Has anyone taken young (6,8)children to the ortho?

[jail warden]

My children's teeth are jammed together. The dentist has recommended taking them to an ortho and doing spacers to help their jaw grow more. Supposedly this would help make so they wouldn't have to have braces as long. Is this worth it? Do you wish you would have done it and didn't OR did you do it and wish you hadn't? Will this save us cost in the long run, or will it cost more this way? I'm really confused. I knew they would have to have braces, but I always thought you needed to wait until all the teeth were in. Please any and all thoughts are appreciated.

[Chris in VA]

Our ds16 had Stage One braces when he was 8. They widened his palate with a palate extender (fits on the roof of the mouth and you turn a little key in it to gradually force the palate to widen), put braces on to turn a twisted front tooth, and made some space for other teeth to drop in. Unfortunately, we didn't have the $ to continue his care, and couldn't complete his Stage 2 treatment. Darn insurance!

So, I have heard of the two-stage treatment. Funny, tho, because it's not recommended for my daughter--Ortho said they don't do it very often in this part of the country (we had moved from Dallas).

You can usually take your child to an ortho for a free consultation. They can take x-rays FOC and give you a plan for treatment. Then you can discuss your particular case and get advice.

[Claire]

I should have had this as a child to extend my lower jaw so its growth would have matched my upper jaw. When children are young, the appliances can stimulate and correct jaw growth. This can have a profound effect on the bite later on.

[Jennifer in MI]

We took our older two in when they were around 7 for the initial consult. My oldest had a cross bite and it was causing major problems with his teeth. (His bottom teeth were chipping his top ones when he chewed.) So, he had braces when he was 8. He will need them again when he's older.

 

My 10 yo has been seen since he was 7 or so. He goes in every six months and they look in his mouth and send us on our merry way! They're waiting for him to lose more teeth. But, this has cost us nothing yet.

 

I'm assuming that my now-7 yo will be sent in soon. We'll take him for the initial consult and make decisions from there.

 

There's no harm in going and asking the questions! You can go and get second and third opinions and find an ortho you are comfortable with. Our consults were free.

 

Good luck!

[Ria]

My youngest son has been seeing the orthodontist since he was 6. His teeth were so crowded that the only option for us was to do what is called "serial extraction." Over a period of years, he will have 12 teeth removed; 8 baby teeth and 4 permanant teeth. Right now he's had the first 8 done, and we're waiting for the 4 permanant teeth to come in so they can be removed. Once that's done he should have enough space for the remaining teeth. Even a palate expander wouldn't have helped this child!

 

Anyway, we are hoping to avoid braces with him. I'm very glad we saw the ortho early on. I have other boys who have also had early treatment for what is known as an open bite.

 

Ria

[Tracey in TX]

We've taken all of our kiddos to ortho. Two had braces or retainer already, and two more are expecting to take the plunge this year.

Depending on the issue, having braces as a young child will shorten treatment time, *may* cost less, and have a longer lasting result.

 

DS will have two sets of braces (first in 2nd grade), second time in early teens. DD had a retainer (1st grade) and will be getting braces in the next year. It's expensive, but I'd rather have a healthy mouth with a beautiful smile now than to have them redo it in two or three decades.

[Frontier Mom]

My youngest is currently in Stage 1 as we are extending her jaw as others mentioned. She also had two extra permanent front teeth which made her front teeth come in crooked.

 

She gets her braces installed on St. Patrick's Day. Since her bottom teeth are straight, she might not need Stage 2.

 

My oldest and second son had the extension also. Seems this bite problem runs in the family. My oldest went directly into Stage 2 and is now finished at 13. His teeth are beautiful. He doesn't appreciate me saying that so much since he is a boy but I know he will later. He was able to go directly into 2 because all his permanent teeth were in 2 years ahead of schedule.

 

My second son will definitely have to have Stage 2 but waiting on his permanent teeth to all come in.

 

All this to say, I would have an evaluation. A reputable Orthodontist shouldn't charge for this and then you can evaluate your options. As per my prior post, I am having mine put on personally in two days because of crowding and wear. I had braces as a youngster but back then we weren't told to wear our retainers forever!! Too bad....

[Elisabeth in IL]

My ds, now 10, had an expander. It was amazing to watch his front teeth straighten even without braces. We are currently waiting for all his adult teeth to come in to get his full set of braces. Expanding his palate has helped his breathing.

[Kendra]

My 8yo has an expander because her dentist daddy doesn't like extractions intended to create space. I kinda trust the guy :D

[ccm]

Three cheers for the Hive Mind! I came on to give advice from a dental professional and, once again, the Hive Mind has the correct answers. Bravo! :D

 

Cyrena

[Barb_]

Why is it that I have straight teeth--no braces--and everyone in my family has straight teeth (brother, mom, dad, grandparents, etc), but my children's teeth all grew in like those hillbilly teeth you can by at the Shell station? Adding insult to injury, my mom's people are actual hillbillies!

 

I blame my husband.

