Braces for a ten year old? Question

[Jennifer S]

Sandi - I can totally relate to what you are going through. They couldn't even finish taking pictures of his mouth yesterday. Some will say Oh tell him to get over it. Well that's just not going to happen. My first inclination was to wait. I know he is not ready - esp. for the impressions. I was wondering if I was doing more harm that good by waiting. I think the only harm would be to force him to go through this when he clearly isn't ready.

He said he's fine with the way his teeth are. Maybe he will want this done in a few years and it won't be so difficult. I never remember kids having braces so young.

You made me feel better. I think you totally understand. Good luck to you too!

We are going back in March to get a check on things. We'll just take it one step at a time.

 

[SandiH]

Sandi - I can totally relate to what you are going through. They couldn't even finish taking pictures of his mouth yesterday. Some will say Oh tell him to get over it. Well that's just not going to happen. My first inclination was to wait. I know he is not ready - esp. for the impressions. I was wondering if I was doing more harm that good by waiting. I think the only harm would be to force him to go through this when he clearly isn't ready.

He said he's fine with the way his teeth are. Maybe he will want this done in a few years and it won't be so difficult. I never remember kids having braces so young.

You made me feel better. I think you totally understand. Good luck to you too!

We are going back in March to get a check on things. We'll just take it one step at a time.

I totally understand and I'm actually glad that you posted. I was having a very difficult time with the fact that he couldn't get his impressions today. I work with kids that have special needs all day but when it comes to my own, I expect more - even though they have some of the same issues as my students. Reading your post really helped me realize that he's not ready, it's not the end of the world and he really doesn't want it right now either. I'm the one the needs to get over it - not him.

Good luck to you!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Ok, I will jump into this...My dd is very sensitive as well and has tolerated the cleanings and xrays....
She is the one that wants the braces, her teeth are awful. She is willing to go through a frenectomy and braces.

I mean this is a kid who passes out in crowds, gags at stink, just starting wearing jeans this year...So if your kids aren't ready, they aren't ready. Frankly I am in shock that she wants to go through with it.

If my dd can do it, yours will too, eventually. Well we have not "done it" yet. She will not need molds. They are only doing the top teeth and the ortho said no need for it.

{HUGS} to all of us moms.

 

[Caradana]

I'd do it.

Honestly, I'd do it. I had the same course of treatment your ortho is recommending. What your ortho is telling you is that the top four teeth unmistakably need work. I had the four top braces in third grade, and then the full mouth of braces from the middle of fourth to the middle of fifth. Ten years of retainers later, and another ten years of adult life, and here's the result (keep in mind - I had bad buckteeth and a significant, obvious overbite when they started):

Perhaps as important as the braces is the fact that doing this now would teach your child two valuable lessons:
1. Sometimes we do things that we dread/fear for our own long-term gain.
2. When something needs to be done, we don't put it off, we do it.
If you're thinking he will gag at the impressions -- take him to the ped, explain it, and they'll give you a scrip for a mild sedative. He'll be fine.
All the best to you and your family!

 

[HugsForEeyore]

What a tough call for the OP! Funny thing is, around my area, 10 is old to NOT have some sort of orthodontic appliance in a kid's mouth! So many kids I know have some sort of expander/retainer/braces by 4th grade.

If my child's appearance was being affected by their teeth, I would definitely get the braces/expander started early. Nothing vain about that, appearance is of most importance, whether we like it or not. In my area (and probably in many affulent areas, too) there is a status/class connection with teeth, and everyone is very tuned into it. The kids who start earlier with braces then finish earlier, and then look great sooner than their peers. And people who look good tend to do better in just about everything in life. Just the way it is.

BUT, that being said, I know kids who started orthodontic work too soon, and weren't ready. I know a 9 year old I babysit who is constantly losing or playing with his removable expander, and his mother is hollering at him all the time! I know another girl in braces who refused to adjust how she ate, and broke bracket after bracket for the first many months, which meant the braces weren't really doing anything productive. I know another who refused to wear elastics and it just added YEARS to her time in braces. If a kid isn't ready, it could be better to wait.

To the OP, hope the right decision becomes very clear to you! And also wanted to say what a wonderful parent you are for giving your child a great smile.

 

[aprilgail2]

What a tough call for the OP! Funny thing is, around my area, 10 is old to NOT have some sort of orthodontic appliance in a kid's mouth! So many kids I know have some sort of expander/retainer/braces by 4th grade.
BUT, that being said, I know kids who started orthodontic work too soon, and weren't ready. I know a 9 year old I babysit who is constantly losing or playing with his removable expander, and his mother is hollering at him all the time! I

My daughter is in second grade and there are already kids in her class with the expanders and one that has to wear that headgear brace thing when she is at home. I am putting my daughter off until next year since she is at the young end of the class. She lost all 8 of her front teeth between kindergarden and 1st grade and they are all in now where some kids in her 2nd grade class still have not lost any teeth! Her 6 year old molars were in before she was 5 years old so guess she has early teeth. Sealing those was tough though since she is a major gagger (whenever she got a strep test she vomited on the table in the Dr's office!) but they gave her sweet air while she was getting the molars sealed and it worked out well, hopefully when she is getting her braces on she will have the again.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If my child's appearance was being affected by their teeth, I would definitely get the braces/expander started early. Nothing vain about that, appearance is of most importance, whether we like it or not.

Yep that is my dd. Her teeth are awful as she is missing teeth....I expected the ortho to say that I needed to wait and when he saw her mouth he said "uh, yea, she looks like she needs to get braces if you want them". They will help her other teeth come in better for the long run.

 

[swanmom]

I'd just like to add my voice to the 'get a second opinion' camp. We went to one who said exactly the same course of treatment as your DS - expander first then braces later. Then we went to a second who said DD doesn't need expander - just wait a year or so until the rest of her baby teeth come out and then do braces. Since we had two completely different opinions we went to a third ortho. He also said she didn't need an expander and could just get braces in a year or so. We did end up waiting and DD got her braces in November. I'm glad we waited. Now that the braces are on it appears that she really didn't need the expander. If we hadn't gotten an additional opinion, I don't think we'd have known which way to go. Good luck!

 

[Missy Mouse]

We had a consultation yesterday at the ortho for DS10. He said we could either:
1> do an expander and braces on his four top teeth only - now

or

2. wait until he loses all his baby teeth (about two years) and do it all then.

DS is such a gagger and he has no desire to do this now. I'm thinking we should just wait until he is older and can handle it better.

My question is what would be the advantage to start treatment now? The ortho said if we do it all later he'll just where the braces longer and if we do it now his mouth will look a little better than if we waited.

He didn't pressure us either way. ANyone done through something similar? What was your decision?

I can tell you from experience it is better to wait if you can. I had my baby teeth pulled out and my teeth were traumatically spaced. I was NOT ready for braces and ended up spending 5 years in them instead of the 2-3 originally discussed. As a result I have permanent nerve damage to my teeth and short roots. My teeth will ALWAYS be loose and in essence the braces not only didn't work, but caused more harm than good. Wait wait wait until his mouth is ready, and get a second and even third opinion if possible.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

As a result I have permanent nerve damage to my teeth and short roots.

My dh just has a root canal because of this. It was a canine tooth up front. The dentist said it happened more than likely because of his braces.