How compliant was your teen with braces?

[Krisu]

DS14 just got spacers today, phase 1 starts next week. Partial on top with metal attached to back uppers and will have head gear for 6-9 months. Not a happy camper! Other alternative was extracting 4 teeth which DS actually preferred He insists he doesn't need them, but he wasn't there when the Orthodontist showed me his impressions!! How can I stress the importance of compliance? He doesn't hear me when I talk about his bite!

 

[Pete's Mom]

Tell him it could be worse. My mom never got braces for me and I ended up having to get them at 28!

I can't tell you how weird it felt being in the dentist office surrounded by 12 year olds. I used to hear him chew out the kids for not wearing their rubber bands and threatening to tell their parents. When he'd get to me, he would just sigh and say, "I guess your parents wouldn't care." I should have listened, it took three years instead of two to get my braces off. [

 

[December99]

Well...you could tell him that after all this money he ends up being worse because he didn't follow things - he can pay you back for them...that tends to wake them up!!!

My dd was not very compliant and after a year he pulled them off and now she's in retainers. She is handling those much better. She wouldn't wear the bands and that was the breaker.

 

[chesirechik]

I was a not so compliant teen who had braces on for 5 years, from 12-17 yrs of age. I did not listen to the orthodontist, did not wear my rubber bands correctly, chewed gum, didn't properly clean under the wires, etc.

My bottom teeth are still not straightened out because my parents were disgusted with me not cooperating and had them taken off.

My braces came off to yellowed teeth and box outlines on my teeth from were the brackets were. I had bonding done - which my mother made me pay for!! At 23 the bondings have fallen off and I am again paying for my teeth to be bleached this time.


Please, please try to make your DS realize that he will have to live with his actions forever! Boy I wish I had listened to my mom!!

 

[cinlee3]

When we initially took my DS to the ortho when he was 12 DS said he didn't need braces, didn't want braces etc. We didn't get them. He didn't have any bite problems or anything that would cause problems.

When he was 16 he begged and begged to get braces. He wanted his teeth straight. He was excellent at wearing the elastics. I never, ever had to remind him. He brushed his teeth faithfully, flossed and did everything he was supposed to because he was told if he did this he would only have to wear them about a year.

He did get them off early and then lost his retainer. I wasn't happy with they way they looked so they put the top braces back on for about 4 more months.

DS wears his retainer like he is supposed to. I am very pleased but I now if we had put them on when he was 12 it would have been 4 years of braces.

 

[Buz]

Originally posted by Krisu
the Orthodontist showed me his impressions

Did he do Groucho Marx??

That's the strangest thing I've ever heard!"

LOL

Buz

 

[Krisu]

LOL!!! No, Jimmy Stewart

 

[MerryPoppins]

Had one in braces for 2 years. Have second one in braces now for 18 months. Both have been good about doing what they are told. I told them that they will wear the braces until the teeth are right. If they do what the orthodontist says, they'll come off the quickest. Both have wanted to stay on schedule.

 

[holycow]

DS 14 not compliant with having his teeth clean...got a bad grade from Ortho and Dentist!.....but he did just have 4 teeth pulled! and did great!...

I have to keep on him all of the time and I just read him the horror stories on this thread!..maybe that will motivate him!

Holycow

 

[Verandah Man]

Our DD is 12 and is getting ready to have her braces removed. They have been on for 23 months now. Our dentist said her mouth was advanced for her age, that's why at the age of 10 she had the braces put on. We go back to the ortho this Wednesday to see if they come off. Our DD had to have minor oral surgery this past Monday, but we were told that should not effect the braces coming off. Our DD did rather well with the braces. She kept her rubber bands in MOST of the time, and stayed away from gum and chewy candy. Actually, she isn't much into eating any kind of candy anyhow. The only thing she really missed was the gum!!! I'm just glad we didn't have any horror stories to share.

 

[Debihen]

As a 42 year old grandmother in braces for the second time in my life, I can tell you that complaining comes with braces, and unless you have worn then youself, you cannot understand the pain, soreness, and all around discomfort braces cause. That being said, he will get used to the afore mentioned inconveniences, and while the complaining may go on, he will come around...hang in there!

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I am in my mid-thirties and will be getting braces soon, to wear for three years. I <b>WISH</b> my parents got me braces as a teen-ager, but my clueless parents refused to spend that kind of money, even though they had plenty. The effect that crooked teeth have had on my appearance is downright depressing - no dates, poor performance during job interviews, being teased by other adults, low self-esteem, etc. So now I am spending about <b>FIVE</b> times as much money to fix my teeth now ($10,000) than if I had them fixed as a teenager (about $2200 back then).

I hope you show him all these posts - maybe that will shock him into compliance!

 

[Nutsy]

Well, we are about to face the braces issue.........

Eldest DS has to get braces within the next couple of months, don't quite know how he will take to it.....

But this I do know.........he will take to them way better than his younger brother would

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

My kids are 15 months apart and both had braces. It was not a problem with either of them because 50-60% of the kids they went to school with all had braces about the same time ... just part of growing up in our town!

It's been about 3 years now since they got them off and they both are real good about wearing their retainers each night.

I wear a bite-guard for bruxism so their wearing retainers isn't that different.

If I could do one thing to improve their dental health it would be to find a way to have my son brush longer. He is 18 and is getting his first crown!!! Unfortunately, he inherited my family's poor teeth. All but four of my teeth have crowns - that's because my bite never got straightend and we didn't have the money to go to the dentist so frequently when I was growing up (i.e. HUGE cavities!).

Thank goodness we now have dental insurance!

 

[dsneygirl]

I have to get my second set on this spring. My bottom teeth all moved back after my braces were off and I didn't have a bottom retainer.
I will be extremely diligent about taking care of them proiperly this time.

(I'm 25 now as well)

 

[honeywolf7]

I was very, very bad. I had at least one broken part on my braces every time I went in to the orthodontist. That being said, they still did a pretty good job of fixing my overbite.