Questions for parents who'd kids have (had) braces.

[Kimberle]

It's nearly time for my 10 yo to get braces. She's only 2 more baby teeth to loose. They should be happening soon as the perm's are pushing them up. Plus, her last 2 perm molars will be breaking soon. (Aren't panamaric x-rays wonderful!)

Anyhow, neither my dh or I ever had braces, to I have to idea what to expect (other than to pay $$$). How do you go about selecting a good orthodontist? Can you interview them? What questions to you ask? What should you be looking for?

Once the process is started, what visits can we expect? How often to you generally go? (She has a lot of crowding and bad overbit, so I'm expecting a longer time in braces.) What is the discomfort/pain level for the child?

Any other tips/advice?

Thanks!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am in process of that now. UGH.... Both dh and I have had braces and my older dd has had them as well.

It is really pissing me off that they want to do a consultation during school hours. Now I am understanding of course, but we did our first consultation with a jerk of an ortho. He was unbelieveable. He was rude and basically gave a "base price" for braces and says we have to sign up to get braces from him to get a real price. They could have told me that over the phone.

She is going to another ortho tomorrow, again during school hrs. Now I do not mind if they do a real consult. I know what she needs and it is extensive work. Plus she has anxiety over medical procedures so I have to pick carefully.

My advice is for you to see at least 3 orthos before you decide. And if you can talk to other kids/parents and get some inside scoop, that is probably the best info.

 

[cepmom]

ask your dentist for a referral. That's how we found our orthodontist. We had DD19 in braces, DD12 is currently in them and DD9 will be in them soon.

 

[jamimb]

My oldest DD(13) just got her's on a few weeks ago. Our dentist recommended the orthodontist. My dd had seen the ortho on a regular basis for 4 yrs before he actually put braces on. She had to wear several different appliances before her teeth were ready for braces. The top are on but he wants to wait a few more months for the bottom. She now has to be seen once a month and he has no idea how long they will be on but he said the norm was about 2 yrs. The total cost was just a little over $4000 but our dental insurance covered $1500 so now we make payments of $79 a month to cover the rest. Good luck!

By the way my DD said the discomfort was minimal and only lasted a day or two.

 

[MerMom60_94]

DD has had braces for almost a full year. We initally got a list of recommended orthodontists from our dentist. We then talked to other parents / kids and focused in on a couple. The orthodontist we ended up with has a great personality for kids. I think it is important that your child be comfortable with whoever you end up with. I had braces many, many moons ago and I remember every time they were tightened I couldn't eat anything but soup, yogurt, and pudding for a couple of days. My DD hasn't had that problem. Also, we both had problems from the wires sticking into the sides of our mouths. Ow!!! I swear I still have scars. DD had that problem early on and they gave her wax to put on the ends of the wires. I don't hear her complaining anymore. There are certain foods your child will have to avoid because they will break the wires and braces themselves. Good luck with that. I found a gum wrapper just the other day and I know it's not mine..... Broken brackets and wires will only extend the time she has these babies on. Just sayin.... Oh, and her visits are approximately once a month.

 

[Pixiedust34]

My ds will hopefully get his braces off in a few weeks and dd will be getting braces this winter. The fun never ends! : )

We had orthodontist referrals from our dentist. I picked a couple and did their free consultation session and from there I picked the doctor/office we liked best.

The number of appointments vary depending upon the stage of treatment, though expect to go pretty frequently.

My ds has some discomfort for a day or 2 after they tighten his braces, but overall he'd been fine with the work. One time we had to go back for an adjustment because a small part of the wire was bothering him. He's never broken or damaged the braces. He's careful about what he eats.

 

[Kimberle]

ask your dentist for a referral.

I did ask for a referal. Since they have an in-house orth (which I won't use for convenience reasons), they won't give out other referals.

 

[aprilgail2]

