Did/does your preteen have braces?

[AnnieW625]

This seems to be more common than it was when DH and I were kids (my now 40 yr. old cousin is the only person I grew up with who had two sets of braces, one set as a pre teen and the other set his junior and senior of high school), but now I think Dd1 would be at least the fourth or fifth of her classmates to have them. Dd1 (10) has an really bad overbite and at her exam yesterday the dentist (whom I trust and really like) told Dd1 and myself she will need braces within the year to correct her really large overbite. She didn't say if she would need another set once she has all of her adult teeth so that is good sign, but if she were to need them again the total cost for both phases would be about $6000. Insurance only covers $1000 of that, but we have a pre tax FSA to save us some money. I think that $3000 for each phase is reasonable and Dd1 likes the dentist so we most likely won't get a second opinion.

Any experience with this?

ETA: our pediatric dentist is also the orthodontist! Makes life simpler if we only have to go to one place!

[Kindra178]

Yes, times 2. I would take her to the ortho now and not wait.

[georgiegirl]

Definitely go to the orthodontist now for a consult. And many people get a second opinion. We took DD (10) a couple of months ago. She has a perfect bite, but one canine is coming in the wrong way...only discovered on a panoramic X-Ray. A few of DD's friends have braces already.



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[SnuggleBuggles]

Nope. Ds1's bite is perfect. The spacing is a smidge wider than some might like but he's cool with it (teeth are straight too). We let it be his choice; he didn't want braces. Easy.

[KrisM]

DS1 is 12 and has had them for 6 months. He had a bunch come in pretty crooked and out of place, so they are just for straightening. No plans to get them a 2nd time.

DD has an overbite and we've seen a few orthos for consults, but so far we are in the wait mode to see how she changes as she grows and gets more adult teeth.

DS2 looks the best so far to avoid them :)

[minnie-zb]

It's very common here and there's a lot they can do so there's less to do in stage 2 (if it's needed).

However, I would get a second opinion at least, just to compare costs and get a feel for what other orthodontists would do.

[jren]

Both of mine will end up having braces twice. DD had a short course around 8/9 years old on upper front teeth only. They were coming in all over the place and the severe space between her front teeth were causing the back ones to crowd some teeth were coming in on top of others. She's in her second phase now, top and bottom, at 12 and will be done within the year.

DS had a cross bite that was wearing away his baby molars. Also has extremely large space between front teeth where teeth were at risk of coming down in the wrong spot. He got his top braces and expander at 7. It's just to correct bite issues and create more space. If his permanent teeth end up crooked, phase two will deal with that.


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[JBaxter]

oldest 3 nope they have some slight misalignment but they declined getting anything done. Maybe on DS4

[Tenasparkl]

No, but quite a few of DD's friends have gotten "phase one" braces recently (mostly kids in 3rd/4th grade)

[gatorsmom]

Yep. Ds1 got braces last summer when he was 12yo. He will have them on one more year. Ds2 had an appliance to correct his underbite when he was 8yo. The appliance fixed it in 6 months. The ortho doesn't think he'll need braces. I really trust our ortho because I've known him since high school. He did my braces, my mothers and my niece's. He has an excellent reputation. I've gotten t nothing but praise for the guy.

eta- but if I didn't know the ortho so well, I'd get a second and third opinion. Braces are expensive (and often painful).

[Corie]

Nope. Ds1's bite is perfect. The spacing is a smidge wider than some might like but he's cool with it (teeth are straight too). We let it be his choice; he didn't want braces. Easy.


This is also my daughter. Her bite is perfect but the spacing between her teeth is wider than most. But she wasn't happy about it. So she got
the Invisalign purely for cosmetic purposes. She's worn the Invisalign for a year and her teeth are now perfect. She is very happy! :)

I should mention that my daughter got her Invisalign at age 13 (almost 14).

My son is 11 yrs. old. The orthodontist has a "let's wait and see" attitude with DS. There are no major issues with his teeth either.

[khm]

My daughter has braces. She had slight bite issue, but most was just the incisors were WAY out. It's only been 3ish months and they are looking great. They are going slow-ish with her because she has a tooth that was impacted in a fall when she was very small years prior. The tooth grew in fine, but the roots were stunted, the ortho is actually the first to see it on x-ray. She required an appointment at the endodontist for a root canal, a 6 month wait, then braces. Since it is "shored up" the ortho is being pretty cautious with it.

