: the match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
Shame and self-care
For Marta Pontnou, image consultant and aesthetic analyst, it is also clear the impact that a reference like Lamine Yamal has among the youngest people wearing the reviled devices as a personal emblem and with her head proudly held high. “It opens the way a little, since many kids must think that If a Barça star wears them, they can do it too”. Fashions come and go, recently everyone went from glasses to contact lenses, and “now plastic glasses have returned as an accessory.” In the same way, “teenagers and fashion need references, and Lamine is teaching us a lesson”, points out the advisor, who understands that the soccer player’s gesture does contribute to lightening that intimate shame that many adolescents share. Furthermore, adds the expert, “on the scale of self-care, until now teeth were last, but they are increasingly becoming a priority,” especially among adults.
‘Grillz‘ and urban culture
Beyond that, in urban culture, teeth have also long become a showcase for adornment and self-affirmation. As a symbol of street pedigree, hip hop figures of the 80s already began to use the ‘grillz’that type of cover that is placed over the teeth and is made of precious metals such as gold and often covered with diamonds. In fact, celebrities like Rosalía, Kim Kardashian or Madonna have worn them at some point.
Pontnou, however, distinguishes between ‘brackets’, even those tuned in the Lamine style, and these jewels that, beyond Afro and Latin culture, represent “the same cultural appropriation “They have to get lip surgery to look like a black person, or get the typical braids that they do to control their hair type,” says the expert. “Someone should tell them that they can’t dress up as a black person one afternoon -duck-. Plus, your teeth have to be taken care of.”
