Braces, how much and at what age?

[kathi29]

That's fantastic! I hope you can save the $$ by not having to do Phase II. My DD had one front tooth that was an underbite. The lateral incisors didn't have room to come in - the one that was coming in pre-expansion actually took out the baby lateral and canine teeth.

The ortho is undecided about doing anything with the bottom teeth. She has some crowding, but he doesn't see any huge benefit to doing anything with them right now. I think we are still going to end up with full braces in a few years but at least we will only be working on bottom teeth and back teeth. In the meantime I will keep my fingers crossed that the teenage growth spurt gives us a bit more jaw bone to work with.

 

[Dopey420]

Are orthodontic braces only an American thing? It seems like a lot of money to spend, but does the rest of the world do this also?

What about countries where the standard of living does not support $5000 for straight teeth? Are there any serious medical problems one can get because of crooked teeth?

How bout it international Disboaders? Do you also spend this kind of money on orthodontics?

 

[Maude4Disney]

DS had a herbst(sp) device for $3000 to help his lower jaw that quit growing, then on to braces and retainers for an additional $5000. We went for a retainer check up yesterday and were finally released after almost 4 full yrs!! Although he still has to wear the retainers until his wisdom teeth come in so they don't cause any movement in the process! Insurance covered $1000 and the rest we used Dh's flex plan thru work. If you have one of those use it! Our orthodontist also let us set up payment plans until we were set-up and going in the flex plan. They also knock off a % if you can pay it off up front. We were a little more prepared for the braces.

 

[northcapemaymom]

My DS(age 11) just got the herbst appliance also along with braces. He should have them on for about 2 years. He had a severe overbite, but boy can one tell the improved difference in his profile as soon as he got them. The total cost: $6,410. I remember the number exactly because I thought I was going to fall off my chair! Braces are a brand new experience for us; my son's the first one to have them in our family.

 

[nuke]

My son is 10 and we just had consult at the beginning of the month. He has a pretty bad overbite and will need headgear before they even put braces on. So we wait for the 6 loose teeth in his mouth to fall out and will start with the head gear hopefully this summer.
He only has to wear it when he sleeps and an extra 2 hours a day. I hope it's not too tramatic!

Oh the total will run about $4800 plus an additional $700 for x-rays and impressions.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I waited until my sons was almost 14. I wasnt going to go though it 2 times like people tend to do these days. His were a littler over 4,000. He has a small mouth and had 4 teeth pulled and also had a pallette expander

eta; Out first visit was almost 400 for the consult.. that including impressions, pictures and xrays. As long as you used that dentist it cam off your total. We than had to put another $5xx down when they started.Insurance over a little over $2000 and we pay $65 a month. 3 more payments and we are done. I know my 8 1/2 year old will need them also.. she has has her baby front teeth?? I am going to wait until she is a teenager also.

 

[squirrlygirl]

DS started a few months after he turned 10, for one phase. The only reason he went in that early was because he only had one baby tooth left ( a molar) and it was loose. He turns 12 in a couple of weeks, and is hoping beyond hope that they're coming off soon! He will then wear retainers until his wisdom teeth have come in. Cost was $4600.

DD will have a consult at age 7 to see about fixing her crossbite. They said they could expand her pallate with much less pain while her mouth was still growing, and possibly prevent the need for much more extensive (and expensive) work when she's older.

 

[kathi29]

DD will have a consult at age 7 to see about fixing her crossbite. They said they could expand her pallate with much less pain while her mouth was still growing, and possibly prevent the need for much more extensive (and expensive) work when she's older.

I can tell you from my DDs experience compared to that of a 14 year old neighbor - get the RPE sooner than later. DD didn't need any pain medication, didn't even notice most of the time that we had turned the screw - once in a while she felt a bit of pressure but nothing bad.

It was explained to me that a younger child has only a membrane connecting the halves of the roof of the mouth. The membrane hardens and turns into bone as we age. So to do the expansion in a younger child is merely stretching the membrane. The first couple turns might be uncomfortable with the initial stretching, but after that it is easy peasy.

 

[allykat]

My oldest DD just got her braces yesterday! I did some serious number crunching on this over a year. We use a pediatric dentist who also specializes in Orthodontia, so we had his proposal first. Then, I went to the only other Orthodontist in my city to get his opinion. Our dentist takes off the amount your insurance will pay and will let you either pay your balance or make monthly payments on it. The other dentist wanted all the money upfront or your payments would be divided up assuming your insurance wouldn't pay anything. At the end of the term, you'd get your money back from insurance. I figured I'd rather have my money working for me versus the dentist, so we went with our regular dentist.

