DS has to get braces. Is $6100 too high, it sure seems too high!

[LisaNJ25]

I am in NJ and paid a little over $4000. Insurance covered $2000. Also included palette expanders. They are coming off soon.

 

[Kimickey]

I'm 32 in the Air Force so I'm paying for my braces out of pocket. Military said my teeth were prefect and didn't want to put my in braces, although I had two cross bites, and a couple of crooked teeth. Anywho, my braces cost me out of pocket $6500. That includes the braces, filing fees, retainer and all of my treatment ect. I'm in them for 18 months.

 

[disneyfanforever]

I scheduled two more consultations for DS (he is just so thrilled..not). One is next Thursday, and the next is in early February. I am curious to see if they want to do the same type of treatment as the one we just went to, and I am hoping they are lower in price. Thanks so much to everyone for all of the information!

 

[Flight]

I think I am going to change careers.

 

[Piecey]

5500 for DH last year.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I did braces as an adult, and paid over $6000 for just the braces, and this was 7 years ago. Probably over $7000 now here. I had no insurance either (and no real job - I was a babysitter at the time. Ouch!). I also had to pay thousands for oral surgery (teeth extractions) before the braces, since there was no way to straighten my teeth without the surgery. All together it was around $10,000.

If my parents got me braces when I was a teen, it would have cost $2000. Instead it cost me five times as much.

I hope all these kids on this thread appreciate what their parents are doing for them by getting the braces!

 

[AboutTheMouse]

DD got hers July 08. Was about $5100 and we saved about $400 paying for them up front. Our dental insurance paid nothing. This covers all her care and retainers. Her big issue was getting 2 molars uprighted. Slight overbite too. Nothing major, teeth looked straight and pretty for the most part.

She has had to have 2 oral surgeries to help with this too. One before braces and one getting her wisdom teeth out at age 14 with the braces on. Her mouth=$8000 at this point.

I am shocked (and jealous) so many of you only had to pay $3000! It really does vary depending on what part of the country you are in I suppose.

This is our situation, too. Braces - $5,700 but we needed $2,500+ in oral surgery too to upright two molars that were completely on their sides. By the time we're done we are looking at close to $8,500. At least they removed his wisdom teeth on the bottom while the surgeon was in there.

 

[mamacatnv]

DS had the "Damon System" no pulling teeth or palate expanders. $5500 all inclusive with retainers and 18 months of treatment. They came off 2 years ago (almost 18 months to the day) and his teeth look amazing.

We got 3 consults from Ortho's that friends had all used and were happy with. The result was 3 different courses of treatment with ranging treatment times and ranging dollars. I went to our dentist for his recomendation of the 3consults.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

This is our situation, too. Braces - $5,700 but we needed $2,500+ in oral surgery too to upright two molars that were completely on their sides. By the time we're done we are looking at close to $8,500. At least they removed his wisdom teeth on the bottom while the surgeon was in there.

DD had 2 lower 12 yr molars on their sides. Oral surgeon uprighted them partially ($1000) and left the wisdom teeth at that point. He said there was a chance the 12 yr molars could fail and die. They would move the wisdom buds into their place. The molars did fine.

Braces and spacers and coils and such got one of the uprighted molars up quickly and perfectly. The other has given ortho grief! 1 yr after braces were put on, ortho needed those impacted immature wisdom tooth buds out asap ($2000)! All 4 came out this past August. DD has a tiny mouth, so they would be removed eventually anyway.

Ortho had hoped 12-15 months for braces. She is just finishing 18 months and molar is almost up where it needs to be. I am hoping she has braces off by summer. But no additional costs to ortho for this. She is very compliant with her rubber bands and taking care of her teeth. If she was not compliant the cost could increase after some point down the road.

No extra charges for breakages from our Ortho either. Some cannot be helped as her brackets and a coil have only pulled off due to rubber bands pulling on them.

Good luck with your DS's ortho work! It will be worth it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Had the consult today and a very thorough one at that. So we have our ortho for my dd. He did xrays and looked at every tooth placement.

His plan is for dd to go the oral surgeon to get 3 baby teeth out and a frenectomy first. I quizzed him on the new thing with the frenectomy and scarring being an issue. He assured me that with my dd is will be better for her to do it now.

No other ortho even talked about the removal of her baby teeth.

He addressed the implant issue and got me again. Told me that we would shoot for implants however there is a chance that she may not even be able to get them. Her teeth are on the curve and he said sometimes the roots don't make room for an implant. So she would have to get a bridge.

Total damage is 5380, insurance pays 1400, so grand total for us is 3980.
Not bad. I was expecting worse.

I am happy to start getting this ball rolling.

 

[bumbershoot]

You wrote:

DS needs top and bottom braces as well as some type of expander for a couple months on the bottom. DS has straight teeth on the top but was told he needs braces to fix his bite a little.


If he has straight teeth on the top, why does he "need" braces on the top?

Is his bite affecting his life? I've known 3 people who have bites where there's a whole between top and bottom front teeth, which means that eating pizza is a problem. None of them had braces, and they've all survived just fine. One has a mouth that looks quite a bit like John Turturro, and although perhaps not everyone likes his looks, my old friend who looks like him is quite attractive. The other friend, well, he has a pretty drastic space, but it makes him unique, and he too is cute. And the third is my husband. His sister, who got everything in the family, had braces and my husband went without, and it's only a problem every so often, no big deal.

