Does anyone kids have spacers?

[melafive]

My kids recently went to the dentist and he recommended that my 8 year old ds see the orthodontist. He said something about crowding and mentioned spacers. I made a a consultation appt for him but that is on the 29th and my husband needs to fill out paper work for his works flex spending account by the 24th. So if your child has them could you please tell me approx how much they cost and if braces followed soon after.

TIA!

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd's palate expander was $800, I believe. She'll get braces (we're waiting for her baby teeth to fall out), as will at least 3 of my others. Braces cost about $5,500 here.

 

[DisneyKT]

Dd's palate expander was $800, I believe. She'll get braces (we're waiting for her baby teeth to fall out), as will at least 3 of my others. Braces cost about $5,500 here.

Was that after insurance?

Because my DD is just going for hers and the total price is around $2,000. The only reason I am willing to get it for her is because of a crossbite. I don't want her to have trouble with her jaw when she gets older. My friends DD just had hers taken out. She wears a retainer at night. She paid $800 after insurance.

 

[SLK1]

Our DD has a Herbst appliance, which comes off this Thursday, and then gets a mouth full of braces. She had spacers right before the Herbst went on. The bill for her, after insurance, is about $5,500. Ouch.

DS just got his braces on - no spacers necessary there. I think it all depends on the mouth, the age of the child, the doctor, etc.!

 

[Juliegirl1]

My son has spacers - will be getting braces on after the dentist pulls two teeth. His teeth are coming in sideways and won't be able to come down enough to knock the baby teeth loose. Braces are around $5500 here and my insurance only covers $1,000 of it.

 

[Caitsmama]

My dd who is 7 ( almost 8) just got her "permanent spacer" plate thingie on her bottom, but i don't know the cost, our insurance covered it 100%.

 

[leagirl12]

My dd got spacers just before getting a palette expander. My ds also got spacers just before getting his braces. Yep two at the same time...the joy of paying for that!! LOL

But it goes to show that being recommended for spacers could lead to a number of different outcomes. It will just depend on what the orthodontist finds when they get in there looking around.

 

[mjkacmom]

Was that after insurance?

Because my DD is just going for hers and the total price is around $2,000. The only reason I am willing to get it for her is because of a crossbite. I don't want her to have trouble with her jaw when she gets older. My friends DD just had hers taken out. She wears a retainer at night. She paid $800 after insurance.

My insurance pays $1500 per child, so I'm guessing $4000.

 

[trennr]

DS 13 will finish his last set of Invisalign Braces before Christmas. (Hope he enjoys his gift of straight teeth...haha.)

Cost $4300 of which my insurance paid $1250.

Not sure about spacers...he had a little crowding on the lower teeth, but never had spacers.

Now I dread my DS8 future dental cost. I've seen wild boars with straighter teeth.

 

[Caitsmama]

Now I dread my DS8 future dental cost. I've seen wild boars with straighter teeth.

ohhhhh...

 

[rt2dz]

OK, I don’t have a child with spacers, but I could. lol DS7 has his Dad’s teeth. They are way overcrowded (DH has had his fixed). Our pediatric dentist is curious to see how they all end up coming in; it’s some of the worst overcrowding he has ever seen. We know because of my FIL and many others in DH’s family (very low income and no insurance so very few, if any, has had them fixed besides DH who did it as an adult).

Let me say, our pediatric dentist is very good. He has been given all sorts of awards—local, state, & national—on how good he is. DS4 was doing some unauthorized jumping and smashed his teeth. Lots of dental work, he maxed out our dental insurance which does not have a low maximum. DS4 also had a mass in his arm that needed to be removed. When prepping him for surgery, they check teeth. Knowing what dental work he had, the surgeon, the anastelogist, and the OR nurse, were floored. They couldn’t see anything. They all wanted to know who did it because it is the best job they have ever seen and the amount of work was extensive. They would never have known if I hadn’t said anything. The surgeon said he has heard he does really good work, but didn’t realize how good. There’s a point…

Anyhow, our dentist said we could do spacers with DS7 teeth. At one time that was the norm and it wouldn’t hurt. But they now know it really isn’t any major benefit. That he’d still have to have braces and other dental work done. He said it isn’t fun for the kids and he recommends leaving the overcrowding until all his baby teeth are gone and then fixing it. Otherwise, DS7 will have the spacers and maybe braces twice. He figures one time is enough for all that dental work. He also said it’s not cheap and spending money on it twice when it isn’t necessary is silly.

My point is, you might want to get a second opinion. Of course, every child’s mouth is different and has different circumstances. I was surprised that our dentist thought it would wait, but he is good. He’s hard to get into because so many people use him. The only reason he took us on was because the hospital called him (after DS4 had the CAT scan) and said DS4 mouth was a mess and needed to see a pediatric dentist—one that was really, really good.

 

[Tinkerbell_n_neverland]

I had braces for (just one month shy of) 6 years! I couldnt be more serious. Mine were $5,000.00 with no insurance coverage because the insurance company claimed it was cosmetic. I had the clear brackets (alot of people never even knew I had them). I had the expander on the roof of my mouth with the key that had to be turned twice a day. I got my braces when i was 18 years old. I wish I had done it sooner. I felt alot better about myself after I had them removed, my self-esteem went up because of what I looked like prior to getting them. I just wish I had worn my elastics more. It wouldnt have taken so long to have them removed. The result of having them for 6 years is having beautiful straight teeth, but at the same time my gums got seriously chewed up on one tooth from a defect in the hardwear. I took care of my teeth very well, the ortho dr said he couldnt believe I did not have a cavity on any of my teeth after taking the brackets off because most people do. If you do decide to have them put on make sure that he clean clean cleans!! Brush and floss. You'll hear this alot from the Dr, but the grossest thing I ever saw was when they took the braces off the kid next to me and his teeth had a cavities all over the front of his upper teeth. He looked like a dairy cow. GL

 

[DizneeCM]

Hi, as other people have said, it will probably be hard to determine a cost until your child has seen the orthodontist (I know you'd like to have an idea so you know how much money to put into the flex spending account). Maybe you could try calling the ortho.'s office to try to get a rough idea of the cost?

I know that in our area, the cost varied a fair amount from one orthodontist to the next, and also depended on what work was recommended. We had consultations with two different doctors, and their approaches were different. In our experience, the younger doctor (who also teaches at a dental school) seemed to have the less invasive approach and seemed to be more up-to-date on orthodontic procedures.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I do not know the cost of DS's as all was included together but I do remember that the spacers really made his teeth sore. Be sure to feed him really good and give him advil ( our dr's choice) before the appointment . Good luck!!!