My son's teeth are better. He may or may not need anything. I had them give him a glance and they agreed unofficially. If he does, it'll probably be less involved than my daughter. Some kids get only invisilign or only head gear, etc.

[niccig]

DS's teeth are straight but he has an overbite. He's 11 and still has too many baby teeth to do anything with braces, but he just got a bite plate retainer he wears at home. He could have it for 1-2 years until more adult teeth come in.

I have an overbite, but my dentist pointed out its not as bad as DS's and concern was the bottom teeth were touching gums behind top incisors. My dentist said to fix it now before he's an adult and has issues with receding guns.

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[essnce629]

DS1 is 13 and doesn't need braces. Teeth are straight with no bite issues.

DS2 is just 7 and had a slight under bite that we were watching. We go to the dentist tomorrow and I'm not even sure if he still has an under bite anymore. He had one crooked adult front tooth, but it seems to be getting pushed straight as his other adult teeth grow in.

Neither DH or I had braces and we both have straight teeth.

[pinkmomagain]

Both my older girls had braces in middle school and were done by freshman year of high school or so. My youngest is just entering middle school next and still has too many baby teeth for braces yet. Will be curious what the dentist will suggest at her next appointment.

[Meatball Mommie]

Yes. Our dentist recommended an ortho for a panoramic x-ray at age 10 for both our kids.

The orthodontist charges $130 for that (not covered under our dental insurance and we don't have orthodontia coverage). After that he makes recommendations and monitors until it's time for braces, etc.

DS1 was ready for braces within 1 year (needed to lose baby teeth). DS2 has needed teeth pulled (first canine baby teeth at age 10, and just recently 4 permanent - extreme crowding). No braces yet for him though - probably not for another year (so age 12).

I prefer that approach because I figure the orthodontist knows best. He doesn't charge for the monitoring and we could have shopped around, but basically he's the preferred orthodontist in our area and I trust him.

I think braces have become the norm for the pre-teen set in the US. I don't know a single kid who hasn't had, doesn't currently have or won't have them at some point. Sometimes, it's twice...like get them on top for a while, then off and wait, then get them on top/bottom again. It depends on the individual situation and what's wrong with the teeth/jaw alignment. I'd love to be an orthodontist - totally fascinating imo.

It's funny because we visited family in Ireland for a big reunion and both DH and I noticed that none of the kids there had braces - not a single one - and they really could have used them, too! Definitely more prevalent in the US.

eta: Forgot about this, but when I was a kid, my pediatric dentist eventually had an in-house orthodontist. This was after I already had braces so I didn't use that service, but it certainly makes it convenient!

[MelissaTC]

This is also my daughter. Her bite is perfect but the spacing between her teeth is wider than most. But she wasn't happy about it. So she got
the Invisalign purely for cosmetic purposes. She's worn the Invisalign for a year and her teeth are now perfect. She is very happy! :)

I should mention that my daughter got her Invisalign at age 13 (almost 14).


M too. He did 6 months of Invisalign express. He had a space between his front teeth and a little bit of crowding on the bottom. He needed very little, obviously, and we encouraged him to let us pay for it and perfect his smile. Who knows what the future holds and he may regret it not doing it. He agreed and now his teeth are so gorgeous. I'm jealous. He did it at 13 as well.

[mom2khj]

I see it some, but still not very often.

Our ortho prefers to wait until all baby teeth are out. DD1 just got her braces on at 13.5 due to two very slow baby teeth (they eventually had to get pulled). DD2 at 10.5 only has two baby teeth left and one is already loose. She just had a palate expander removed and I can see her getting braces within the next year.

[KpbS]

Soon. We didnt do first phase braces and he's lost all of his baby teeth about 6 mo ago. He didn't have any pressing issues so ortho said it was fine to wait and just do one round. Thank goodness

[Meatball Mommie]

I think I was a little confused...are you asking specifically about 2-phase braces or braces in general?

I have definitely seen an increase in the 2-phase approach. I think it's the new method of orthodontia. Move some permanent teeth around early do others come in properly thus avoiding major issues. Kids may only need the second phase for a short time to do some minor re-alignment. While my kids didn't do this (their issues where not correctable by this method), a lot of their classmates have.