Orthodontic Compliancy

[Butter]

My son went to the orthodontist this morning.  He's got a removable appliance and he was just getting checked to be sure it's working (it is).  When he came out, they said they were shocked I had been filling in the chart they gave us of how many hours per day he was wearing his appliance (he is not supposed to wear it at school, doing sports including taekwondo which he does several hours a week, while at friends' houses, and while eating so the number of hours per day he wears it varies).  They told me to fill it in and bring it to each appointment when they gave it to me last month when he got his appliance.  But they said he is the first patient they've ever had to fill it in and bring it back!  They were thrilled, but surprised.  (Okay, honestly... I love keeping track of things so calculating and filling in his hours every day is fun for me.  Yes, I am weird.)

 

My daughter has braces.  She's in the rubber bands stage.  Like most kids she hates them.  The first month she wore them most of the time and they said her teeth were moving too much and only to wear them at night which made her very happy since she's embarrassed taking them out and putting new ones in at lunchtime (never mind a bunch of kids at school are doing the same thing, but she's 14 and it was embarrassing to her).  She did for a while, but over time she got lazy and since I usually am asleep before her I wasn't checking (totally my fault!).  The month leading up to her last appointment I doubt she ever wore the bands to bed.  They said she needs to wear them more and for me to please make sure she does.  She added an alarm on her phone to remind her to put them in at 8 and I've remembered to check her mouth most nights so she's usually been wearing them.  They said at the ortho office that getting kids to wear bands is one of their biggest struggles.  They said one month wouldn't be too bad, but much more and it could add time to her total braces time.

 

So my question is, if you have/had kids with braces, how compliant were they with wearing removable appliances or bands with their braces?  How much did you have to stay on top of them?  How much does it delay finishing treatment if they don't wear bands?

[Dmmetler]

Well, DH had Invisalign, and ended up adding about a year to his 2 year treatment plan because he tended to take his aligners out to eat and forget to put them back. And he was 38 at the time he started treatment!

[mom2jjka]

My son has been horrible about his rubber bands and headgear - but his ortho and I both agree he doesn't get his braces off until his teeth are fixed.  (He's in his 3rd year of treatment)  :P    He has just started being more compliant, because he finally gets that we're not joking.   In hindsight, I wish we had waited until he was older to start treatment (he was 11 when he got them on.)  He didn't want them in the first place, and he just wasn't mature enough to handle it in a responsible way. 

[Ellie]

My dds had elastics but no appliances. They were in charge of them, and they did what they were supposed to do. :-)

[Joker]

My dd was too compliant in wearing her bands and it caused a big gap in her front teeth (when her original problem was overcrowding). I was not pleased to hear they didn't expect her to actually wear them as told because so many don't. She is now having at least three extra months in her braces -it's already been over 18 months- to correct the gap. :cursing:

 

We never said anything to her about what she was supposed to be doing; she just did as she was told.

[UncleEJ]

Well my kids are not braces-age, but I wore them. I can say that I was not very compliant with my rubber bands. I was supposed to wear them at night and they hurt. The times I actually did put them on, I would often take them off in my sleep. I think I was in braces for an extra year because of that and I broke off the brackets a lot. I was terrible and my mom didn't push me about it.

[zoobie]

I was very compliant, but rubber bands and appliances do suck. One of the reasons we opted for the Damon braces for DD was because there aren't rubber bands!

 

Edited: I was thinking of a different type of bands. Yes, you might still need the rubber bands that go from one tooth to another. Sorry!

[TammyinTN]

Our ds just got his off in November of last year.  He was super compliant.  He also wears his retainers every night.   Dh and I never really said much to him about wearing his band or now his retainers.  He just does it.    He's a good kid I guess. 

[Mommyof4ks]

Dd has been totally compliant with her bands at 14. But she wants these braces off as soon as possible. Some kids do not care how long they stay on, but for dd the shortest time is preferable. The ortho told her straight up that it is up to her how long she keeps the graces, and if she followed the plan, then she would be done by this summer.

[Ali in OR]

Both of my kids have been very compliant. The youngest was only 9 when she got her head gear and she dutifully wore it every night and sometimes during the day. Older dd had one session of rubber bands all of the time except when eating and then "graduated" to just at night and then was out of the rubber band phase after just a few months total. Not sure if more time is coming, but the ortho did say she is on track, so she should be done within the next 6 months or so. Youngest goes back in for phase two and will face the rubber band time also.

[J-rap]

three of my kids had braces, and all I did was make their appts and drive them there. it actually never occurred to me to do anything else, but I think they are all borderline perfectionists so that probably helped!

[Laura Corin]

So my question is, if you have/had kids with braces, how compliant were they with wearing removable appliances or bands with their braces?  How much did you have to stay on top of them?  How much does it delay finishing treatment if they don't wear bands?

