happypamama Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) At my 10yo DD's recent dental appointment, I inquired as to whether we should be looking for an orthodontic consult. The dentist wasn't all "absolutely, yes, do it NOW," but he said that yes, we could go ahead and get a consult to see what the orthodontist recommends. DD (who will be 11 in the spring) has all of her adult teeth, and the dentist said she has just a little bit of crowding. My thought is that she has all of the adult teeth but has not yet stopped growing. She has not hit a major growth spurt yet, and I understand that that tends to come with the full onset of puberty. I expect (based on other signs) that she has 3-4 years before she'll stop growing. So I'm wondering if she'll even need braces. If she's got just a tiny bit of crowding, is it possible that growing into an adult body will mean that the crowding straightens out? Even if it doesn't, is it better to do the braces soon, while she's still growing, or wait until she's fully grown? (I'm kind of thinking that it doesn't make sense to do them while she's still growing and changing, in case they move out of place again, but otoh, maybe it's easier to align the teeth if everything's not set.) ETA: This child has been an early teether. I'm expecting that wisdom teeth will show up fairly early in her; I'm guessing early teens? (I didn't get mine until my twenties.) So how would that affect braces? Would we want to wait until after the wisdom teeth came in to do the braces? Edited October 17, 2012 by happypamama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMA Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would schedule at least two consults and ask these questions to the orthodontists that you see. Only they could evaluate her teeth and jaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 It's usually easier to do it while there's still growth occurring, so you can work with the development of the jaw. But if it's only a little crowding, maybe it would work out either way. The idea of getting a couple of consults is a good one. They're often free. You'll be amazed how much orthodontists differ in how they do things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgo95 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 My oldest (10 yrs. old) has a crossbite issue that we're treating right now only because it could damage her front teeth if left uncorrected. Besides that, my oldest also has issues with crowding (not severe) which will be addressed after all baby teeth come out (this is according to the recommendation of the 4 orthodontists we consulted). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would schedule at least two consults and ask these questions to the orthodontists that you see. Only they could evaluate her teeth and jaw. This is my advice. Braces are about more than just straight teeth. And generally, girls develop faster than boys and would get them sooner. My own dd is 11 and I wish I could afford to do hers now. However I am currently on a payment plan already for 2 older brothers, so she will just had to wait until I'm done paying for them in 2 years. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would schedule at least two consults and ask these questions to the orthodontists that you see. Only they could evaluate her teeth and jaw. :iagree:Some kids benefit greatly from earlier braces, some from two phases of braces (your DD would probably be beyond that age now). My DD9 twins are almost done with their first phase. They will have a second phase in two to three years. My DD12 is in early braces, full set, a one time deal so that she will only have to wear them for 18-24 months, if we had waited she would have to have them on for a longer period of time. As they get older it takes longer to get the same results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 the earlier you do it the more likely you're going to have to do it again or have a continual parade of retainers & spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would schedule at least two consults and ask these questions to the orthodontists that you see. Only they could evaluate her teeth and jaw. :iagree: It's really not a decision you can make without an orthodontist's evaluation. My son required braces at age 8 to correct, first and foremost, a crossbite. My daughter has a severe overbite, but slow to erupt teeth, so she will not be looking at braces until she's at least 11 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 One is the time of appearance of adult teeth. None of mine have had a full complement of adult teeth until their late teens, and my 11yo seems to be following that pattern-he a still has many baby teeth. But the more adult teeth the child has, the simpler and shorter the orthodontia process is. The other is the orthodontic problem that the child has. Most problems can be addressed with a later correction, and our orthodontist prefers that because he thinks older kids do better with hygiene than younger ones. As it turns out, my youngest child, and second to need braces, had an underbite and that is better corrected before growth is complete. In fact, he told us it can ONLY be corrected without surgery before growth is complete. So he was only 10 when he started with braces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would absolutely get one now. My dd is 6 and I plan to take her fairly soon. I had braces starting at 8 (for about 9 months) and then braces again when I was in 7th grade (for less than a year). Getting them early allowed me to wear them a short amount of time and it completely changed my jaw line. I'm so thankful my parents started early. Now, I needed some major work and it sounds like your dd doesn't have any big issues. But I don't think it would hurt to get an opinion now and I think it's something best started early. I loved being in highschool and braces free because my teeth were straight! I was one of the only ones of my friends who didn't have them in highschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) I had two kids who orthodontists would have put in braces. For those two, the issues cleared up as their jaws matured. One had a tooth that needed to come in/down to line up with the other teeth. The orthodontist said it would never do it on its own. This dd would not have handled braces well at all, so we declined. The tooth moved into place on its own. Ds just had crowding. A lot of it. Even I was sure he would need braces, but decided to wait until he was a little older. He doesn't take very good care of his teeth, and I was concerned about what braces would do to them. his teeth today are just a little crowded, but do NOT need braces at all. They aren't picture perfect, but we really don't care. They don't look bad either. One dd had to have braces in order to have an implant (now) later. One dd had a little cosmetic crowding in the front teeth. We waited until she was 15? to get braces. It was easily and quickly fixed at that point. Edited October 17, 2012 by Lolly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magic Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Our dentist recommended we take our oldest in for an evaluation when he was 8. The orthodontist told us that he would be fine for a couple of years because he had plenty of space. Our second son had just turned 7 at the time and the ortho thought we should watch him over the next year to see how his teeth did because his mouth was crowded. When DS #2 was 8, I took both boys to my ortho (different from the first ortho we saw) to get an evaluation. He wanted to wait on DS1 until he had lost all baby teeth and had his 12 year molars in place but thought DS#2 needed to start right away. Six weeks after he turned eight, the ortho installed an expander on the top of his mouth. Over the next year, 5 baby teeth had to be pulled and a few braces were placed on top teeth. After 2 years, he received full braces. One year ago, after 5.5 years of orthodontic work, he got his braces off and has a beautiful smile and bite. He went in last month for an evaluation and the ortho is so pleased with how well he turned out and that no permanent teeth were removed. DS#2 had many painful adjustments but we are so glad that we started him when we did. DS#1 got braces shortly before he turned 14 to correct an overbite. He had top braces for 20 months and bottom braces for 10 months. Both boys did have headgear for about 8 months with braces but are happily out of braces and are happy with the outcome. I definitely recommend you get a second opinion and find someone you are comfortable with and trust. Our ortho says that he will wait to evaluate DS#3 next summer to see if he needs any correction. Our daughter will also be evaluated next summer to see what is recommended. Each issue is different and some need attention early while it is better to wait on others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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