Anyone told thier child "needed" braces and decided NOT to have them?

[Lab1]

All my inlaws should have had them, but only one did. Its caused all sorts of problems. My DH has all his front bottom teeth chipped 1/2 off. The dentist tried to fix them as it was painful, but they got chipped off again. I've been trying to get him to get his teeth fixed for yrs!

 

We are waiting for baby teeth to fall out and see what needs done for our kids. I was pleased that our dentist who also does orthodontia is a bit more relaxed and likes to see kids get braces a little later. The kids cousins were in braces by 9. None of my inlaws want their children to go through what they have, but two sets of braces seems excessive.

[Cammie]

Haven't read through all the replies but here is my two cents!

 

I had a cosmetic issue (front teeth crooked.) It didn't bother me as a kid, teenager, young adult. My parents didn't push for braces and I didn't want/need them at that time. When I went to law school and started learning about how much juries judge women lawyers by their appearance, I decided to get braces. It was on my own dime, covered in party by DH's insurance. I think it is fine I waited until I wanted them and could pay for them.

 

My dd has perfect teeth. However she was recommended to an ortho who comes in and consults at our dentist's office. I took her in. The ortho said he could make her teeth "more perfect." I think I might have rolled my eyes. :001_rolleyes: We walked out.

 

My ds may need some work. My take on it is - if it is medically necessary we will do it. If it is cosmetic and it is bothering him, we will do it. If it is not bothering him...why should it bother us? In the future he can get it done if/when it becomes an issue. And the technology improves every year so waiting actually helps!

[delaney]

Braces are not about straight teeth. They about aligned teeth which results in them being straight. Misaligned teeth wear wrong, are prone to cracking, and can cause serious issues. If my ortho says yes then we do it. If one tooth is out of place then there are others. My ortho fixes anything that shifts and moves as a result of dental work or growth for free after they are done. MORE than worth the money.

 

ETA: Look at the xrays and the alignment yourself and get a second opinion.

[Laura Corin]

Husband had his top teeth straightened but refused to (subsequently) have braces on the bottom. He does indeed have straight top teeth and snaggly bottom ones. It doesn't worry him and, as far as I know, it hasn't got in his way in life. He's had no dental issues resulting.

 

Laura

[Deb in NZ]

:iagree:My husband's teeth are very crooked, and he has to work SUPER hard to keep them clean simply because they are so crowded in there. Dental hygienists have commented on how difficult it is to get between his teeth because of the crowding.

 

So there is "needing" braces and then there is NEEDING braces.

 

my dh's teeth have been described the same by dentists over the years. He HAD braces + 5 teeth pulled when he was a teen. Long term braces have had no effect as his teeth are still very crooked.

 

We were told when ds#1 was 18mo that he would be an orthodontic nightmare by our dentist. At the time he had the most beautiful straight teeth, but no space between. Now at 18yo Ds#1's teeth look like his dad's. Braces aren't really an option without a lot of sacrifice. Our dentist has strongly reccommended braces for both our boys, but at this point it's still in the "want" basket, not the "need" basket. While ds#1's teeth are crowded, ds#2 is missing his eye teeth & has had a molar pulled a couple years back. We revisit the braces idea annually. Ds#1 doesn't want them as he looks at dh's teeth & wonders if it is really just a waste of money & pain for nothing in the long run.

 

There is no dental insurance in NZ, so the total cost would apply. Socialized medicine does not cover orthodontic work. Currently braces cost the same as a year at university.

JMHO,

Edited August 31, 2012 by Deb in NZ

[Jennifer3141]

We've always just figured braces were a part of having kids and factored that in. We start the process in January for DD! We're waiting for one more tooth to come in completely. :001_smile:

Edited August 31, 2012 by Jennifer3141

[LisaKinVA]

Because my missing teeth issue was not corrected properly when I was younger, I have now spent over $50,000 out of pocket to fix it. If it had been corrected when I was younger, it would still have been costly (about $10k when I was younger, which was a lot), but it would not have required nearly 6 surgeries, and over a decade to fix. I'm down to the last $11k!

 

If I had a doubt, I'd get a second opinion...and go with my gut. I have 5 kids, and based upon how their teeth are growing/coming in I pretty much know which ones will *need* intervention, and which ones won't, or may not. Mouth issues run in the family, but so far, I'm the only one in 3 generations to have anything quite this complex go "wrong."

[dancer67]

Seems like every child these days "needs" braces. The exception was my 19 yo dd. When we changed dentists he asked when she had her braces on, and she never had them. She has the perfect set of teeth.

Everyones teeth are crooked by a lesser or greater degree. It depends on how bad they are. If they are all crooked, misaligned, really bad over or underbite then yes. or causing pain.

