s/o How old was your dc when they got braces?

[Aquakiwi]

My dd9 has very crooked teeth and will definitely need braces at some stage. However I have no idea about any of this and we live in a place where we will have to travel overseas to get this done. No options locally! So how old we're your dc when they got their braces and how often do they have to go for appointments?

Thanks in advance for any advice

[kroe1]

Our orthodontist is more conservative and wanted to wait until DD hit her growth spurt. We wanted them early because she did so much performing. I think our DD was 9 or 10 when she got hers.

 

There are several visits required throughout the treatment program. Is it easy for you to make appointments where you live? We had a couple of "emergencies" where wires broke and rubbed the cheek.

 

 

[Aquakiwi]

Thank you for replying. You consider 9/10 as early, that is a good sign for us. We live on a pacific island with no orthodontic services. We would have to fly to hawaii or New Zealand for any service so I was hoping that 12 years old was the average age to get braces on. Hopefully some more people will offer their experiences.

[deannajo]

our ortho prefers to wait until their adult teeth are in, which is usually around 12 - my younger daughter got hers very early at 9 because she had some impacted adult teeth that were not coming down, so we had some teeth removed, and braces to keep the adult teeth that she did have in place with the hopes that the impacted teeth would make their way down. They did, thank goodness, because otherwise she'd have been looking at oral surgery. And now her teeth seem very straight, and even though we thought she might need braces again when she got older, now I'm wondering if maybe the initial set of braces and her retainer didn't do the trick! Fingers crossed! My older daughter got braces last year, at the age of 12 - but she should have waited. She still has baby teeth waiting to fall out - we loose 'em late around here ;-) But she was very embarrassed by her crooked teeth, so the ortho said we we could do a round of braces now, knowing we'd likely need round two much later, when all the adult teeth were in. Since it was impacting her quality of life (she refused to smile and was covering her mouth when she talked), and I grew up with very crooked teeth, and never had orthodontics, and knew how she felt, we went ahead and did it. She just got them off last week - she'll wear a retainer until all of her adult teeth are done, and we'll likely need braces again at that point..but at the rate she's going, she'll be 17 years old before that happens. My younger one is almost nine, and her teeth are the worst of them all, but she isn't embarrassed (yet) and doesn't have any impacted, so we're just monitoring her teeth until she's older...she'll probably be 14 or so before she gets braces.. because we loose our baby teeth late..

 

After they got the braces, they were seen by the ortho every 6 weeks - maybe that could be stretched out in your situation? Good luck!

[Aquakiwi]

Thank you so much, this is all very reassuring. My dd isn't bothered about her teeth yet which is great. Flying off island every 6 weeks isn't viable either so I am glad that 12/13 isn't odd or late. Maybe in 3 years we will be living somewhere with more services!

[Mnemosyne]

Don't have kids that age yet, but I got mine at about 13. Don't remember quite how frequent the appointments were, but there were quite a lot. Maybe monthly? I had a tooth that had to be pulled down (fused to the bone), so they had to adjust that quite often.

[Melissa in Australia]

my kids just have crooked teeth. I cannot afford braces and don't have dental insurance.

[Laura Corin]

Thirteen in both cases. Both severe overbite.

 

Laura

[Butter]

Melody was 12. She had all her permanent teeth except one by then. Wil has to have braces twice. One of his front teeth was severely twisted and needed to be fixed ASAP. He got his first set of braces at 10. He had only lost 8 teeth (four front ones on top and bottom) by then. He's only lost one additional tooth since then. The orthodontist doesn't want him to have his second set of braces until he has lost all of his baby teeth even if that doesn't happen until he is 16 (and at the rate he's going that might be when it happens). They see the orthodontist every 6-8 weeks. 12ish seems to be a good age for most kids because they tend to respond better and faster. Melody was supposed to have braces 34 months, but it'll be shorter because her teeth have moved faster than expected.

[hmvaughan4]

DS is six and we've already been told he needs braces. Our dentist has given us brochures for local orthodontists and recommended making an appointment with them for a consultation. He said they would have differing opinions on when to put them on, but we could go ahead and have an initial appointment at any time.

[welovetoread]

My daughter is 15 and will get her braces on today.

[mamajudy]

My daughter was 13 when she got hers.

