A girl shows her braces in an undated file photo. Straightening children's crooked teeth with braces may improve their smile but it is no guarantee of happiness and improved self esteem. A 20-year study by scientists in Britain that looked at the impact of braces on more than 300 children in Wales showed that having straighter teeth had little positive impact on their psychological health later in life. When they were questioned as adults, none of them regretted having had their teeth improved and most were satisfied with the way they looked. But there was no difference in their psychological wellbeing when compared to other people who have never had braces. "On the basis of our research if there are irregularities, and especially if they are not severe, then there will be no harm to dental health and it wouldn't change their life happiness in the future if they don't wear braces," said Professor William Shaw, an orthodontist at the University of Manchester in England. Each year countless children around the globe receive orthodontic treatment to align their teeth or correct other irregularities. Parents can spend a small fortune on their children's dental work. In Britain, braces can cost 2,000 pounds ($3,915) or more depending on the severity of the problem. All the people questioned in the study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology had quite significant dental irregularities and had received braces free through Britain's state-funded National Health Service (NHS). "It can be concluded that, although in general participants' self-esteem increased over the 20-year period, it was not as a result of receiving braces," Shaw said. 点击查看更多双语新闻 (AP)

用牙套来矫正孩子们不够整齐的牙齿，也许可以让他们的笑容更加灿烂，但不一定能使他们更加快乐、更具自豪感。 英国科学家开展了一项历时20年的研究，此项研究对矫正牙套对威尔士的300多名儿童产生的影响进行了探究。研究表明，更加整齐的牙齿对这些孩子成年后的心理健康并没有产生什么积极影响。 这些孩子长大后，研究人员再次对他们进行了访问。其中没有人后悔自己曾经矫正过牙齿，而且大多数人对矫正的结果也很满意。但在心理幸福感方面，他们与未矫正过牙齿的人相比并没有什么区别。 英国曼彻斯特大学的正牙师威廉姆·肖教授说：“根据我们的研究，如果牙齿畸形不是很严重，就不会影响牙齿健康，所以即使不带牙套，也不会影响他们的幸福感。” 每年全世界都有不计其数的儿童接受正牙治疗，以使牙齿变得更加整齐或是矫正畸形。 父母在孩子的正牙治疗上还得小花上一笔。在英国，牙套的价格约为2000英镑（合3915美金），如果问题严重些，价格还会更高。 此项调查在英国《心理卫生》杂志上发表，参加此项调查的所有人都有比较严重的牙齿畸形问题。他们得到的正牙治疗是由英国政府提供资金支持的国民保健服务机构免费提供的。 肖教授说：“我们可以得出这样一个结论，在过去20年中，尽管人们的自豪感都有所增强，但这并非源于牙套的魔力。” （ 英语点津姗姗编辑）