Frenectomy -- Braces

[Anonymous]

This is such an odd post. You clearly don't want to do it and feel justified in not wanting to do it ... so why ask for people's opinions?!

IMO any gap is an opportunity for teeth to move. I speak from experience -- eventually the bite will get messed up. In my case my bite got so off that I was breaking the crowns on my molars repeatedly. I now have Invisalign to realign my bite and fix the problem.

So it can be a dental issue too, not just a cosmetic one. Anyway, do what you want but don't come here asking for advice and then be scornful of people's responses! Cheez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such an odd post. You clearly don't want to do it and feel justified in not wanting to do it ... so why ask for people's opinions?!

IMO any gap is an opportunity for teeth to move. I speak from experience -- eventually the bite will get messed up. In my case my bite got so off that I was breaking the crowns on my molars repeatedly. I now have Invisalign to realign my bite and fix the problem.

So it can be a dental issue too, not just a cosmetic one. Anyway, do what you want but don't come here asking for advice and then be scornful of people's responses! Cheez.

OP here and you are tripping. I asked for opinions and that is what I got. People kept posting that if I had taken care of it when my kid was a baby then DC would not have had the gap. I kept saying the braces were not the reason my kid has braces(crossbite, etc.) a number of other issues.
And I just kept trying to explain that. I even put smiley faces after my responses. The only poster who is acting a butt and igniting my ire is you. Everyone else was respectful and generally helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such an odd post. You clearly don't want to do it and feel justified in not wanting to do it ... so why ask for people's opinions?!

IMO any gap is an opportunity for teeth to move. I speak from experience -- eventually the bite will get messed up. In my case my bite got so off that I was breaking the crowns on my molars repeatedly. I now have Invisalign to realign my bite and fix the problem.

So it can be a dental issue too, not just a cosmetic one. Anyway, do what you want but don't come here asking for advice and then be scornful of people's responses! Cheez.

OP here and you are tripping. I asked for opinions and that is what I got. People kept posting that if I had taken care of it when my kid was a baby then DC would not have had the gap. I kept saying the braces were not the reason my kid has braces(crossbite, etc.) a number of other issues.
And I just kept trying to explain that. I even put smiley faces after my responses. The only poster who is acting a butt and igniting my ire is you. Everyone else was respectful and generally helpful.

OP, I don't think you have a very realistic idea of the way your posts come across. And the smiley faces don't help, FYI.

[Anonymous]

I had this done around 2nd grade in a regular rural dentist's office. I remember it being painful (I think it was the novacaine shots in the roof of my mouth). That was almost 40 yrs ago and I remember it.

My son has a low membrane as well. He also has DH's gap... pretty big. I've asked the dentist many times about cutting it and she always says they don't do it routinely anymore. She's a very experienced pediatric dentist -- not an orthodontist -- so I can't say how it will affect braces.

PP is right -- it's not "surgery" like real surgery. It's more of a "procedure." If the braces are going to irritate it by rubbing on it, then it probably has to be done.

You really don't want the gap longterm. Fix it.

FWIW -- whatever gap I had as a kid closed naturally. No braces. Don't know if it was the procedure or just the way my teeth fit together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had this done around 2nd grade in a regular rural dentist's office. I remember it being painful (I think it was the novacaine shots in the roof of my mouth). That was almost 40 yrs ago and I remember it.

My son has a low membrane as well. He also has DH's gap... pretty big. I've asked the dentist many times about cutting it and she always says they don't do it routinely anymore. She's a very experienced pediatric dentist -- not an orthodontist -- so I can't say how it will affect braces.

PP is right -- it's not "surgery" like real surgery. It's more of a "procedure." If the braces are going to irritate it by rubbing on it, then it probably has to be done.

You really don't want the gap longterm. Fix it.

FWIW -- whatever gap I had as a kid closed naturally. No braces. Don't know if it was the procedure or just the way my teeth fit together.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You might not have needed braces if you would have done it as a baby.

