Orthodontics. Anyone have a child with an underbite?

[Neesy228]

DS10 had an orthodontic consult today for an under-bite (his top teeth go behind his bottom teeth just slightly). I had assumed that they would recommend some minor treatment to fix it since it's not too bad...wrong. They want to do this 7 month course of treatment putting in an expander for 7 months. 2-3 weeks of "expansion" (2 times a day) then 6-7 months of wearing a "face mask" to bed every night. The face mask is this horribly uncomfortable looking metal/plastic thing that pushes against your forehead and chin, and attaches with rubber bands to the expander in your mouth.

They showed him pictures of the expander and the face mask and explained every step, in detail, to him. (Ugh) By the end of the consult, my DS was in hysterical tears.

He is a very light sleeper as it is and I just can't imagine how he would ever sleep in this thing! The orthodontist wants to start this immediately, but he needs sleep to function at school. Between the discomfort of the expander, the discomfort of the face mask and the lack of sleep I'm worried he's going to go nuts!

If you have any experience, could you tell me about it? How did your child cope? Any survival tips? How long did it take for the whole process? I would be grateful for any advice.

I feel so bad for him. He's been up three times tonite looking for me because he's upset. I look at this under-bite and it doesn't seem that bad...

 

[dawnhaze]

I had the whole face mask thing as a kid, also for a minor underbite, and my parents gave me Benadryl to help me sleep until I got used to it.

The worst part of the whole thing, for me, was when I fell on my face riding my bike and the part of the expander that the rubber bands attached to got slammed into the inside of my cheek, so I had to go have emergency mouth surgery to get it removed.

 

[bittybabygrower]

That sounds awful. Our Ortho doesn't use any external appliances, he has ones he cements in the mouth.

 

[kacaju]

My brother had that problem and when he was an adult they broke his jaw and wired his mouth shut for 6 weeks.

 

[Disneychix]

We've known my DS has an underbite since we first started going to the dentist at age 3. He is just getting his permanent upper teeth now and he is just turning 7. We are being sent to the ortho this summer. Now I'm totally freaked out!

OP I hope your son has an easy time with this. What did the ortho say in comparison to what your dentist was telling you? Maybe try a second opinion? Or a different ortho with a different approach?

 

[wvjules]

My brother had that problem and when he was an adult they broke his jaw and wired his mouth shut for 6 weeks.

For the reason above, OP, do it now. My DD18 started her treatment at 16. She had the expander, facemask, and now braces and they have stopped treatment because it didn't work. (They are just re-straigtening her teeth now.) There was a chance it would work since she still had some growth left in her but sadly it did not. She will be looking at surgery sometime down the line.

 

[AnnaS]

My dd had this done many years ago. Chin cup (cost me out of pocket then $500). Not sure if this did much help. She probably could have skipped this part. She would get a rash on her chin also all the time. We tried placing a tissue in there, powder, etc. This was to prevent her from stretching her jaw more when she talked. Again - I really doubt this helped.

She did have the jaw extender and also a few teeth pulled out for crowding. She was a real trooper and we survived it. She might have taken a tylenol here and there when we expanded the expander.

She then went onto getting braces too.

Good luck - I agree do it now. Do question the chin cup -

 

[diznygirl]

You could always get a second opinion. I had orthodontics as an adult, and had to sleep with the headgear. I managed, but it was very very uncomfortable. My son has been such a trooper with his braces. No headgear, but he's suffering in silence (mostly) and loving the way his teeth are looking. Maybe your son will as well.

 

[OlderMan]

....both my DD's had underbites. The younger's self-corrected itself. My older had braces from 4th througn 10th grades.

Orthodontist initially recommended an expander for her, too, but upon doing casts of her mouth/teeth, it wan't needed.

Maybe you'll get lucky too!

 

[chisnpeke]

DS10 had an orthodontic consult today for an under-bite (his top teeth go behind his bottom teeth just slightly). I had assumed that they would recommend some minor treatment to fix it since it's not too bad...wrong. They want to do this 7 month course of treatment putting in an expander for 7 months. 2-3 weeks of "expansion" (2 times a day) then 6-7 months of wearing a "face mask" to bed every night. The face mask is this horribly uncomfortable looking metal/plastic thing that pushes against your forehead and chin, and attaches with rubber bands to the expander in your mouth.

They showed him pictures of the expander and the face mask and explained every step, in detail, to him. (Ugh) By the end of the consult, my DS was in hysterical tears.

He is a very light sleeper as it is and I just can't imagine how he would ever sleep in this thing! The orthodontist wants to start this immediately, but he needs sleep to function at school. Between the discomfort of the expander, the discomfort of the face mask and the lack of sleep I'm worried he's going to go nuts!

If you have any experience, could you tell me about it? How did your child cope? Any survival tips? How long did it take for the whole process? I would be grateful for any advice.

I feel so bad for him. He's been up three times tonite looking for me because he's upset. I look at this under-bite and it doesn't seem that bad...

Fix it now while he's young. I had braces as a younger person and it masked my skeletal issue and I had to get jaw surgery. Underbites are issues that can be corrected as a younger person before the bones stop growing but when he's older will likely need surgery. Under bites really can alter the way a person looks so I would get it fixed now.