 

My 13 yo was told she needed braces. Her teeth are straight, but has a "slight" overbite. We have no insurance and she looks fine. When she gets older and wants to get braces if she can afford it, or has good insurance she can do it then. I also do not believe in placing braces on a child without their wisdom teeth removed.

 

I had braces in my 20's AFTER I had my wisdom teeth removed. I am so glad I waited. If they would have erupted after my braces came off, my teeth would have shifted and all that work for nothing. My teeth were fine after my braces were taken off 3 years later in adulthood.

 

Ortho's tend to place braces on kids as young as 8 yo, take them off, then extract wisdoms, then place braces back on. That is crazy and to much trauma on a child. Once is bad enough. Two kids I know had to have braces twice.

 

So, depending on how bad your childs bite is, if it going to cause lots of dental work in the future, get it done. But I cannot stress enough to get those wisdom teeth out prior. Waiting until a child is 16 or even 18 is not going to make that much of a difference.

[joannqn]

Dh was told that he would eventually lose his teeth without braces. They are that crowded and crooked. Pretty much every cleaning at a dentist office is a 2-4 visit deep cleaning.

 

DD12's teeth are just like DH's. She had some bands placed between her molars in preparation for the next step in a week and a half and then braces in two weeks after that. She'll need them at least two years.

 

DS10 is getting a bionator in a week and a half. His bottom teeth connect with his upper palate when his mouth is closed and have left an indentation up there. We were told that could eventually break open and get infected.

 

DS5's teeth look good so far. I hope they stay that way as his adult teeth come in.

 

DD3 looks to be following after DH. She has about 4-5 teeth (front upper teeth and those to the left of them) with decalcification.

 

I wish my kids had inherited my teeth. I have one crooked tooth and a very slight overbite (never had braces) and am not prone to cavities. I haven't had a dental cleaning in 10 years but you can't tell.

[bzymom]

I was hoping to open this thread and find the answer to our current do-we-or-don't-we! My dd has a beautiful smile. At 14, we just did the complete evaluation as we had heard from 2 different dentists through the years that she might someday need braces. The ortho recommends full braces as he feels her bottom front teeth are a bit crowded and her bite is asymmetric. His opinion is that the crowding will be a bigger problem as she gets older, but this is primarily cosmetic.

 

So my first question is how many orthodontic consults end without a recommendation for braces? :confused1:

 

And how do you commit thousands of dollars to something that seems so subjective?? We will get a second opinion, but I hate trying to make this decision!!

[LaxMom]

My eldest daughter needed them (she had tooth positioning that caused bite issues), but I opted to wait until she had all of her molars. She got them when she was 15 and they were off at 16. If we'd done it earlier, they would likely have been on for several years.

 

I opted not to have her jaw broken to correct the (purely cosmetic) slight "family overbite". The MF surgeon told me I was a bad mother. :mad:

 

My feeling is that my children can make cosmetic alterations when they are adults and can reasonably assess the risk and make a decision. If it's something that will affect their health, we will try to weigh the risks or action vs those of inaction and make what we feel is the best decision.

Edited August 31, 2012 by MyCrazyHouse

[Mona100]

I needed braces as a child. I never kept a regular dentist bc they told my parents I needed braces. They just thought it was a ploy to get money. By the time I was in my mid twenties, my front two teeth were beginning to cross under each other and ground down one of the front teeth. I had actual teeth bits coming off that front tooth. So, I went to the dentist and he said nothing would cure it but braces. I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled and then braces on for 2 and a half years. In the beginning, they wanted to break my jaw after my braces but the braces actually fixed that part of it. My profile changed and everything. My TMJ went away too.

 

If the kid needs the braces, get them. If it just minor cosmetic, I wouldn't worry about it. Mine were not a cosmetic issue.

[Catherine]

Not exactly-have one with a crossbite and one with a serious underbite-they got braces. The other has slightly crowded, un-cosmetically-perfect teeth-braces were not recommended, but suggested as an option and we decided not to.

[Anne in CA]

I did not allow my oldest to get braces at 16. Her regular dentist said that one of her back teeth had grown in backwards (who knew that could happen?) and although there were no cosmetic problems because no one could see the tooth unless she opened her mouth as wide as possible and pointed to it, and it was not bumping another tooth and probably never would so it wasn't medically necessary. They really wanted me to take her to ortho though, and they were quite nasty about it although I asked again and again why I should and the only answer they could give me was that they wanted me to. We had incredibly good dental insurance with almost no ortho copay so I think they just thought we should since we wouldn't have to pay out of pocket. She is 23 and nothing is wrong.

 

I didn't take her to ortho because she has no pain tolerance at all and makes everyone else suffer when she is in pain and having had braces myself I knew it would hurt to move that tooth around or pull it and move the other ones.