[TravelingChris]

I had two out of three have braces. Older one got them at 10, had them for two years, and everything was fine. Younger one got them first at six for two years, then again at 10 for two years followed by yet another round at 13 for one and half more years. Yes, we knew she would need extensive work- it was multiple rounds of orthodontia or jaw surgery. She preferred the multiple rounds of orthodontia.

[Lizzie in Ma]

DD12 got hers 4 months ago.

[Cinder]

Ds2 got his first set of braces at 11yo to fix teeth that weren't coming in right and to correct an underbite. He *was* embarrassed by his teeth to the point that he hardly smiled. Once he got braces and especially after they came off and his teeth were corrected he smiled all the time. He tends to be a happy person so the not smiling was obvious. He just got his second round of braces at 15yo. The ortho figured he'd need them because the underbite would reassert itself after his major teen growth spurt and it did. Fortunately insurance covered most of it.

 

Appointments have been every 4-8 weeks. With 2 dc in braces (ds1 for 3 years, ds2 for 1 year the first time) we've only had to go back once for a loose bracket and once for a cracked retainer.

[Tess in the Burbs]

Ds was 9. It was to fix his jaw primarily. He may need another set as all the adult teeth come in.

 

In the beginning we were there a lot. I was a mile away and was glad b/c in the beginning things had to adjust and we needed things fixed and such. Ds had to do the expander first. And our appts were to make sure that was set up just right. The braces portion wasn't as bad. At first every month. Then it was 3 months. And honestly, they came off much quicker than I could have imagined! It wasn't but 7 months I believe for the braces portion.

 

I will say that we moved away just after the braces were put on and were driving 4 hours one way for visits. But at that point I did call a lot and only went when we absolutely needed to for emergencies. Our regular appointments were 5 min. Yes, I drove 4 hours for a 5 min appt! And then back home 4 hours. We had paid this ortho in full and insurance at the new job was paying some as well. Changing wasn't a financial option. We made the most of our road trip days. So it's doable. But we did have some wires break. Later the retainer broke and I finally found a local option.

 

If you aren't local you need to go with the one who will send you home with extra whatever you need to get through emergencies. You also need the one who will take your call even on weekends to answer possible questions that arise. The one that works with you being far away will be your best option. And make the most of your road trips. :-)

[EKS]

Older son was 10 for the first round (to roughly correct an overbite) and 13 for the second round (to finalize correction of the overbite and perfect everything else).

 

Younger son was 7 or 8 for the first round. His lateral incisors didn't come in because of crowding. So the first round made room for the lateral incisors and also did the the first part of correcting his overbite. He will get them again when he's 13.

[AngieW in Texas]

I got mine at 14yo. The two older girls didn't need braces. The middle dd has some crowding on the bottom, but the dentist and the orthodontist both said it wasn't a big deal and was what people usually end up with several years after the braces come off.

 

The youngest got her braces at 11.5yo, but she is a fairly extreme case. She had so much crowding that her adult teeth were coming in out of place. She had two layers of teeth. The dentist was pulling baby teeth ahead of time to make room for the adult teeth and even then, there still wasn't room for the adult teeth to come in by 11yo. She was in braces for 2 years and is now has a retainer that she wears only at night. She also had a cross bite.

[Tiramisu]

I would recommend getting a consult , or two, earlier rather than later with the most highly recommended orthodontists you can find since it will require so much travelling. I'm not an expert at all on crowded teeth since that hasn't been a problem here, but I can tell you that crowded teeth can be helped with the use of a palate expander and there is a window of opportunity for that. Nine is a good age. Waiting would not be ideal. A palate expander could prevent the need for extractions.

 

Another reason for an early consult would be to determine if there are bite issues, which are as much health related as cosmetic. Bite issues can also be addressed by palate expanders, other appliances, and braces timed for growth spurts.

 

We have bite issues in our family. I had one who needed the braces on for a really long time with special wiring to hold the jaw in a good position during growth spurts. Now I have another one coming up whose bite has obviously improved with a palate expander and is waiting for braces. I was planning on holding off because of the expense but recently our dentist reminded me of why it is important to not delay braces in her case, again because of the bite issue.

 

When I was taken in for an orthodontic consult I was too old to get the care that could have helped my bite. Now if I wanted to fix it, it'd have to have a pretty big surgery that wouldn't be covered by insurance. I'll survive without the perfect bite but I'm glad my dc won't have to risk getting to the point of needing surgery.

