How much would you sacrifice to get your dc braces?

[Erica in PA]

Sorry-- double posted!

[Kathleen in VA]

The orthodontist told us that all my children needed braces. We have opted to go with three out of the five. Ds19 got his when he was about 10yo - he had a very bad overbite - buck teeth, actually:), and I knew it would be a self-esteem issue if we ignored it. He also wasn't able to completely bite down to chew his food, which we considered a health issue. Ds21 and Dd15 both have one or two slightly crooked teeth, but their smiles are nice just the same and there were no bite issues so we decided to skip it for them - no money.

 

Dd9 had a severe underbite - her top front teeth actually came down behind her bottom front teeth significantly so we really did not have a choice about that. She has spacers and head gear she wears at night.

 

Ds12 just has a spacer in for now so that his teeth will have room to come in without messing up the other teeth.

 

We are on an extremely tight budget. There were no piano lessons or sports activities when we were doing Ds19 - just couldn't afford to do both. I cannot express how thankful I am that we got the braces, though, because he has such a great smile now and it really would have been hard on him if he hadn't gotten the braces.

 

We are sacrificing once again for the two littles and their applicances/spacers. We do very little outside stuff. Dd15 is taking piano but we may get to a point where that is not doable for the present. She understands.

 

I would just try to find other things to do. I am reminded of many old movies and books where families pulled together and parents made a special effort to make home a happy, fun-filled place when times were tough, trying to take the focus off the lack of money and fill the home with happy memories in spite of their reduced circumstances. How many times have you heard someone in a book say they were poor but they didn't realize it until after they had grown up? Having to do without extras can draw a family closer and definitely has character building written all over it.

[Alenee]

My sister would say do it at all costs! lol! She has a space between her two front teeth and they are very slightly pushed out. Otherwise she has no issues with her teeth. But if you ask her about it, she will tell you she is still mad at our dad for being a dead-beat dad because in her words, "If he'd done what he was supposed to do, I could've gotten my teeth fixed."

 

Bear in mind this is said from a very vain pov. She's absolutely gorgeous but wants to look "perfect". I love her to pieces but it's the truth.

 

On my side of things, I would do what it took to make sure my kids' teeth were fixed if there were problems with their bite, buck teeth, severely crooked... My oldest will be getting them for these reasons. If they were just slighly crooked, I'd probably tell her if she wants them fixed badly enough, she can do that when she grows up.