 

[momto3pirates]

I am a dentist but I do not do ortho. My oldest son had an underbite and this exact treatment. It is a royal pain at first but the alternative is surgical correction later on. The lower jaw continues to grow longer than the upper jaw so a minor issue now will be more pronounced as he grows. Think Jay Leno. I would wait and start at the beginning of the summer. It will give him some time to adjust without the additional stress of school. You can have everything ready by the end of the school year and have the appliances put on right after the last day of school. Just make sure your son understands why he is doing this. Show him pictures, have the ortho show him the models of what a normal bite should be. You do not want him damaging the front of his front teeth by chewing with his lower teeth out front.

 

[chisnpeke]

I am a dentist but I do not do ortho. My oldest son had an underbite and this exact treatment. It is a royal pain at first but the alternative is surgical correction later on. The lower jaw continues to grow longer than the upper jaw so a minor issue now will be more pronounced as he grows. Think Jay Leno. I would wait and start at the beginning of the summer. It will give him some time to adjust without the additional stress of school. You can have everything ready by the end of the school year and have the appliances put on right after the last day of school. Just make sure your son understands why he is doing this. Show him pictures, have the ortho show him the models of what a normal bite should be. You do not want him damaging the front of his front teeth by chewing with his lower teeth out front.

I agree. It may be a big deal for your son now but he will be glad he did it when he's older instead of needing surgery.

 

[Kies99]

My DD (10) just got the expander put in yesterday. Will do the first time adjusting tonight (wish me luck...).

Anyway, haven't been told anything about a mask/headpiece so hopefully won't need it. Expander gets "cemented" into place in another 4 weeks and she will have that for a few months.

So far it doesn't hurt, but she does feel pressure in her sinus area. I'll assume it's going to get worse. Luckily we have some Tylenol with Codeine from her broken arm last year so if she needs it, that'll help.

 

[Kies99]

Oh, she is having issues with eating. Makes it hard to swallow as stuff gets caught on top of the expander. She'll be eating lots of soup and apple sauce until she gets used to it.

 

[soccerdad72]

That sounds awful. Our Ortho doesn't use any external appliances, he has ones he cements in the mouth.

Same here. Our ortho put "shelves" in behind my son's front two teeth which have a groove in them that his back teeth slide into, essentially "training" his bottom jaw to come farther out. It's worked pretty well, too, based on x-rays he's taken lately.

 

[clh2]

Definitely get a second opinion. You need to be certain you are getting your DS the best care possible.

As far as should you do this now...I say yes. I know several people who have major mouth issues, and the problems could have been easily corrected when they were kids, had they had the proper treatment. One of my friends had major work done as an adult, and finally ended up in permanent disability due to mouth pain she was experiencing in her early 40's. I do realize this is an extreme case. Ironically, this friend really came down on me when we opted to have some bite-issues fixed on DD when she was in 3rd grade.

Another thing to consider, and this is VERY SHALLOw, VeRY, VeRY shallow|. Looks affect self esteem, which affects many things in life, like getting jobs, getting promotions etc.

My Sister was not going to do some orthodontic work that my niece needed, until she realized that Dniece was NEVER smiling in pictures. That was when she was in 4th grade.

Flame away on the shallow "looks" comments, I am sure someone will.

 

[Psychodisney]

My DD14's ortho initially talked face gear but fortunately never had to go that way. She had the expander and first round of braces at about 10-11 yo. Then had the second set from 12-14 yo. The underbite was corrected without any face gear. She was diligent about rubberband use and now wears retainers 12 hours a day.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I didn't have a full underbite (i did in the back, but the front were just straight up and down) and my orthodontist used a palate spreader and braces to pull all my top teeth out to the proper angle. No face mask or headgear needed.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

DD inherited her Dad's severe underbite. DH had surgery as an adult to correct it (removed pieces of bone from sides of his jaw). DD had the palate expander, then had the facial apparatus at around age 10. It was very hard for her to wear it to school, but she was a trooper through all the teasing because she hated her underbite more! It only came off to sleep. Ortho waited a while after that to see how her jaw would grow, and she had braces until age 17. Quite an ordeal!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

My dd had an underbite that was treated with a palate expander. She did not have a face mask, so I don't have any advice on that. With her expander we were given a key to turn a small metal piece that was on the roof of her mouth to push apart the palate. They gave us a schedule of how many turns a day we had to push the key. I was icked out by the thought of what I was doing when I turned the key, but I guess the expansion is so gradual that it wasn't painful to her at all. It was only annoying to her when she had food get caught up under the plastic expander (like a retainer only it was glued in) and we found that a water pick worked well to help flush her mouth out. She had the expander in for around 9 months and now she has a couple of braces on her front teeth to hold them together. The palate expander has been considered Phase 1 and we anticipate she will need Phase 2 (entire mouth braces) in a couple of years.

Totally agree with the previous poster that it is really best to get his underbite treated early, while the child is still growing. His teeth/bite may not look so bad now, but will probably look much worse the older he gets.