 

Barb

[jail warden]

The ONE thing I wanted my children to inherit from me! Not my quick temper, not my sarcasm, just my beautiful teeth!!!:(

[jail warden]

I have no experience in this area and don't want to be gullible and just do whatever I'm told. But, I want to do what's right for our children. We'll go to the consultation, now just praying that we can afford to do this.:(

[Barb_]

I have no experience in this area and don't want to be gullible and just do whatever I'm told. But, I want to do what's right for our children. We'll go to the consultation, now just praying that we can afford to do this.:(

 

Well, be encouraged. Stage one costs considerably less than stage two and gives you some time to get used to (and save up for) the big hit that stage two will be. Don't feel compelled to begin treatment right away. Unless there is considerable wearing of the teeth, a palate expander can be done any time before full growth is reached, although ideally before or during the puberty growth spurt. My kids have never done expanders before age 10 or so and they've had terrific results. If you need some time to wait and save up...take it!

 

Another piece of advice--look for a second or even third opinion. You may as well be marrying an orthodontist for all the time you will spend in the office. Be sure you feel respected, unrushed, and appreciated. It is important that you not only like the ortho, but the office staff as well. I learned my lesson with my oldest. I *hated* the office but didn't realize how much time we'd be spending together. What an 18 month nightmare. I had much happier experiences with my next two daughters' orthos (in different states). But if I'd gone with the first ortho I'd visited in either case, I would have had very different experiences.

 

Good luck!

Barb

[mcconnellboys]

Yes, my younger son had to have this done in order to allow some of his teeth to even erupt, his were so jammed together. They just removed the piece today and he will have a break until he begins to grow, then will go into braces. I think more and more children have very small mouths these days and this sort of treatment is more needed than it was once upon a time.

 

Regena

[KarenC]

She is a tiny person and had very crowded teeth. The lip bumper was removed after about 1 and a half years. She got braces on the top teeth and has had those for almost 2 years now. She is 9 now and we are not sure if/when she will need additional work. But, the difference in her teeth has been amazing! We are very glad we started early.

 

Karen

[LisaKinVA]

Took in my 8yo for a consult. Overall, nothing much to worry about. He is missing only one adult 2yr molar - so we're going to have a sealant applied to that baby tooth, because it's a keeper for at least 15 years or so.

 

Got back, and my 6yo dd tells me she feels a new "bump" on her gum, and is it her new tooth? She opens wide and my excitement turns to dread. Her new tooth is coming in behind two front baby teeth... I know we have 3 extractions coming in the near future (next couple of weeks). And probably many more!

 

After the dentist does his thing, he'll make his reccommendations of whether to take her to the ortho too.

 

Mouth issues run huge in both my dh and my families. On dh side, it's just the teeth too big for the jaw... on my side we've got everything from missing 9 teeth (me) to teeth too big for jaw, underbite and severe overbite.

 

We will have a consult for each child. Got off "easy" with my son... looks like my dd will make up for that. And, we still have 2 to go -- and it's too early to tell for them!

 

I just don't want them to be facing 40 in braces and reconstructing their mouth after a botched job... or worse! We're going to be proactive on the tooth thing. (We figured out that the reconstruction on my mouth costs more than our high-mid-range mini-van :eek:)

[Catherine]

Youngest ds when he was 6, because of a marked underbite. For the older, he recommended extracting his remaining baby teeth, up through the incisors, and it has been a wonder-he has perfectly aligned straight teeth now. No room for new incisors, but we will deal with that when the time comes. Younger ds he just recommended wating and seeing, but he said honestly, he might need surgery (jaw reconstruction-yikes!) when he is fully grown. I am very happy with the advice we've gotten so far.

[HomeOnTheRanch]

Our dentist's office does ortho. They did all the initial x-rays for DS (now 14) a few years ago. When we went in for the consult they said they didn't know what to do with his mouth and sent us to another ortho in town. That ortho wants to wait and see what DS's teeth are going to do, but meanwhile, let's take a look at the other kids' teeth.

 

DS14 has a hereditary condition where one of his baby teeth has no adult tooth under it. DH and DH's grandmother (deceased) both have/had this condition. We wish him to keep this tooth, but ortho is afraid it might come out on its own later. I am amazed at how much his teeth have improved on their own. He will need work, definitely, but it is much better.

 

DS10 went in for phase I about 10 months ago. DONE. Retainers will be picked up tomorrow. He had headgear and braces on his front teeth. After the rest of his teeth come in we'll see what needs to be done.

 

DS8 has problems. We're still in the wait-and-see mode for him.

 

DDalmost6 will probably have a palate expander put in within the next 6 months.

 

We probably wouldn't have taken the younger kids in on their own, but since we were already there for the oldest, it was no big deal. No cost so far except for the 10yo.

 

DH and I both have nice looking mouths, but we both had extensive work (surgery) done. We joke that in addition to pre-marital counseling we should have exchanged childhood dental x-rays!

[Amy in Orlando]

Great advice here - I second getting a second AND third opinion. I could not believe the difference between orthodontists. It's worth the time and hassle - especially when the kids are young. Find someone you truly like and trust.

[Laura Corin]

For what it's worth - we saw two different dentists about Calvin's teeth. One said that he should have his jaw expanded. The other said that he didn't believe in this procedure in most cases because it actually alters the shape of the face (more, he said, than having teeth extracted later). Just another thought.

 

Laura