Trilliumlady Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Taking the two oldest (9 and 7) to an ortho consult today based on dentist recommendations. What questions do you wish you would have asked your ortho, or what are you glad you asked? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) What are they going for? 7 seems young for braces. If it isn't braces I don't know what questions you should be asking specifically but I would shop around and make sure you compare apples to apples. If it is braces I would be questioning why a 7 year old needs them and be certain that they really do. You may find yourself paying for them twice as the teeth come in. There is a trend here to put braces on kids really early but most of the families I know that went that route ended up having to pay for braces again when the child was older. Sometimes it really is necessary but definitely find out WHY and confirm this is something that can't wait until their permanent teeth have come in. Edited January 18, 2017 by OneStepAtATime 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 You can ask what are they correcting and how long wil the treatment be for. What are some likely consequences if they are not corrected and how will doi know that the treatment is working. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthwestMom Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Make sure you are very clear about what days and times they are open for appointments. Most orthodontists around here only work 2-3 days per week, usually not Saturday (and they spend the other weekdays at a different office). When we were homeschooling it was easy to do an appointment at 10am. If your kids go into school, it's a LOT harder. When my youngest needs braces we are going to really seek out an ortho with Saturday hours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgo95 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) Also, visit a few more orthodontists to get a better picture of what to do and how much is reasonable to pay. If they take x-rays or pictures, ask to have a copy of those so you can visit other offices without redoing that each time. Edited January 18, 2017 by sgo95 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Yes definitely look at multiple orthodontal offices. I found services/hours of operation/cancellation policies/cost varied VERY widely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 I would ask what would happen if you waited until all their permanent teeth came in. Sometimes, the expanders need to go in while younger before that upper palate solidifies more. I had one wait until he was a teen before he got braces and one who had a palate expander when he was 9(?). He hasn't needed braces since nor does it look like he'll need them. My youngest has a cleft lip/palate so she was an orthodontist's road to a beach house[emoji12]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Cost and payment plan policies would be my first questions. In network with insurance? Scheduling/hours, cancelation policies I highly recommend asking around your social circle for recemmendations. I love our ortho, he was my own and has an excellent repuation. If I was considering that I wasn't familiar with, I'd be asking everyone I could think of for opinions. You will be spending a lot of time in this office over the course of years, so it's important to choose carefully. They do seem really young for a consult, but it's probably a good idea to have a plan in place. We had a very informal consult for my 11 year old while we were there with DD and we can't do anything until he loses several more teeth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage81 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 The dentist recommended my 8 year old start braces. He was going to do it himself (he did not send me to an orthodontist). I didn't know this at the time, but there are two phases of braces that can be done. Phase 1, which is done at this younger age, helps space things out and make room for adult teeth to come in. Since this was unfamiliar to me, I opted to get a second opinion, and took her to an orthodontist. The ortho said she didn't need braces yet, but he'd check again in a year. I'm glad I went to the orthodontist and didn't let the dentist move forward with the braces. Phase 1 braces can be really helpful to some children, but not all. Most still end up needing Phase 2, so it can be costly. My main question to the ortho would be if it's really necessary at this time. The ortho I saw let me know that he's very conservative and doesn't do Phase 1 unless absolutely necessary. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 I would tread carefully on the 2 phase marketing unless your child has some fairly severe issues too. Ours offers a significant discount for payment all up front (5%) so it's good to know up front what all the payment options are and if you have dental insurance what that might cover. You can pay yours out with the remaining discounted at any time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 What are they going for? 7 seems young for braces. If it isn't braces I don't know what questions you should be asking specifically but I would shop around and make sure you compare apples to apples. If it is braces I would be questioning why a 7 year old needs them and be certain that they really do. You may find yourself paying for them twice as the teeth come in. There is a trend here to put braces on kids really early but most of the families I know that went that route ended up having to pay for braces again when the child was older. Sometimes it really is necessary but definitely find out WHY and confirm this is something that can't wait until their permanent teeth have come in. One of mine began at 7 and it really was necessary, as it turned out. This saved more drastic work later, and it helped that she already had an adult-sized mouth at the time. But I agree that sometimes, it is just too early. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliumlady Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 All very helpful, thanks. So a bit more info since I didn't have time to give that this morning. DD8 almost nine has had spacing problems since four or so, very tight teeth. Her bottom four adult teeth came in and were quite crowded so last summer had two bottom and two top baby teeth pulled to make room for those to straighten out (same problem was appearing on top). Since then, the squashed bottom four have straigtened somewhat but unfortunately the space that was created is now about an eighth of an inch wide, clearly not room for the adult teeth to move into without causing the same squashing again, and again, etc.... this possibility has been noticed and watched since she was about four. She has a narrow mouth and palate. Today ortho agreed with dentists (two we have had) that options would be to 1. Keep pulling baby teeth to make room for incoming adult teeth or 2. Start anytime with a palate expander to make mouth wider and allow space. Says this is about a twelve month process. He guesses she might need braces in the future anyway but recommends starting with this. DS7 has been noted to have quite an underbite with a "class three occlusion"(?) for a couple years now as well and we have just been waiting to see what pans out. He has no problems with spacing. Ortho today recommended waiting for another year or so and then highly recommended getting a head gear (not quite like what I rmembr from my generation, thankfully) and needing braces on top four teeth to attach device to for nightly sleeping in an attempt to correct offset jaw and underbite at same time. I am fine with getting work done if it is necessary for future comfort and speech ability but unless teeth are really bad visually would lean more on the conservative side of things. Anyone with experience with either of these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Get multiple opinions. A lot are moving away from putting braces on young unless it is very severe. For my DS- our orthodontist will not do braces for young kids unless it is very severe. DS had severe crowding issues and we waited until all the baby teeth had come out. He has had 4 adult teeth removed and is now a year in his braces. I am very happy with the results so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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