DIY Braces: YouTube Video Tutorials A Dangerous Trend
If one searches for “DIY braces” on YouTube, many videos will show up — mostly featuring young girls — showing each other how to create do-it-yourself dental braces. However, the DIY braces are a dangerous trend. Unlike innocent DIY make-up tutorials, this latest trend of DIY braces that those who may not be able to afford getting braces from traditional, safe orthodontists might consider aren’t necessarily safe.
The DIY braces, which are made using elastic bands can wreak havoc on teeth and gums and actually make teeth fall out, reports the Daily Mail. There’s a reason why dentists have obtained plenty of medical teaching and training on the process, and the American Association of Orthodontists has put out a warning against the DIY braces trend.
It’s better to wait until the money or credit for a set of $5,000 braces can be obtained via safe means through a dentist, instead of jumping the gun and trying DIY braces via Youtube videos, as reported by KSPR.? That’s because although braces are expensive, experts say it’s not a wise idea to turn to YouTube for DIY braces tutorials.
YouTube has long since become a “University of YouTube” haven for plenty of folks turning to the Internet to figure out how to do things for free or really cheaply. While that might be a great thing when needing to learn how to change a tire or make a dress, DIY braces videos attempting to teach others to straighten their teeth can be an expensive lesson. That pricey lesson includes losing the very teeth that the DIY braces video users are attempting to fix.
Some of the graphic photos that appear on the Daily Mail article about the DIY trend show users employing plastic elastic hair bands and tying them around their teeth. One specific YouTube user reports how she turned to the DIY braces method when her family couldn’t afford real braces. As such, she encouraged others to stick with the DIY braces process, even through the pain, because she called it totally worth it.
Further photos, however, show the bleeding mouth of a DIY braces user whose elastic bands ended up all the way up in her gums. The truly painful looking and graphic photos should steer anyone considering the process away from DIY braces. The DIY braces trend seemed to be mainly based in the United States.
As reported by the Inquisitr, other trends going viral are bubble nails.
[Image via YouTube]