 

A consult will help you decide if what you're dealing with is something that can wait or not. It doesn't lock you into treatment.

[jenn-]

My DD was 12. She goes in once every 4-6 weeks depending on what they are focused on at the time.

[Jennifer3141]

My DD is 9 and is getting her first orthodontic appliance in a couple of weeks. She's getting a spacer thingie for the top of her mouth to make more room for her teeth overall and 4 little braces on the front. They say it will take 6-9 months to correct her teeth and then in 4-5 years, if she needs anything else it will not be for years and she can probably just do Invisalign.

[amsunshine]

My dd had a crossbite as well as an underbite and needed to have a couple of baby teeth pulled at 9 to allow for the adult teeth to come in. Then, she got at palate expander at 10. She got her full braces soon thereafter. I agree with one of the previous posters who said to get a good consult first. If there are bite issues -- you need to get them fixed sooner to avoid bigger problems later. If your dc simply has crooked teeth -- you may not need ortho work until later.

[Tap]

dd14 will get hers this year

[LisaKinVA]

Oldest was 13 1/2...dd will be 11. Barring other issues, most orthodontists want to wait until adult teeth are in. There is more to it than "teeth are relatively straight." or "teeth are crooked." Our ortho would have liked to wait another year or two for dd, but I scheduled a follow-up early, because dd's front bottom teeth now have a good portion of the root exposed. Her overcrowding is literally pushing her front bottom teeth out of her jaw. She had 6 teeth pulled (4 permanent, 2 baby teeth, so they could reach the permanent ones below), and will start braces in 2 weeks in order to begin the process (allowing her upper eye teeth to come in, her permanent 2 year molars, and move her bottom front teeth back into her jaw). She has not hit her growth spurt and will probably be 13 when she does. I expect she will be 13 or 14 when she finishes (really depends upon her 12yo molars...I am hoping they don't have to be "helped" via surgery and chains.

[wapiti]

I agree w/Tiramisu that you might consider getting an early consult to get an understanding of your dd's particular situation so that you can plan well in advance (of course with the understanding that things may change as she grows).

 

My ds10 has crooked teeth and a messed up mouth generally, so it's no surprise that he'll need braces in a couple years (probably around 12 - he wants them ASAP because he's sensitive about his looks), but right now he's finishing up his treatment with a palate expander due to a one-sided cross-bite(?). His mouth was too small and his adult teeth did not have enough room for all to come in - they were sort of stuck up there somewhat on top of each other. Now it's fixed, and he'll get the expander off in another month or two, and then have a nighttime retainer for a while. The x-rays and his mouth look so much better now - huge difference. In his case, if we had waited until it was time for the actual braces, he may have ended up with more problems due to the lack of space for teeth to come in.

[zoobie]

8 for DD. She may need another round later, but she needed an expander and some teeth were affecting her bite. Does your location have a dentist with X-ray capabilities? They should be able to send the films (most are digital here, but...) and photographs to an orthodontist for a consult.

[wapiti]

Does your location have a dentist with X-ray capabilities? They should be able to send the films (most are digital here, but...) and photographs to an orthodontist for a consult.

 

 

This is a great idea.

 

Also, I'd plan on getting more than one opinion (especially if you end up having to travel for a consult, but in any case), as there are often differences of opinion among orthodontists.

[Jenn121]

My DD11 got her first round at 7. She had a large gap in between her front teeth and it was not closing so some of her other teeth were starting to come in at funny angles. She only had them on for a short while until the gap closed and the teeth were coming in properly.

 

My ortho told us that he recommends an evaluation at 7, not necessarily treatment but an eval. He said that the jaw is more malleable when they are young and they can make small adjustments as needed in a shorter time that can prevent more invasive treatment later.

 

After the first round were removed we have waited until her adult teeth were in and now she has her second round on now, put on last July, and will be done at age 13.

 

Our appointments are every 6-8 weeks.

[Aquakiwi]

Wow, you are all a huge wealth of information! Thank you so much for all the advice. I guess next time we are off island and back in the real world I will have dd seen by an orthodontist so we have a better idea of treatment. I don't think she has anything too complicated other than overcrowding but will be good to know for sure.