It's not affecting their lives very much, and all of them have unique and attractive smiles despite not having "perfect" teeth.

As for a palate expander, it makes me vomit. I had that. PAIN like you wouldn't believe. Tears, every time it had to be opened. Sickening torture. I couldn't do that to anyone.

And like your son, I had straight teeth. My bite, maybe, was a bit too straight up and down. But when I've had cranio sacral therapy, which is a really great, but "out there" body therapy, and my facial bones go where they should be, my face is very calm and not tense, and my jaws naturally and easily sit where they used to. It's lovely, to have that straight up and down bite, unlike the "perfect" bite they changed me to (which makes my face look stressed, and I get "why are you mad" questions except for when I've had CST and my face goes back to the old bite).

I was just wondering the other night, if I could find an ortho would mess up my teeth so they look like the female lead in Chuck. She has imperfect, awesome, beautiful teeth, and she would NOT look anywhere near as gorgeous, if she ever gets them fixed or glues veneers onto them.


I would really take some steps back to really wonder if this is worth it at this time. If your son has emotional scars from not having perfect teeth that look like everyone else, he can pay for them on his own.


My brother didn't have the expander, but he was tortured by head gear along with his braces. Sure, he now looks like the character from Burn Notice with straight teeth (and he also just flat out looks like that actor), but why is that so great? My dad has more jumbled teeth (er, had...he had them all yanked for some unknown reason) and it just looks so much more natural. And what's funny is that the receding chin they were so worried about? It's just genetic, all the men on my dad's side have it, none of them had it fixed, and my brother's chin is exactly the same! It seems to be something that fixes itself by the time adulthood hits.

So glad our ortho "fixed" that!

(yeah, I'm really not a fan of orthodontia...can ya tell?)

 

[monarchsfan16]

If you're getting both braces and an expander, that 6100 would be at the VERY low end of things here. I think my parents paid almost $4000 for my braces in '98, and close to $2k for my sister's expander at the same time. And yes, they got to pay another $4k for her for braces a few years later. Had she needed the expander at the same time as the braces, the price would have been the same as spreading it out.

 

[lisajl]

My DS-12 will be getting his braces in a month. The cost for his is $4,700.

 

[crz4mm2]

I think I am going to change careers.

Me too.

 

[aprilgail2]

It's not affecting their lives very much, and all of them have unique and attractive smiles despite not having "perfect" teeth.

As for a palate expander, it makes me vomit. I had that. PAIN like you wouldn't believe. Tears, every time it had to be opened. Sickening torture. I couldn't do that to anyone



I would really take some steps back to really wonder if this is worth it at this time. If your son has emotional scars from not having perfect teeth that look like everyone else, he can pay for them on his own.


Sure but why is that so great? My dad has more jumbled teeth (er, had...he had them all yanked for some unknown reason) and it just looks so much more natural. ?)

You really have some serious issues...my daughters friend is over who has a palate expander and I asked her if it hurt and she said only for a little while when they first put it in-not at all when they turn the key to open it up.
As far as having "perfect teeth"- I think it is VERY important to have good teeth- its the first impression people get when talking to you and most people equate bad/crooked teeth with low class. I feel very badly for your child if you are going to let them go through life with crooked teeth until he can afford them himself.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Is his bite affecting his life? I've known 3 people who have bites where there's a whole between top and bottom front teeth, which means that eating pizza is a problem. None of them had braces, and they've all survived just fine. One has a mouth that looks quite a bit like John Turturro, and although perhaps not everyone likes his looks, my old friend who looks like him is quite attractive. The other friend, well, he has a pretty drastic space, but it makes him unique, and he too is cute. And the third is my husband. His sister, who got everything in the family, had braces and my husband went without, and it's only a problem every so often, no big deal.

It's not affecting their lives very much, and all of them have unique and attractive smiles despite not having "perfect" teeth.

The people you know are very, very fortuante to have their teeth not distract from their appearance. Wish I was so lucky! Some people's faces can handle it, sadly I was not one of them. I didn't get braces as a kid; my crooked teeth ruined my face, defined my whole appearance basically. My teeth were so bad that I would catch people staring at my teeth, and kids would ask me what was wrong with them. After fixing my teeth (as an adult with 3 plus years of braces), I couldn't believe how much better I was treated - from job interviews, to making new friends, coworkers, etc. The difference was night and day. BEST thing I ever did. Changed my whole life.

As far as having "perfect teeth"- I think it is VERY important to have good teeth- its the first impression people get when talking to you and most people equate bad/crooked teeth with low class. I feel very badly for your child if you are going to let them go through life with crooked teeth until he can afford them himself.

YES, YES, YES! Whether we like it or not, teeth are used to define your class. Who in America is most likely to have crooked teeth - only those who couldn't afford to straighten them, aka "poor" people. Sad but true. And teeth are there to be seen by the world, very hard to hide them. Even more so, crooked unsightly teeth are also seen as a character flaw, giving a negative impression.

And anyone looking for professional-level jobs better already have a nice set of teeth. It's an asset you are expected to already have - no interviewer wants to see a set of crooked unsightly teeth on a candidate. I also never had a boss with bad teeth - coincidence? I think not. If anyone wants to play the game of life - landing a professional job with medical benefits, retirement funds, etc - you pay your dues to the orthodontist first.

You don't want to wind up in the Catch-22 I was in at one time - I couldn't get a job because I looked so crappy with crooked teeth, and I couldn't fix my crooked teeth since I couldnt get a job to pay for fixing them!