Orthodontics question

[december]

Dd9 got her braces off in May. I don't really care if anyone thinks it is a status symbol to have braces. I care about my daughter's self-esteem. Her front teeth came in sticking straight out. She stopped smiling. Kids made fun of her. It was horrible.

I didn't realize they would do braces at 8. Last May at her checkup, the dentist suggested we do a consult. She thought dd would need extensive work, including a palate expander. I took her to an ortho in June and paid $50 for the consult.

The ortho was wonderful, told me that her only problem was the front teeth, and he could fix it in 10 mos with braces. The total cost of everything was $2000. That included the retainer, and 2 yrs of checkups. I paid $400 down and $160 a month for 10mos.

In July she got braces just on the top. They didn't hurt. Dh was worried about it, because he wore braces for years (her teeth are just like his) and had such a bad experience that he hasn't been to a dentist since he was 15. Within a month, her teeth were noticeably different, and my baby started smiling again. In May of this year, she got them off, and she is like a totally different child. She takes really good care of her retainer, too.

The ortho thinks this is all the work she'll need, but I have a guarantee that if she ever needs braces again, I get $2000 off the price of the new braces.

I paid out of pocket. To switch to the high level insurance would have cost me $50 a month, there was a 2 yr wait on ortho, and a lifetime max of $1000. So I was better off just paying for the work. I also couldn't see making her go 2 more years, and going in to middle school, with kids making fun of her teeth.

 

[rie'smom]

Orthodontists used to start boys on braces later than girls because the girls bones matured more quickly but I guess that has chnaged.

 

[janets]

My son lost his last baby tooth just after his 9th birthday. His mouth has always been about 18 months ahead of the average. We took him to the ortho for a consult and were told that we would need them but they wanted to wait a while until some of the molars came down.

We went again just after he turned 10. Ortho recommended we start at the end of the summer (as he was going away to camp) and to let the 12 yr molars come down a bit more. So the tops went on in August 2008 and about 3-6 months later, the bottoms went on. He is considered a short timer, since they will be off within 18 months.

If all goes well, they should be off around his 12th birthday in February. I fully expect him to have a retainer for the long term to keep them in place.

I have been very happy with our ortho. He's conservative and does only what needs to be done. DS had a noticable overbite and weird spacing and most of that is corrected now.

I will be taking younger ds in for a consult soon too. He's 7 but his mouth is noticeably smaller than older son and his teeth have not rotated towards a more "normal" position as older son's did before he went in. I believe he might need more work.

We had dental insurance that paid $1000 towards ortho. Our cost for older son was $5150, so I paid $4150 OOP. Put it through my medical flex account to minimize the tax hit. We no longer have dental, so if we don't get it again before we need to work on the younger one, I'll just suck it up and pay the balance.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We had the opposite issue. DD had to wait until her lower 12 yr molars were at a certain point before a surgeon could surgically upright them (they were sideways below gum line), Then we had to wait a few months for the braces to be put on. She was 13.5 when she got them on. She just had to have her 4 impacted, immature, wisdom teeth removed at age 14 1/2 so that the ortho can finish getting her molars in place.

It is going to take a few months longer than expected but she hopes to have them off in a few months. She starts HS Monday.

Surgical uprighting was OOP at $1000, Braces were paid OOP around $5200, Wisdom teeth extraction was $1750 our part. I think we are about to switch to a better plan! Ours stinks, but we get to go to whoever we like.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Dd9 got her braces off in May. I don't really care if anyone thinks it is a status symbol to have braces. I care about my daughter's self-esteem. Her front teeth came in sticking straight out. She stopped smiling. Kids made fun of her. It was horrible.

Wish my parents did that for me. They refused me braces, saying it wasn't their responsibility. I had protruding canines and was teased ("Woof woof - you're a dog ha ha!" comes to mind) but my parents said I needed to learn to live with the teasing, and develop a better personality so the kids like me better. Yeah right.