Mine fell into place pretty nicely--my daughters pediatric dentist is not to close- like a 20 minute drive so I didn't want an ortho by them....I asked a bunch of friends and they gave me the names of who they used. Then I asked a bunch of kids who had braces and narrowed it down to 2- I talked to both of them and they were both nice and both about the same price- $6,000.00. Then I went to a local wellness fair and won a $1,000.00 gift certificate to one of them in the doorprize - I had achoice of a mary kay gift basket or the ortho gift cert so I took the gift cert LOL....so that is who we used. She has been under their care since she was about 6 years old- they just monitor them until its time to put the braces on. She got them this past Jan soon after she turned 9 years old. She was VERY self conscious about her teeth at that point to the point where she would not smile and show them because they were a bit bucky (not horrible but sure noticable enough). At this point she has had them on for 10 months and she is a changed kid- big giant smiles for pictures and never mentions her teeth- they are far from perfect now but sure don't stick out like they did or have gaps like they did. She has three baby teeth left to come out and they are being pulled next month- they don't seem to want to come out on their own, all they are doing are shattering and the pieces just stay in there so they actually have to do a bit of work to get them out of there, not just a simple yank of the tooth.
When they put the braces on she came out and said "that was not bad at all"- people (even ADULTS!) had been telling her how much it was gong to hurt to put them on!
After they put them on we went back in about 2 weeks to check them and now we just go back once every 6 weeks.
They will only do consultations and the orginal putting on of the braces during the daytime so we picked Martin Luther King day to have them put on since she was off from school anyway. For the check ups and the changing of the bands we go every 6 weeks in the evenings.
She is scheduled to have her braces on for 2 -2 1/2 years depending on how often and much she wears her night brace.
She did not need a pallete expander so we got to skip that step!

 

[clh2]

I did ask for a referal. Since they have an in-house orth (which I won't use for convenience reasons), they won't give out other referals.

Well...that stinks. I would ask people that you know who have kids going through this too!.

Our dentist at that time recommended the ortho we used. We only saw this ortho - because we loved the practice.

There is nothing convenient about ortho appointments, and our ortho is 45 minutes from school. We tried hard to not schedule the appointments during school hours, and htis probably prolonged the treatment a couple of months, but eventually it did get done. So - I tried to minimize school disruptions (i.e. leaving a little bit early at the end of the day, trying to get appointments on 1/2 days, and no-school days) etc.

When my DD was in 3rd grade (worst year of school EVER...) I scheduled one of her ortho appointmens at 7:15 am, to avoid missing school. We got stuck by a long train on the way back to school...and the "reward" was DD got marked TARDY because we got to school about 3 minutes after the bell sounded. If I would have taken her out of school for 2.5 hours (travel time and the appointment) it wouldn't have even been an issue. So - I never made that mistake again...FWIW - No other teacher that I had in elementary school would have even blinked at this situation. This teacher marked her TARDY. 7 years later - I'm still not over it.

The most inconvenient appointments are for broken brackets. because you obviously want to get in ASAP...so those were the hardest to schedule conveniently.

Good Luck! We are doone with 2 rounds of ortho...no flames about early ortho - they were truly needed. And, DD only needs to wear retainers at night, so no chance of loosing them at school!

 

[krcit]

I actually lucked out beacuse a friend from high school is an ortho and is fabulous. Her office is about 5 minutes from my house which is super convenient. We did go to the one our dental plan recommended first and we didn't like him at all so we chose to go out of network and pay all of it ourselves. I would ask around to get some names and then have a consult with at least a couple of them.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd13 started at the orthodontist at 8, and she lost her last baby tooth when she was 12. By then, she had already done a couple of years with the palate expander, going in monthly. She actually had some braces put on before losing the last tooth, and she had her top ones on before losing it. Generally, consults are free, so go to a few. I'd get her in ASAP.

 

[mjkacmom]

Well...that stinks. I would ask people that you know who have kids going through this too!.

Our dentist at that time recommended the ortho we used. We only saw this ortho - because we loved the practice.

There is nothing convenient about ortho appointments, and our ortho is 45 minutes from school. We tried hard to not schedule the appointments during school hours, and htis probably prolonged the treatment a couple of months, but eventually it did get done. So - I tried to minimize school disruptions (i.e. leaving a little bit early at the end of the day, trying to get appointments on 1/2 days, and no-school days) etc.

When my DD was in 3rd grade (worst year of school EVER...) I scheduled one of her ortho appointmens at 7:15 am, to avoid missing school. We got stuck by a long train on the way back to school...and the "reward" was DD got marked TARDY because we got to school about 3 minutes after the bell sounded. If I would have taken her out of school for 2.5 hours (travel time and the appointment) it wouldn't have even been an issue. So - I never made that mistake again...FWIW - No other teacher that I had in elementary school would have even blinked at this situation. This teacher marked her TARDY. 7 years later - I'm still not over it.

The most inconvenient appointments are for broken brackets. because you obviously want to get in ASAP...so those were the hardest to schedule conveniently.

Good Luck! We are doone with 2 rounds of ortho...no flames about early ortho - they were truly needed. And, DD only needs to wear retainers at night, so no chance of loosing them at school!