 

My boys surprised their ortho as well.  Hobbes had elastic bands that ran between his top and bottom.  Hobbes had a twin-block appliance. Both were meant to wear their appliances at all time, except when in foreign language/singing/sports lessons.

 

L

[Crimson Wife]

DD has headgear and her compliance leaves much to be desired.

[Loowit]

DD was only 8 when she had her first braces.  I had to remind her every night to make sure to brush and floss properly because she wouldn't do it on her own.  She is going to be getting braces again in a few weeks for her bottom teeth and I am hoping she will take more responsibility for them this time since she is older.

[kitten18]

My dd was 8 when she got her palate expander then she had braces and now a retainer.

She has been extremely compliant (a very pleasant surprise for us). I only have to make sure she's brushing and flossing really well.

[dbmamaz]

My daughter had braces and she was pretty good, except she never did  use the pressure cleaner appliance hubby bought her.  But she has always been very self-diciplined and independent, and she still complained a LOT, and when, surprise, after it was done they said you have to wear this removable bit every night for the rest of your life and come back every  . . year or two?  forever, she was DONE.  She never wore that thing, and I was OK with that - i felt like they should have told us up front that that was part of the treatment.

 

after going through all that w my daughter, and in the end, neither of us were quite sure it was worth it, i decided I would NOT do braces with my teen son.  he is very forgetful and non-compliant.  He just turned 18 and still wont brush his teeth unless I tell him to.  there was just no way . . . his teeth are not  noticeably crooked either.

[Harriet Vane]

I was very compliant, but rubber bands and appliances do suck. One of the reasons we opted for the Damon braces for DD was because there aren't rubber bands!

 

Are you sure?

 

My dd had to do rubber bands with her braces. I *think* they were Damon. That's the type that does not require cranking a key; rather, they switch out different gauges of wire and tighten the wire? Dd also had to do rubber bands to correct her cross-bite.

[freeindeed]

My 13yo daughter just got braces and my 10yo son will get space maintainers (?) and headgear soon. With all the $$ this is going to cost, plus we have a 2 hour roundtrip each time we visit the ortho, my kids will comply or face my consequences! ;)

[Beth S]

Our 15yo ds has been super-compliant with his braces, rubber bands, and brushing/flossing these past 2 years.

His ortho has repeatedly said that our son has gotten better-than-expected, and faster-than-expected results BECAUSE of his compliance.

We all are constantly encouraging him, but have never had to remind him.

I know we are blessed with his faithful maintenance.

He gets them off in 2 months, just a few days before his 16th birthday. 

We are so proud of him!

[dirty ethel rackham]

My kids were very compliant about their treatment (one had headgear, both had rubberbands and a Herbst.)  They were also very compliant about appropriate foods.  Not as much about brushing.  Fortunately, I invested in some really good electric toothbrushes that encouraged them to brush for 2 minutes so, even if they didn't get 2 brushings in a day, they were still doing better than many.  Absolutely no decay issues. 

[Joker]

Are you sure?

 

My dd had to do rubber bands with her braces. I *think* they were Damon. That's the type that does not require cranking a key; rather, they switch out different gauges of wire and tighten the wire? Dd also had to do rubber bands to correct her cross-bite.

 

My dd has Damon braces and she wears bands. I think some just do not need bands but I don't think having Damon braces eliminates the need when there is one.

[zoobie]

Are you sure?

 

My dd had to do rubber bands with her braces. I *think* they were Damon. That's the type that does not require cranking a key; rather, they switch out different gauges of wire and tighten the wire? Dd also had to do rubber bands to correct her cross-bite.

 

I was thinking of the bands that go around each brace locking the wire in place. I once fell asleep in the orthodontist's chair (my dad made the appointments at 7am so I'd never have to miss school. Yay.) and she put on the most horrid, rainbow colored, neon bands ever. Ugh. Yes, let's draw attention to the awkward, introverted 15 year old girl's braces!  DD hasn't needed the other type yet. 

[katilac]

When younger dd got her braces, I specifically asked about 'over' compliance, b/c my nephew had that problem, lol. I knew she would be a rule follower, and she was. She only had partial braces for, hmm, maybe a year and a half? and then the retainer. She might not have been *quite* so meticulous if it went on for years, but then again she may have, due to her OCD tendencies. 

 

Older dd did not have braces, but she would be just the same. 

[Chris in VA]

Dd was super-compliant. She had braces and rubber bands. Now she has a retainer and is great about it. She knows braces cost a ton of money, and that we couldn't afford to do her brother's "second half" (he had 2 stages), so she's grateful.

 

I, however, was terrible about my appliances. My sadist of an orthodontist then made my external brace non-removeable for 2 years in junior high. I used to get horrible sores in the back of my neck from the wide elastic that went under my hairline. He accused me once of breaking my "night brace" (worn during the day, too--just what my mom called it) on purpose; it had been put in too low and I kept pushing up on the metal so it wasn't ON my lower lip, and it snapped. I never got the chance to "try again" -- after the first few months of only wearing it about 8 hours a day/night, it was locked in. 

