Braces advice

[acmom]

We opted not to do braces for DD even though they were initially recommended. But her situation was mostly cosmetic and we could fix the bulk of it with bonding/veneers. In her case, the option was 2 years of braces vs. a couple appts for the cosmetic work (which was also cheaper). Also, her bite is currently is great and they actually mentioned they would have to make sure the braces did not mess it up because then they would have to do them longer and fix that.

So I have no issue opting out of braces, but a bite issue might make me think about it and get a second opinion.

[gatorsmom]

I would ask the orthodontist more questions about why he thinks she needs braces. And then I’d get a second opinion.

To answer your question, 2 of my kids got braces and 2 did not. It was clear that ds3 needed braces. His teeth were crowded and crooked. His twin sister’s teeth looked perfect. The ortho just couldn’t give us a good enough reason to give her braces so we didn’t get them for her.

I wore braces for crowded teeth but dh’s teeth are perfectly straight and white. He got so lucky. Ds2’s teeth look like his.

[MSWR0319]

I can't figure out why the dentist(s) never pushed for it again in the past 3 years after her first consult. (it's a big practice- I'm not sure if DD even sees the same dentist each time she goes).

Once our dentist recommends a consult with the ortho, it doesn't usually get brought up again from the dentist. She has occasionally asked us where we are the in the process or what the ortho said but doesn't tell us to go back to the ortho at a certain point. Though I do think if she sees that it's getting past a point of "this really needs done soon" she would probably mention that. She is the only dentist in the practice and knows her patients well, so that may not happen in a larger practice. It's then our responsibility to follow up with the ortho as discussed. I do find it weird that the ortho didn't want to monitor her, but maybe that's just how our ortho does it. They tell us to come back in x months if they feel we need to wait longer. But they put that in their system and call us to schedule the appointment when the calendar opens up. DS2, for example, has been on a 6-12 month check for the last couple of years while we wait for his baby teeth to come out. He has one left, so we go back in June and were told to expect to start the process. He just had to get one pulled because they knew it was going no where soon and the other tooth was coming in out the side of his gum.

[DualvansMommy]

DS1, almost 13 now was told he’ll eventually need braces as his growth of adult teeth isn’t growing evenly and caused overcrowding. His baby teeth (several!) fell out before they were ready to fall out from a bad accident with a coffee table as a toddler, so I feel that is caused very uneven growth.

He also had severe overbite that between the uneven growth will cause him enamel issues down the road. So we got him treatment last fall by waiting it out for 2 more years as his pediatric dentist is very conservative about braces. She wanted to wait from when he was 10 with beginning issues, and back then different ortho was pushing treatment. We went with different ortho for our consult and liked their practice. Neither myself or DH ever had braces. So far, ds2 at 10 years old is on track not needing as his growth is even and no overbite. He does have gum issues though we’re keeping an eye on.

I’d get different opinion for sure. I also don’t like the idea of large practice where it’s dental and ortho in one place, as it could be total sales pitch.


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[jent]

Just coming back to thank everyone who replied, it was really helpful.

We did end up getting a second opinion. It ended up being very similar to the first: she does have a significant overbite, otherwise there is not a lot wrong with her teeth (no cross-bite, no crowding, back teeth are aligned well). Between having 2 evaluations, and Googling images of overbite, I can now see what they are talking about. The reason for treating would be to prevent wear and tear problems down the road (both ortho's were pretty similar in saying this might or might not happen).

One of the PP's suggested that the dentists haven't mentioned it since they already referred us once to the orthodontist-- I'm guessing this is correct. I think it's a fairly good sign with the big practice that they weren't constantly telling us to see ortho.

So I think we are going to go forward with braces but it really helped to have everyone's replies to think this through.