My status comment was referring to parents who demand early braces, even if it isn't medically necessary, just to show off to their circle of friends. I do know many people like that here, and I seen them in action.

It's a great thing to help a child who needs to improve their appearance as soon as possible. That's what braces are truly meant for.

 

[december]

Wow, it wasn't their responsibility?

I live in a pretty depressed economic area, so I guess I don't see much of what you do. I know alot of people are shocked that she has already had braces. We switched to a new dentist this year, and he questioned me on it, too. Of course, he is seeing the end result, not what she started with. Someone this week even asked about her retainer.

I'm glad I didn't have problem teeth, because my parents couldn't afford braces. My top teeth are perfectly straight, and my childhood dentist was pushing braces for my bottom teeth. My mother told him no one would ever see them anyway. They really aren't too bad-back then the dentists did them and he was putting braces on pretty much everybody in town! My younger sister probably could have used them, but wore a retainer for awhile and she is ok with her teeth. They aren't "perfect" but they are fine.

Sorry I snapped at you! Her teeth are a sensitive subject for me. You wouldn't believe some of the comments people would make, even adults! Well, maybe you can. A child shouldn't have to put up with that.

 

[bigbabyblues]

My parents couldn't afford braces either, I got them for myself when I was 25. I always hated to smile, my front teeth were crooked, as well as others, but it was the front that really bothered me. They were really hard to clean, also.

My hygenist has mentioned several times how much cleaner my teeth are now, since the braces have come off.

 

[lsyorke]

We were told that DS(now 21) should be evaluated for braces when he was 9 because his dentist felt that they would be absolutely needed. We opted to wait and see what happened. Well, he has the most beatiful teeth in the family. They were coming in crooked, but straightened out on their own as they got into final position.
Can't help but wonder what work would have been done, when none was needed in the end.

 

[IDoDis]

DS got phase 1 of his braces when he was 8 years old. He wore them for one year. Some of his front teeth didn't come in for over a year and in the meantime, the other teeth spread out. When the adult teeth were finally ready to come through, there was clearly no room for them since the other teeth had spread out which also made him have a large gap between his two front teeth. The adult teeth would have either come in in front, sideways, or behind the other teeth. The ortho said we could wait and do it all when he lost all of his baby teeth, or do it in two phases.

We opted for the two phases because I didn't want DS looking like a dork for the next 4 years until he needed the full set. The other issue was that his teeth have very soft enamel so there was also the worry of cavities & other gum problems with the teeth that were going to be crowded on top of each other.

DS is 10 1/2 now and has finally lost his last baby teeth. He still has some teeth that are just not coming in so it will be another year or longer before he gets braces again, but since he has a permanent retainer on the teeth that had the braces, there's no worry about the teeth spreading again.

 

[GJM]

My DS is 9 and I am sure he will need braces, I had them as did DH -

The only thing I am not happy about is the palate expander, when I had my braces put on (way back) I just had 2 teeth pulled, no problems at all. I don't have any issues with my teeth even now.

What is the difference between a palate expander and having teeth pulled?

 

[mrsv98]

My DS is 9 and I am sure he will need braces, I had them as did DH -

The only thing I am not happy about is the palate expander, when I had my braces put on (way back) I just had 2 teeth pulled, no problems at all. I don't have any issues with my teeth even now.

What is the difference between a palate expander and having teeth pulled?

I am no expert but this is my take. Pulling teeth makes room and nothing else. It doesn't do anything to the alignment of the teeth or the shape pf the upper jaw. In DD's case, her upper jaw is very narrow so a) the teeth coming in on top were starting to come in at an angle because there was no room and b) the upper teeth and lower teeth were out of alignment and she was grinding her teeth in her sleep to try and make them "fit". It was very clear for her that the entire upper palate needed to be reshaped and the expander has made a tremendous difference.

But, this is just her case, there may be others that only need a little room and pulling is a better option. This reason is why it is important to get a few opinions. We are very happy with the results so far. She has had the expander stabilized for about 8 weeks and it should come off in January with a retainer to follow.