 

I need to work on forgiving him. 

[melmichigan]

My younger kids have been compliant, my oldest is an Aspie  and she is a struggle.  She won't wear her bands, she keeps wanting to put them "her" way instead of how she's told to put them. I swear she would have been out of them already if she'd just do it.   :banghead:

[fairfarmhand]

my dd wore hers as directed and moved her teeth too far. So the next visit they told her to stop being so compliant!  My kids would rather go ahead and get it over with, so they've both followed the directions to a t.

 

Oldest dd cut months off of her braces by just doing what she was told.

 

I was the same with my braces.

 

But my braces had the rubber bands to correct the crossbite, from top of the mouth to bottom. Rubber bands to correct the overbite from back teeth to front teeth. I also had the bands that attached the wire to the teeth. The wire was switched out to increase the tension. Also had the appliance that you had to crank with a key.

 

My mouth was a mess.

[Teresa in MO]

I have child #7 in braces, with #8 and possibly #9 starting this summer.  We have a wonderful gentle orthodontist.  At the beginning of their treatment he has a very frank talk about what expectations he has of his patients.  He explains to them that mom and dad are paying good money so they can have straight teeth and the success of that depends on how compliant they are in doing what he tells them needs to be done. He has never had a problem with any of my dc.  He tells me they are his model patients!  They know that he will be able to tell if they do what they are supposed to as they have heard him tell other patients very gently but firmly that they have added time to their treatment due to the fact they did not do what they were supposed to.  

[Ivey]

All three of my older boys wore appliances and had braces. Ds19 and Ds16 were very young when they had them, and were perfectly compliant. Ds15 was a little older and refused to wear his appliance in public (it gave him a lisp that never went away) and often "forgot" to put his elastics in. All three of them got their braces off on time, and three have perfect smiles now. 

[Amazed]

My ds has been very compliant...he's 14 now.  His teeth didn't have major problems, but at last his appointment he was told that he's done a great job with the rubber bands and he should have about 2 months left!  He'll have had his braces for almost exactly a year, and rubber bands for about 9 months of that.

 

 

[Mary in VA]

Both my dds were very compliant.  Oldest dd (23 yo) still wears her retainer every night because after all she went through (7 years from start to finish with 1 year off in middle) she doesn't want them to move AT ALL! She had a palate expander, braces, off for a year, braces again with head gear at night and rubber bands in a myriad of combinations.  She has had them off about 7 years.  Younger dd (19 yo) has had hers off five years and still wears her retainers a couple nights a week.  She only had treatment from about 20 months.  She got off easy compared to her sister but she was compliant with her treatment too.

[Jennifer3141]

My dd was 8 when she got her palate expander then she had braces and now a retainer.

She has been extremely compliant (a very pleasant surprise for us). I only have to make sure she's brushing and flossing really well.

 

This. Except my DD was 9. I cannot believe how well my daughter treats her retainer. Waaaaayyyy better than I ever did.

 

And now we're moving onto DS. He's got rubber bands for 2 more weeks while we wait for his palate expander to come in. He will be less compliant that DD because he's a candy addict.

 

With DD, she was told no Tootsie Rolls or popcorn so by the gods, she had no Tootsie Rolls or popcorn. Her brother is going to see that as more of a challenge to sneak stuff in than an actual rule. lol

[Butter]

I have to remind Cameron to put his appliance in after he eats a lot (it's very similar to that link of what Hobbes had).  Two nights a week he doesn't have to put it in after dinner (since then he goes to taekwondo) and he's a forgetful kid anyway.  He's taking really good care of it and wearing it 10-22 hours a day (depending on that day's schedule - he goes to public school and they specifically said not to wear it to school).

 

I told my daughter that not wearing the rubber bands really can add months to wearing braces.  She's so sick of them.  Before we moved she had them for a year and the ortho here can't figure out what the ortho there did.  He was only doing tightenings every 6-8 weeks (3-4 weeks here) and there was no treatment plan at all in the chart.  He certainly did good cosmetic work.  Ani's teeth are obviously very straight now and they were not before.  This ortho is correcting a jaw alignment issue that the ortho in MD said could only be corrected by surgery when she was 18 or 19.  But anyway, she's got about a year left and telling her that compliance really does mean a shorter or longer time has her motivated to wear those bands at night as instructed.

[momofkhm]

Both dds were very compliant about what to wear and when.  Even now that she's been released from treatment and is on college, my oldest still occasionally wears her retainer.  My middle, I don't notice so much now.

 

Now once my youngest gets them...  I don't know.  He doesn't even brush his teeth regularly yet.