Yes, I had it done with both my sons (who also had tongue ties corrected), because I didn't want it to mess up their teeth (and also because they were having trouble nursing)

NP here. It's not always caught as a baby. My son had trouble nursing. An LC and a pediatric physical therapist examined my son (multiple times) to check for any facial and mouth problems that might be causing the latching issues, and they found nothing. I didn't even notice the attached frenulum until DS was over a year old. At that time, the doctor told me to wait until it was time for braces to have it fixed. It wasn't until later that I learned it would have been best to have it fixed as a baby.

OP, my son is 3yo, and I have been wondering whether this upper lip tie will cause problems between now and braces (other than a gap). Have your kids had speech issues? Any other problems?

[Anonymous]

In the same boat! My DS had a gap as my DH does. It was a simple procedure and we got it done. There is no gap now but he might still need braces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You might not have needed braces if you would have done it as a baby.

Yes, I had it done with both my sons (who also had tongue ties corrected), because I didn't want it to mess up their teeth (and also because they were having trouble nursing)

NP here. It's not always caught as a baby. My son had trouble nursing. An LC and a pediatric physical therapist examined my son (multiple times) to check for any facial and mouth problems that might be causing the latching issues, and they found nothing. I didn't even notice the attached frenulum until DS was over a year old. At that time, the doctor told me to wait until it was time for braces to have it fixed. It wasn't until later that I learned it would have been best to have it fixed as a baby.

OP, my son is 3yo, and I have been wondering whether this upper lip tie will cause problems between now and braces (other than a gap). Have your kids had speech issues? Any other problems?

No speech issues

[Anonymous]

I had this done when I was about 8yo, then subsequently had braces. It's looking though one of my DCs will need this done, too. Curious: what is the cost of a frenectomy and is it coverd (if braces are not covered)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had this done when I was about 8yo, then subsequently had braces. It's looking though one of my DCs will need this done, too. Curious: what is the cost of a frenectomy and is it coverd (if braces are not covered)?

Do not know the cost of the frenectomy as yet -- already well under way with the braces (over 5 grand -- partially covered by insurance)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had this done when I was about 8yo, then subsequently had braces. It's looking though one of my DCs will need this done, too. Curious: what is the cost of a frenectomy and is it coverd (if braces are not covered)?

Do not know the cost of the frenectomy as yet -- already well under way with the braces (over 5 grand -- partially covered by insurance)

I have read that this is the right way to do things (opposite to how things were done in my case). That is, have the bite corrected with braces first and then follow-up with the frenectomy to keep things from shifting. It has to do with ensuring that the gap is fixed without creating too much open space at the top.

[Anonymous]

20:33 here again -- just talked to our ped. dentist today about this. She said the reason they don't do the frenectomy first any more is b/c they believe it can cause scar tissue and therefore make it harder for braces to push the teeth together. They believe that as teeth come in (whether by new teeth pushing middle teeth together or by braces pushing middle teeth together), the frenulum may atrophy and the surgery might not be needed. IF it is needed, they would do it after braces. (That's the current view according to ped. dentist.)

[Anonymous]

Very interesting post as one of our daughter's youngest child ended up having a tongue tie that was not caught at birth, but she noticed it a couple of months later as a pediatric PT, and he had it done. It can definitely interfere with speech issues in some children. Then a friend's daughter just had a baby and he was found to have two ties and it was taken care of shortly after birth within the first week or so. The doctors told her in the hospital that per cent of young babies being born with this condition has really grown and they are not sure why. In the young baby it can making the nursing difficult. Why one would not have this addressed as a baby I am not quite sure because if left in place it can change the alignment of the mouth structure.

[Anonymous]

My Dh and his brother both had the gap. They were 16 and 14 when they got braces. My dh opted for the frenectomy and his brother (terrified of medical procedures) refused. My dh does not have a gap now, but his brothers gap reappeared after the braces came off.

[Anonymous]

Someone had asked how much it is. I had a friend do it for $250 ( not covered by her insurance) and another paid $0 as it was covered by insurance