[dsmith]

My son will not be getting braces at this time, although they have been recommended for cosmetic reasons. If he really needed them, I don't know how he would handle it. He has many sensory issues, some of them oral, so I think braces would be a disaster. I remember braces driving ME crazy. Perhaps when he is older he will be able to handle Invisalign if he wishes to go that route.

[Pink Fairy]

I strongly disagree. My own teeth are crowded on the bottom. They kind of look like I have little bulldog fangs on the bottom. They don't bother me. I have also never had a cavity in my life, nor an extraction, nor crowns, nor surgery because of my crowded teeth.

 

Barring severe issues, braces are almost always optional and very, very rarely "mandatory," IMO.

 

That's my experience too. As a teen, I decided not to get braces when it was time (my parents would have paid for it), and even though my bottom teeth are very crowded, I've never had a cavity or any problems. A lot of that is genetic, but really I'm fine with not having had braces. My eldest girl has braces, but it's more than cosmetic. I'm sure at least one more of my kids will need braces, and I don't look forward to paying for it. :001_huh:

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest had perfect teeth. Absolutely no need for braces for her.

 

My middle dd has a little bit of crowding in her bottom teeth, but it's minor and her bite is not affected at all. The dentist said that we should do a consult with an orthodontist, but it would be strictly cosmetic. This dd has sensory issues and almost didn't make it through the orthodontic consult. The ortho agreed that in her case braces weren't needed, although they could fix the minor crowding in her bottom teeth. We would have done braces for her, but she was not ready to go through it at the time. Honestly, her bottom teeth look like what most people have a few years after the braces come off. Since it's her bottom teeth, you would never notice unless you were specifically looking.

 

We knew youngest dd would need braces from the time she first started getting her baby teeth. Even her baby teeth were crowded. She lost her first 7 teeth naturally (first 4 teeth knocked out 7 and took up all the space left). The rest were pulled in stages to make room for adult teeth that had already come in. She got braces at 11.5yo. She still had 4 baby teeth at that point, but was missing 8 adult teeth (because the dentist had been pulling baby teeth in advance to try to get adult teeth to go where they were supposed to).

 

She was in braces for 2.5 years and has had a retainer for two months now. We just got her wisdom teeth out on Tuesday this week.

Edited August 31, 2012 by AngieW in Texas

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

My parents opted not to pay for braces for me because they decided my overbite was not a cosmetic issue. I didn't want braces, so that never bothered me. It's only been in the last few years that I've started to realize why the overbite matters so much. In order for me to close my mouth fully, my lower jaw has to push backward an uncomfortable amount. As another poster pointed out, I'm now having pain, TMJ issues, a fractured tooth, etc. I could probably have them done now, but we already have two kids who'll probably need braces for non-cosmetic reasons--one of whom will probably need to start in the next year or so, and one who sucks her thumb and may need more than just braces :( I got myself a mouthguard and will just have to cross my fingers and hope it helps me some.

[redsquirrel]

I currently have three friends with braces. All of them were told they needed them as children and didn't get them. It wasn't cosmetic in middle age. They all had jaw issues with headaches etc.

 

It is also class issue. In this country, if you are middle class and above people expect you to have nice looking teeth. If you don't have straight teeth people will judge you. It is often equated with growing up poor and that is often equated with being uncultured or uneducated. I am not saying that they ARE the same thing. I am saying those things are often linked mentally. I have head people made fun of after a job interview because they obviously didn't have orthodontic treatment. And I have friends who owned businesses that involved sales and public presentations and they didn't hire people with bad teeth if it came down to a choice. One friend managed a "sunglass hut" and she was constantly bemoaning the state of the teeth of applicants. Bad teeth and poor grammar when speaking, that drove her nuts!

 

When BIL arrived at the Air Force Academy he said one of the things that really stood out was how many of the entering freshman were given braces. The military knew that braces were going to save them money on later dental problems, and they want their officers to look a certain way. Crooked teeth don't fit their idea of a presentable officer.

[bobbeym]

I probably should have had braces due to a moderate crossbite and major overcrowding, but my parents never took us kids to the dentist. I've had thousands of dollars of dental work done as an adult, including teeth pulled to help with the crowding. It's nice to find out that all my dental problems aren't entirely due to a lack of proper oral hygiene in my youth.

 

DS14 should probably have braces but just getting him to brush his teeth is a major battle. I think we'll work on that first.

[ondreeuh]

Long term braces have had no effect as his teeth are still very crooked.

 

After braces, your teeth will only stay straight as long as you wear a retainer. No one I knew growing up continued to wear their retainers, and most of them lost their great smile. My DD has had her braces off for 4 years and still wears her retainer each night. I have made it very clear that braces were a huge gift to her that I'm not buying twice.