Ours is 3 minutes from our house, and for quick appointments, she always gets a slot right after school. They're pretty good at working long appointments around her school schedule - I love them!

 

[tar heel]

We went roughly every six weeks. At our ortho, every other appointment was during school hours. It was a pain, but understandable since the vast majority of ortho patients are kids who go to school. There's no way all appointments can be after school . . . You could CHOOSE to have all appointments during school hours. We did a lot of my DS's appointments around lunch time. He would miss 1/2 a period or less and get to eat fast food.

 

[clarabelle]

Our ortho has an every other appointment has to be during school hours policy.
After a while I figured out I liked the during school ones better.
I just found out when my DDs specials were and planned her ortho appointments for PE or Art or chorus.
If we had enough time we would stop and get lunch or starbucks on the way back to school. The appointments were almost enjoyable that way

For when she gets braces they have much more in the way of special little brushes etc... now. Look at water picks or little brushes that will fit in between the wires. They were a life saver for us

 

[aprilgail2]

Our ortho has an every other appointment has to be during school hours policy.
us

We went roughly every six weeks. At our ortho, every other appointment was during school hours. It was a pain, but understandable since the vast majority of ortho patients are kids who go to school. .

I could NEVER go to an ortho with those rules! I would have to take a day off from work every other appt?? That wouldn't fly!

 

[SpecialK]

My son just started in August. We got referrals from our dentist and from friends. We ended up going with our dentist's referral. I liked him and the office staff. (Important considering how often you'll be dealing with them.) He uses the Sure Smile system and his price was comparable to the others.

My son had no pain getting the braces on, but the next couple of days were soft food only days. He takes an Advil before appts. as a preventative.

We currently go every 8 weeks. That interval will change as the treatment progresses.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Getting them on was the most painful for me.

As far as orthos, I prefer private practie orthos. I find their time is vested in getting the job done right.

If my children need braces, I will be taking them to my ortho. She may charge a little more, but she won't prolong treatment or anything and I know they would be receiving excellent care.

Then there are the decisions: metal or ceramic, colors or no color--oh joy. I went with ceramic as I was an adult. I will let my kids choose for their comfort level. However from what I hear--colors are cool (lots of FSU/Gator colors around here or green and red at Christmas. That would have looked dorky in college.)


Aside from asking your dentist for referrals, I would ask people you know with kids in braces who they are using and how happy they are with their ortho.

 

[TiggerStac]

We are in phase 1 right now w/our DS8. Our ortho comes out to our pedi dentist office 1 day/week (fridays). He's pretty much the only one in our area..there are some in the opposite direction, though.

I pretty much asked around, did some research on him and we love our pedi dentist, so if she opens up her office to him 1 day a week...I'm good w/that.

We went for the "consult" when he was almost 7 and he said to bring him back in a year. This was free consult, which is typical. About 7-8 months later, he went for cleaning and dentist suggested getting back in asap, because things were moving a long quicker. They got us in on an emergency appt and that day they did his studies and the next week did his fitting for his expander, 2 days later had 2 teeth pulled. He got braces on the top (4 brackets) on 9/11..about 6 weeks after expander put in. We go back next week to get his space maintainer put in and to see how the top braces are doing. He can get his expander out right after the first of the year.

Phase 2...that will be when he's around 11..full braces!

 

[Green Tea]

Morning appointments at ours were for putting appliances on, taking off, major things. We always got after school times for the rest.

You really can't plan for when the braces go on. My kids have seen the orthodontist since pretty early in elementary school to watch for readiness and expansion needs. Braces were on all of mine before all the baby teeth came out. They don't put brackets on the primaries but need to make room for the permanents to fall as close to where they should be as possible. Making room early is the best way to insure no need to remove permanent teeth during the treatment.

 

[nuke]

We were able to consultations on Saturdays here.

We saw two Orthos. Loved the first but he wasn't on our insurance plan. Regardless we decided if the 2nd one wasn't as impressive as the first we would pay out of pocket. It turns out he guy on our insurance was just as nice and his office staff is fantastic. We only had to miss 1 hour of school when the brackets were put on otherwise we have appointments after school every 4 weeks.
I'm amazed at the difference in his teeth after only 5 months. He should only have to wear them 1 1/2 years.

Oh and around here most of the orthos don't do that 3 phase plan except for extreme circumstances. They wait for the baby teeth to fall out and then the kids are in braces for 1-2 years only.

My niece did the 3 phase thing and had braces on and off for 6 years and had to have them put back on in high school because they shifted. My brother and SIL said no way for their younger daughter and she will get braces this year at 13.