The cost was $4600, with insurance paying $3500. The kids were already on DH's insurance plan and we added them to mine as well. It ended up being worth the cost of the premium to do this, especially when you consider I have another child coming right behind. We paid some down and will pay $50 a month for 20 months. Honestly though, we'll probably pay that off early, but I wanted a low payment just in case something ever came up and money was tight a particular month.

She is in a Herbst appliance for 6-9 months with 6 brackets on her top teeth and 4 on the bottom. After that, it will come out and she'll go into a full set of braces for about a year.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DS12 got his braces Sept. 2006 when he was 10. He had one baby tooth left, and it fell out a month or so after he got his braces. When the adult tooth grew in they bracketed it in with the others. He is *supposed* to get them off in the next few months - Summer 2008.

We have orthodontic insurance that pays a MAX of $1600, but it depends on how much the braces cost. They don't automatically pay $1600. We paid $200 up front and $109 per month for 21 months, interest free. Insurance paid the rest. DS's mouth is small but he didn't need a palate expander or anything.

We did have a consult when he was 8 where the guy wanted to do "phases" and have him in and out of braces over the course of several years for a TON of money. I elected not to go that route.

 

[Bibbidi]

We did have a consult when he was 8 where the guy wanted to do "phases" and have him in and out of braces over the course of several years for a TON of money. I elected not to go that route.

My dentist did mention that there are two routes orthodontists take--i.e. the "phase" route or all at once. Is the "phase" route always more expensive? I'm kind of leary of that approach, but I haven't investigated it enough to know if it's always more money in their pocket or if it's truly necessary.

 

[MK2thcleaner]

I've seen several posts mention only wearing retainers until wisdom teeth erupt. I want to seriously encourage the wearing of retainers FOR LIFE. Yes, yes, I know it sounds ridiculous but it truly is necessary. They may not need to be worn every day for life, but at least a few times a week. I have HUNDREDS of patients that had ortho and then stopped wearing the retainers and slow SHIFTING occurred that either required new retainers to hold the teeth at the place where they had shifted to, a second set of braces as an adult, or living with the problem that continues to occur.

Lower front teeth are "programmed" to shift into a position of overlapping each other. This obviously doesn't happen for everyone, but it stand to reason that if you had a problem with crowding in the lower front, when you stop wearing your retainers, those teeth will most likely try to crowd AGAIN.

The VAST MAJORITY of orthodonists will encourage lifetime retainer wear. Look at it this way, it can't hurt, but can prevent either needing ortho again, or having possibly wasted the money on braces and the teeth have just moved back to where they would have been without the ortho.

If you slip your retainers in and they are tight, your teeth are shifting!

 

[MK2thcleaner]

Are there any serious medical problems one can get because of crooked teeth?

People can develop jaw pain, earaches, headaches, back and neck pain. If the teeth don't fit together the way they should, it can mess up the alignment of the body.

Certain teeth are meant to bear certain stesses. For instance, the eye teeth (canines) have very long roots and are meant to guide the bite a certain way. If they are mis-aligned and the premolars (teeth directly behind the eye teeth) are forced to bear that stress, they can crack and break requiring root canals, crowns, or extraction.

Teeth that are over stressed can also develop abfractions, which are notches at the gumline where the enamel begins to fracture out. Again, depending on the extent, filings may be in order or root canals and crowns.

Crooked teeth are harder to clean, so have a higher likelihood of decay.

Having said all that, I don't think that every child needs braces, even if a few teeth are crooked. It really depends on the occlusion (bite) and if the teeth are fitting together the way they are meant to.

 

[#17 Cherry Tree Lane]

When I was 8 I had my first consultation with my orthodontist. I got my spacers put in around 9 and when I was 11 I got the braces put on and they were off before I hit 13. Luckily my teeth weren't horrible. The cost for them was $3,600. I remember this because my parents still complain about them to this day. But my teeth are gorgeous because of it...and a second set of braces when I was 19.

I caution all of you parents to talk to your orthodontists and dentists about your children's wisdom teeth. I had my braces off before I hit 13 (so just a little shy of 2 years of wearing them) and my teeth were fabulous...until my wisdom teeth started to do their thing. I was 16 and they started to come in...or well attempt and they made all of my teeth move again! I had to get braces on the bottom teeth a second time and a retainer treatment to get them corrected. Luckily they only charged me $500 to get all of the work done the second time. My grandma took my mom, uncle, my sister and me to this orthodontist so they gave her a discount. The braces the second time were more painful than the first time and more than anything I was just so upset that my retainers alone couldn't keep my teeth where they belonged.

 

[isla bonita]

Both my girls have small mouths and my oldest is almost 7. Already her two front bottom teeth have come in crooked because of crowding. What's the typical age to get braces on and other than through an FSA, how do you fund them? I'm not looking forward to both my girls having them. I guess I should start saving now.