[Stacia]

The outcome just isn't as good when you wait till adulthood and yet the problems remain.

 

A lady I know apparently needed braces as a child, but did not get them. She ended up getting them as an adult because they were needed so badly. Her problems were so severe that they ended up breaking her jaw so it could be reset properly. She had a very hard recovery time during the 2-year period she was going through all that.

 

I never needed braces, so had no experience w/ all of that. Dh, otoh, wore braces for 5 years. Dentists & orthos have told us for years that our dc needed braces. I was hesitant because I feel like they push it so early these days. And, I feel like it is pushed even when there are not problems that would require braces (pushing it for cosmetic, not health/dental reasons). I'm not a fan of the 'standard Hollywood mouth' that everyone ends up w/ after braces. However, both our dc need them for better alignment. Dd just got her braces a month ago & her alignment was so bad, now I wonder if we should have done it earlier (maybe by a year or two)?

 

I'm not necessarily a fan of getting them (because I think the industry has pushed too far into the cosmetic realm & turns out cookie-cutter looking mouths -- wish there was a happy medium out there, but there doesn't seem to be these days), but can see the need when medically necessary. Unfortunately for my dc, it is medically necessary.

[wapiti]

I've only had two kids have a consult with an ortho so far. Dd11 needs to come back for another look in the future - we don't know whether she'll need anything. Ds9 just got a special type of palate expander for his majorly messed-up mouth (too small, cross-bite, crooked, you name it) - this is no surprise at all. He has a lot of other health issues, including speech issues, and he actually looks forward to getting his mouth fixed. He keeps asking me when he can get the actual braces! Not for a few more years, buddy.

 

Dh needed braces but didn't get them. I don't know whether that's related to all the dental issues he has had as an adult (lots of crowns, etc.), but he does wish he'd had his teeth straightened as a cosmetic matter. He has not looked into getting that done as an adult.

 

Orthodontists seem to be an area where the provider makes a difference. Around here, the first consult is often free, so it's not unusual for people to seek opinions from multiple orthos. I would ask around for word-of-mouth recommendations, both from your kids' dentist, your own dentist, and parents you know. Also, there seems to be differences of opinion on who really needs a phase 1 and phase 2 (or even a phase 3) vs. who tends to do it all in one phase. We had the option to wait on ds's palate expander, but there's a risk that we might have more difficulty correcting that later because he's so messed up (which we have known for years).

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

I'm go to weigh in and agree with a pp: having braces in youth does not guarantee you will still have a beautiful smile later in life. I had a severe overbite, had several extractions, braces for almost 5 years (wore a headgear, too, for part of that time), a retainer for a couple of years after the braces came off. I remember always having pain in my mouth, or so it seemed.

 

I have had multiple issue with my teeth caused by the braces (my soft tooth enamel took a beating), I have composite fillings on all my front teeth. If you look at my x-rays, all the roots to my front teeth are flat and shallow due to the correction. I lost one tooth in the front after it died a long slow death---had a root canal due to an abcess, then had the infection return a year later and had to have it pulled.

 

But the kicker is that, as an adult, I have an overbite and my front bottom teeth are all crooked (they look exactly like my Dad's teeth, who was always resentful of his parents for not springing for braces ;)) and I have headaches (don't know it they are caused by bite or not). Is the overbite as bad as it would have been? Who can say?

 

I know now that the teeth will continue to shift back to where they were, so, yeah, expect to maybe wear a retainer forever.

 

But, my oldest child now has expanders in and will be getting braces---I'm not anti-braces. I do think it's important to evaluate your child's particular situation. There's no one right answer. And there's really no way to know for certain if your child really and truly needs them or not---I think we all just do the best we can with what we know (and can afford). And braces really have come a long way in the past 20+ years.

[La Condessa]

My mom should have had braces as a child and didn't get them, and so she swore that all of her children would have them. I have very good teeth naturally, and had no desire to get braces. I was sure the orthodontist would say I didn't need them, so I was pretty shocked with the orthodontist's recommendation when my mom took me in for a consultation. They said that my upper and lower teeth overlap by 20% when it is only supposed to be 5% and one tooth on one side is turned sightly so it is not quite perfectly aligned with the others--but because my problems were not too bad, I would only have to wear them for 18 months instead of two years, and they would charge my parents $1,000 less.

 

It took quite a lot for me to convince my mom that I didn't need them. I still think they were trying to scam her.

[Riverland]

So my first question is how many orthodontic consults end without a recommendation for braces? :confused1:

 

And how do you commit thousands of dollars to something that seems so subjective?? We will get a second opinion, but I hate trying to make this decision!!

 

nm