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DS had his second orthodontic consult this week.


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They are still doing two-phase ortho? We did that with our ds (but couldn't finish) but moved and did a consult here--and they said no one does two phases anymore.

 

Guess they were wrong! LOL

 

One of my kids had two phases due to a cross bite. Basically, he was chipping his top teeth with his bottom teeth by chewing. They took care of that problem (I think it was under $1000) when he was 7 and 8. He gets his second set off next week (he's 15.5)!!! That set has been on for two years and cost $5000. Worth every penny!

 

Michelle - It'll be interesting what the third quote is!!!

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DS #3 has to get braces (he's almost 9). We dodged the bullet with his 2 older brothers, so I'm completely inexperienced here. Our dentist recommended one ortho, many friends recommended a different one, and another friend recommended a 3rd who's close to our home. Tell me how to handle a consult. What do I ask? DS has Sensory Processing Disorder, which doesn't bother him at the dentist, but will definitely be a problem during a long orthodontic appointment, so I know to talk to the ortho about that. But what else? I have a panoramic xray from the dentist. Do I just show it to the 3 docs and say, "How much and for how long?"

 

THanks!

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I specifically found an orthodontist who does NOT do multi-phase. Orthos are so quick to just "throw braces on" to fix a cosmetic problem before the child's mouth is ready, and so many times two phases is because the first one was before the child was in puberty, when their jaw moves the most, and their jaw and teeth move during puberty and they had to do it again.

 

We are paying a PRETTY PENNY for my daughter's braces. But she's 14 and I am confident she won't need a 2nd phase!

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yabbut, sometimes there are things that need to be corrected so all the adult teeth can come in correctly, so even though two-stage may be passe, some kids need it. It's not about straightening the teeth on the initial stage, it's about setting the stage for the second set of teeth to come in. Our ortho for ds #1 called it "tooth guidance."

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The first office wanted $2,800 to put braces on 6 teeth for phase 1 treatment expected to last about nine months.

 

Second office came up with the same treatment plan with a fee of $950 and they are closer to us.

 

That is such a big difference in charges!

 

The second office wasn't as techie, but clean and friendly.

 

I would ask for a printout though of exactly what it all is. I know we had a cheaper option but they didn't include little extras and such, like if a bracket breaks are they going to charge you extra to fix it? Will you have to pay an appt fee everytime you get a tightening? We paid or should I say her dad paid alot for her mouth but everything was included even the retainers when the braces came off. I had friends who tried to say how much cheaper their ortho was until they got bills for all those extras.

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They are still doing two-phase ortho? We did that with our ds (but couldn't finish) but moved and did a consult here--and they said no one does two phases anymore.

 

Guess they were wrong! LOL

 

My dd is having 2 phases done - it was either that to try to make room in her mouth for all her teeth or have 4 permanent teeth pulled. My very conservative dentist told us he was concerned with the lack of room in her mouth and she needed to see an ortho - and the orthodontist said they could do 2 phases and make room for all the teeth, or pull 4 teeth and just do one phase. We opted for 2. There's a small chance that she won't need the 2nd round if things come in w/o too much movement - but we just have to wait and see.

 

Ds, on the other hand, is just doing one phase.

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Chris: My daughter has a very small mouth. She had lost 4 teeth in the front but only 3 had come in. Then, she lost her next two and there was still one impacted.

 

Fast Forward about 5 years. Got braces on. Opened up the space for her tooth to come through - pretty easily. Tooth didn't come in. She had laser surgery this Fri to open up the gum and put on a bracket and pull her tooth up

 

Trust me, I didn't think there would be room, but if you work with a conservative ortho who understands how the jaw grows and is malleable during puberty, he should be able to come up with a solution that doesn't always include "pull 4 teeth". That's a ton of teeth - I think its an easy "cop op" to just pull teeth rather than try to work a plan to incorporate them as they were intended.

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