Orthodonticts - did we get scammed?

[Anonymous]

OP this is two-phase orthodontics - you take on the procedures in those early years in the knowledge you may well have to go through it all again.

It's a pointless exercise in most cases - people do it out of vanity and it's a costly exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per my daughter's pediatric dentist, orthodontia is needed in children that don't have adult teeth, when the problems are structural, such as bite correction. For everything else, she recommends waiting until all the baby teeth are out.

This makes logical sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many orthodontist did you consult? Paediatric orthodontists? I took my son to 4 different ones as I was getting very varied advice. You can’t undo the past but you can make sure you consult widely now.

+1

[Anonymous]

Our dentist is the one who referred us to an orthodontist and we saw three. One recommended pulling teeth to make room for the permanent teeth coming in, the other two recommended Phase 1 braces to line things up in order to make room for the permanent teeth. All three made it clear that DD would need braces as a teen no matter what. The dentist said recommended against pulling teeth and getting braces instead.

I figured that was a good recommendation because she would have been paid more for pulling the teeth than for whatever kickback she'd get from an orthodontist anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per my daughter's pediatric dentist, orthodontia is needed in children that don't have adult teeth, when the problems are structural, such as bite correction. For everything else, she recommends waiting until all the baby teeth are out.

We got the same advice. Our 11 year old has all her adult teeth, so we started braces last week. Both orthodontists and our pediatric dentist agreed the braces shouldn’t be done until all adult teeth are fully in. Palate expanders start earlier.

Op, I’d be extremely upset.

[Anonymous]

Generally if you start earlier and do the two phases, it’s less painful and typically requires fewer interventions like removing teeth. My kids’ experience has been much better than mine in the 90s when everyone was waiting until adult teeth were in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per my daughter's pediatric dentist, orthodontia is needed in children that don't have adult teeth, when the problems are structural, such as bite correction. For everything else, she recommends waiting until all the baby teeth are out.

Yes, our dentist recommend we wait until DD lost all her baby teeth. The last one came about a few months ago and she’s getting her expander (Mara appliance) now at 13.5. Should should be done in 2 years. We are late teeth losers in our family, some kids lose all their teeth earlier, but not 9!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think $10knos pretty standard in UMC areas for playdate expander, braces, etc.

NO IT IS NOT!

That's how much we are paying. Half of DC's school goes to this practice so I'd say it's standard in our immediate area.

[Anonymous]

my son's two front teeth came about totally wrong - it looked hideous. We had phase one done when he was 7/8. We have delta dental and our portion was $500. worth every penny - and it maybe took 6-9 months? At 10.5 still looks great. We will evaluate for phase 2 at 12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally if you start earlier and do the two phases, it’s less painful and typically requires fewer interventions like removing teeth. My kids’ experience has been much better than mine in the 90s when everyone was waiting until adult teeth were in.

OP here. My DH and I both had multiple teeth pulled as a child before braces. The orthodonist told us phase one was to avoid that. DD does have fairly large teeth, like I do. Still I don't understand doing all of that work and spending all of that money to end up with crooked teeth at 14. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20

[Anonymous]

Two phases was a gift for my daughter…it fixed her two front teeth so others could come in correctly. It would have been a LOT trickier to wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally if you start earlier and do the two phases, it’s less painful and typically requires fewer interventions like removing teeth. My kids’ experience has been much better than mine in the 90s when everyone was waiting until adult teeth were in.

OP here. My DH and I both had multiple teeth pulled as a child before braces. The orthodonist told us phase one was to avoid that. DD does have fairly large teeth, like I do. Still I don't understand doing all of that work and spending all of that money to end up with crooked teeth at 14. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20

My kids have fairly large teeth like my husband, they both did Phase I and II and neither one had to get any teeth pulled out like my husband did.

We paid less than 6K for each kids for both phases.

I love their big smiles!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally if you start earlier and do the two phases, it’s less painful and typically requires fewer interventions like removing teeth. My kids’ experience has been much better than mine in the 90s when everyone was waiting until adult teeth were in.

OP here. My DH and I both had multiple teeth pulled as a child before braces. The orthodonist told us phase one was to avoid that. DD does have fairly large teeth, like I do. Still I don't understand doing all of that work and spending all of that money to end up with crooked teeth at 14. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20

So you would prefer that she had more extractions and more pain? Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally if you start earlier and do the two phases, it’s less painful and typically requires fewer interventions like removing teeth. My kids’ experience has been much better than mine in the 90s when everyone was waiting until adult teeth were in.

OP here. My DH and I both had multiple teeth pulled as a child before braces. The orthodonist told us phase one was to avoid that. DD does have fairly large teeth, like I do. Still I don't understand doing all of that work and spending all of that money to end up with crooked teeth at 14. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20

So you would prefer that she had more extractions and more pain? Weird.

No no of course not. I was just trying to make myself feel better by saying “oh yeah maybe it was that because she has big teeth like us maybe she would have needed extractions otherwise.” But the ortho never told us that or that she may need round 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think $10knos pretty standard in UMC areas for playdate expander, braces, etc.

NO IT IS NOT!

Agree. That’s crazy.