Are braces worth it?

[Anonymous]

My son is 12 now and looks like he lost one of his tooth too early and another tooth has moved in a place that won't allow enough space for the adult tooth to come in. The main concern here is that the adult tooth starts growing in, towards the pallet and would have to take additional steps to treat that if we don't get something done in the next year.

We went to 2 orthos, both reputable and popular in our area.

1) suggested a treatment just to stretch out the space for tooth to come in...about $5,250. Would do an attachment, modified braces just for one side of mouth. Pros: only really working on that one area of teeth, and will be less cumbersome than doing all braces. Downside: rest of his teeth won't be "picture perfect" but simply mitigate a bad tooth impact situation. Prob an 12-16 month placement. Basically to stretch and just keep that there till actual tooth comes in.

2) suggested full treatment of all teeth, top and bottom braces...about $6,400. pros: will have perfect teeth when he's older. Downside: retainers for life (I know, this is what we need to do to make sure all this work is kept in place). Will take about 24-30 months total.

I won't have insurance as I've already used it on prior palate expander treatment, but this isn't the main concern. I'm tempted to get a 3rd consult to see what they might suggest.

I honestly don't mind having slightly imperfect teeth on my son. 95% of his teeth are fine...not perfect, but nothing crazy looking. It just sounds miserable to me to do option 2 when his main problem is that one tooth.

What do you all think? The thought of having to "wear a retainer for the rest of his life" was stressing my son out at the office.

[Anonymous]

This is what happened to my two older kids and many other kids I know. They are not wearing their retainers for life, because when you are in college, you have other priorities. As a result, their teeth are not perfect, and, absent some major problem that needed to be fixed, are probably exactly where they would have been without the expense and pain of braces.

Bottom line, for my youngest, I won't do the braces unless she begs me for it. In your case, I would opt for the partial treatment.

[Anonymous]

I would do full treatment. You don't need to wear the retainers for life. No one does. If he wears them until he is 100% done growing, so for men, probably early 20s, that is good enough. Sure there will be some mild shifting, but his teeth will be mostly straight and perfect.

I had braces from 10-12, probably wore my retainers until college (had been done growing by 14). I'm 38 and my teeth are pretty close to perfect. The shifting has been very subtle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is 12 now and looks like he lost one of his tooth too early and another tooth has moved in a place that won't allow enough space for the adult tooth to come in. The main concern here is that the adult tooth starts growing in, towards the pallet and would have to take additional steps to treat that if we don't get something done in the next year.

We went to 2 orthos, both reputable and popular in our area.

1) suggested a treatment just to stretch out the space for tooth to come in...about $5,250. Would do an attachment, modified braces just for one side of mouth. Pros: only really working on that one area of teeth, and will be less cumbersome than doing all braces. Downside: rest of his teeth won't be "picture perfect" but simply mitigate a bad tooth impact situation. Prob an 12-16 month placement. Basically to stretch and just keep that there till actual tooth comes in.

2) suggested full treatment of all teeth, top and bottom braces...about $6,400. pros: will have perfect teeth when he's older. Downside: retainers for life (I know, this is what we need to do to make sure all this work is kept in place). Will take about 24-30 months total.

I won't have insurance as I've already used it on prior palate expander treatment, but this isn't the main concern. I'm tempted to get a 3rd consult to see what they might suggest.

I honestly don't mind having slightly imperfect teeth on my son. 95% of his teeth are fine...not perfect, but nothing crazy looking. It just sounds miserable to me to do option 2 when his main problem is that one tooth.

What do you all think? The thought of having to "wear a retainer for the rest of his life" was stressing my son out at the office.

Please keep in mind that many orthodontic issues cannot be treated later in life without jaw surgery so I wouldn't put it off. And once those issues are fixed in childhood, the shifting of teeth that happens later in life from not wearing your retainer can be corrected with Invisalign or similar appliances.

[Anonymous]

DS went full set, around $11,000.

Looking at through old photos, (ours, not the orth) you can realize the difference of how his mouth looks, and profile how his upper lip sits...hard to explain but it amazes me what a difference it is on his face (and I too thought, does he really NEED braces?)

Re the retainers for life, DS has "permanent" retainer wires cemented onto his teeth on the inside, so you cannot see them but they are there doing the work. Also wears an upper retainer to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what happened to my two older kids and many other kids I know. They are not wearing their retainers for life, because when you are in college, you have other priorities. As a result, their teeth are not perfect, and, absent some major problem that needed to be fixed, are probably exactly where they would have been without the expense and pain of braces.

Bottom line, for my youngest, I won't do the braces unless she begs me for it. In your case, I would opt for the partial treatment.

I had to have a second round of orthodontic treatment in my 30s despite orthodontics in my teens because I didn’t take care of things in my 20s.

[Anonymous]

If I went to the trouble of wearing braces for a year and a half, I would want straight teeth at the end of it. Retainers for life is not the problem. Adjusting to the retainers the first month is the hardest part. Once you are used to them, it's not a big deal, except for having to keep them clean. Braces are enough of a pain that if you are going to go through all of that, it's worth it to have the whole mouth done. If his teeth aren't that bad, perhaps it won't be that painful of an experience and might not take as long. Still, having to adjust to a whole mouth of braces is going to be much more of a pain than part of his mouth. Really, either choice has its advantages. If he's a big baby and his teeth aren't that bad and you are rich and he doesn't mind imperfect teeth, then pick the partial braces. If you want your money's worth and for him to be happy at the end and he's tolerant of having his mouth worked on, then pick the full set.

I just had braces. It cost $2000 more than they said it would, and took 6 months longer than they said it would. Two dentists told me I needed surgery, which I didn't actually need. IMO, getting braces can improve your happiness 33%, but you are in a foul mood one week a month for 3 years.

Not all cases can be improved by Invisalign either. If you go with the partial braces, he could try to get Invisalign later if he's not happy, assuming his teeth aren't that bad.

[Anonymous]

Someone in my family had an adult tooth that never came in. Had brutal oral surgery as an adult to bring the took down. Process took forever. Apparently this can be a genetic thing. My child’s teeth looked to have the same problem diagnosed via X-ray. Had oral surgery and and braces to create space. The tooth and is close to in place within 7 months. Does anyone in your family have these types of problems? If so I would fix it now, needing it as an adult is much more slow and painful.

[Anonymous]

OP my kids both have complicated teeth arrangements but we found doing braces (or in our case, Invisalyn) was really effective and helped them feel more confident.

I had train tracks for 2 years in middle school and would have loved to have the invislyn alternative but I'm ancient and it didn't exist then.

[Anonymous]

Get 4-6 different opinions. We did and they greatly varied. No question we will do it younger/teens as it gets much harder to fix as they get older. We just did two and were told two wait till all the teeth were out/replaced.

[Anonymous]

I am surprised anyone would not consider getting their kids braces if they had the financial means. Sadly, people with bad teeth are judged in adulthood. It's just how it is. You can't control if your kids wears the retainer but you can give them the benefit of nice teeth.

[Anonymous]

Get a third opinion. 12 is still young.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it's a social status issue. One DC didn't have many teeth out of alignment, but we still went ahead and did braces (only 18 months worth) for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a third opinion. 12 is still young.

12 is the normal age to get braces

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a third opinion. 12 is still young.

12 is the normal age to get braces

My 12 yo will get her braces off this year. Things are different now.