To much at any age!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SunKat]

My 11 year old daughter has a crossbite and had a palate expander put in right after she turned 11. She's had her top braces on for about three months and I don't know when she'll be getting the bottom braces. Total for everything was about $5000. Our dental insurance doesn't cover braces at all so we paid in full, up front, in order to receive a 10% discount. The office we go to has three payment options for people who don't have dental coverage: payment plan through a third party, credit card, or cash with a discount. Any way you look at it braces are expensive. Ouch!

 

[stitchlovestink]

I've seen several posts mention only wearing retainers until wisdom teeth erupt. I want to seriously encourage the wearing of retainers FOR LIFE. Yes, yes, I know it sounds ridiculous but it truly is necessary. They may not need to be worn every day for life, but at least a few times a week. I have HUNDREDS of patients that had ortho and then stopped wearing the retainers and slow SHIFTING occurred that either required new retainers to hold the teeth at the place where they had shifted to, a second set of braces as an adult, or living with the problem that continues to occur.

Lower front teeth are "programmed" to shift into a position of overlapping each other. This obviously doesn't happen for everyone, but it stand to reason that if you had a problem with crowding in the lower front, when you stop wearing your retainers, those teeth will most likely try to crowd AGAIN.

The VAST MAJORITY of orthodonists will encourage lifetime retainer wear. Look at it this way, it can't hurt, but can prevent either needing ortho again, or having possibly wasted the money on braces and the teeth have just moved back to where they would have been without the ortho.

If you slip your retainers in and they are tight, your teeth are shifting!

I couldn't help but comment on this post as DD15 just got her braces off 15 days ago. Our Ortho, who is highly regarded in this area, couldn't stress enough how important retainer wear was. He recommended nightly (after the 1st 6 mo of constant daily/nightly wear) until after wisdom teeth come in (and if they come in before age 19/20, he still suggested nightly). He then suggested at least 2 to 3 x per week afterwards to avoid shifting.

As far as cost, I guess we were extremely fortunate. DH has MetLife dental and they covered $2K. Since he was a participating provider, Ortho could only bill the difference which was $2,300. He did charge a $30 consult fee, but he credited this if you went w/ his practice. They wanted 25% of our portion when they put them on. But they worked w/ me on this as she had them put on in Nov. and I wanted to use FSA $$. So they only asked for a couple of hundred and I paid the rest of the 25% after the 1st of the year. They did give you an interest free payment plan. But truthfully, they didn't really care much if you didn't make monthly payments. As long as you paid something along the way, they were happy. I had all but $200 paid when they took them off. I'll pay that when she goes in for her 1st follow up for the retainers. I'm waiting on some flex spending payment reimbursements that I'm going to reuse to pay that, and then I'll submit that payment. DD got hers on shortly after her 14th Bday in late Nov06 and had them taken off 4Mar08. She was better than 2 mo ahead of anticipated schedule but her smile looks great. Her teeth were near perfect until her eye teeth came in when she was early to mid 13. Each case is different, so I don't know that there's a clear age as to when to expect to get braces. DD12 wants hers, but ortho says she needs to lose all baby teeth and she still has a couple left. Actually, she just lost a baby molar the night before last. She's still waiting for the tooth fairy. IMO though, it seems like it's been easier since they are older and more responsible that I don't have to nag about brushing/rubber bands, etc. But maybe that's just my kid, because she wants them on/off as quick as possible. I'm really happy that MetLife upped their contribution to $2500 for 08. We'll get a better rate since this is our 2nd go round w/ this ortho. OH BOY!!
Good Luck.

 

[Heather1101]

DS got braces when he was 12 1/2 and all his adult teeth were completely grown in. He needs 20 months of treatment at a cost of $4700. Insurance paid $1500 of that, we paid $1500 when the braces were put on and the remainder was spread out over 12 monthly payments.

 

[TinaLala]

My DD8 was 7 when she got her braces and her teeth did so good she only needed them for 6 months instead of 8. He had to wear headgear for a year and now she has to wear a retainer until she's 10. When I went to the Ortho he said 7 was an early age for braces, but once he saw her teeth he agreed. The cost was equal to a Disney trip for us - that's why we didn't go last year!

If you think you're going to do braces and your dental insurance doesn't cover it, then put money into your flexible spending account at work, do braces next year and get the money reimbursed to you. Treat it like a nice Disney savings account.

 

[chop456]

DD10 just got her braces 3 weeks ago. It is the initial phase - top only. There will be plenty more to come. She had been going to consulting visits since September of '07. The total is $5200 and her timeframe includes 2 1/2 of braces/retainer wear. Luckily, my DH and I both carry insurance coverage so we only have $1200 out of pocket, which we broke into 3 payments.