Orthodonticts - did we get scammed?

[Anonymous]

OP, did you get multiple consultations initially?

[Anonymous]

Your orthodontist should have referred to a myofunctional therapist to address the poor oral resting posture that caused the crooked teeth in the first place, and to address (I assume) a mouth breathing habit. I highly recommend finding a dentist who will do these things, otherwise even a second round of orthodontics will relapse and she will eventually end up with crooked teeth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This may be true in some cases, but not all. If your kid has ectopic canines, they may need phase one to avoid losing their permanent front teeth. (If left to their own devices, the canines can drill into neighboring adult teeth and kill the root.) A palate expander and two sets of braces is a dream compare to what awaits you if you let it go untreated. (Loss of permanent adult teeth, surgical exposure of the canine, use of a metal chain to yank it back into place.)

[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 was our experience. Kid #1 got braces after adult teeth (middle school age), the usual 11/2 to 2 year process. She definitely needed them.

Kid #2, who was a thumbsucker until age 7, got the palate expander at that age and did not need braces when she was older (we had the option of doing it for cosmetic purposes, but she declined and I was fine with the decision. )

Both kids had the same dentist and saw the same orthodontist, so the advice we got was tailored to each kid's situation and needs.

I think a second opinion would be a wise choice for the OP.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think it’s a scam, or if it is, we’re all getting scammed because I think a phase 1 and a phase 2 are very typical now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a scam, or if it is, we’re all getting scammed because I think a phase 1 and a phase 2 are very typical now.

+1 Agree.

She might have gotten "scammed" for paying 10K but not for requiring Phase I and Phase II.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your orthodontist should have referred to a myofunctional therapist to address the poor oral resting posture that caused the crooked teeth in the first place, and to address (I assume) a mouth breathing habit. I highly recommend finding a dentist who will do these things, otherwise even a second round of orthodontics will relapse and she will eventually end up with crooked teeth.

That crap is a scam. I am a dentist and my daughter needed braces, and I knew exactly what she needed. One ortho wanted to send us to a myofacial therapist to fix my daughters tongue thrust. Funny, because she didn’t have one. I said no thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your orthodontist should have referred to a myofunctional therapist to address the poor oral resting posture that caused the crooked teeth in the first place, and to address (I assume) a mouth breathing habit. I highly recommend finding a dentist who will do these things, otherwise even a second round of orthodontics will relapse and she will eventually end up with crooked teeth.

That crap is a scam. I am a dentist and my daughter needed braces, and I knew exactly what she needed. One ortho wanted to send us to a myofacial therapist to fix my daughters tongue thrust. Funny, because she didn’t have one. I said no thanks.

Did they know you were a dentist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a scam, or if it is, we’re all getting scammed because I think a phase 1 and a phase 2 are very typical now.

You are all getting scammed. There have been several long-term, peer-reviewed published studies that find no benefit to 2-phase orthodontics. People need to get multiple consultations and ask each ortho about this. Their answers will be revealing.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31562403/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588783/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a scam, or if it is, we’re all getting scammed because I think a phase 1 and a phase 2 are very typical now.

Well yes, it’s a scam for the majority.

[Anonymous]

My 13.5 year old just got his 2nd round of braces off and his teeth are beautiful. We did do an 8 month early round in 2nd grade. He lost his upper front teeth and when they started to grow in they were coming in with an underbite. I]they put the braces on the top teeth and bite elevators on. It was fixed in 3-4 weeks (!) and the orthodontist just kept the top braces on to line up the teeth. He had pretty straight teeth after that and only wore his braces the second time for about 13 months. For us, it wasn’t a scam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 13.5 year old just got his 2nd round of braces off and his teeth are beautiful. We did do an 8 month early round in 2nd grade. He lost his upper front teeth and when they started to grow in they were coming in with an underbite. I]they put the braces on the top teeth and bite elevators on. It was fixed in 3-4 weeks (!) and the orthodontist just kept the top braces on to line up the teeth. He had pretty straight teeth after that and only wore his braces the second time for about 13 months. For us, it wasn’t a scam.

Wait until he stops wearing his retainers in the manner he should wear them. You can say he would never(!) but high school kids do not do a good job of wearing (or not losing) their retainers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a scam, or if it is, we’re all getting scammed because I think a phase 1 and a phase 2 are very typical now.

Well yes, it’s a scam for the majority.

+1. Just because something is common doesn’t mean it’s not a scam. It just means a lot of people are gullible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD had palate expander, braces, headgear and retainer in 2017 at 9 years old. I think it was about 2 years and then the retainer for another year and a permanent retainer for another just on the bottom. Now, at almost 14, she has two canines that stick out and the orthodontists says she needs braces again. She is Autistic and very, very upset about this - she feels it is unfair she went through all of that just to need braces again, and she has a hard time with the sensory discomfort and food limitations that come along with them.

I'm switching practices because I just didn't get a personal feeling from the practice that did the braces initially and I really want to understand what they're doing and why. I am getting Invisalign myself soon and I really liked the orthodontist I went to so I'm going to take my daughter there. It's clear she needs some additional work because her teeth are not straight, so we have to bite the bullet and do it - but it is probably going to be a $10K endeavor when all is said and done, and I can't shake the feeling we got scammed initially.

Why put a young kid through all of that just to need a repeat? Couldn't they have waited until 13 or 14 and just did the full braces then?

Our Orthodontist literally called his braces in elementary school "Phase 1" when we got the estimate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I wish we had waited. We were told she might not need braces again, but we'd see how her teeth came in.

Also, I'm really conflicted about whether to force the issue. So far we've been told its cosmetic, but I'll wait and see what my orthodontist says. Her teeth are also crowded on top and she's not good at brushing so that can be an issue. She says she doesn't care. But, I am afraid at 18, or 25, she'll care and it will be more difficult then and she may be stuck with the bill. This is complicated by the fact that she's Autistic, so she has enough "difference" to contend with without having crooked teeth on top of it. At the same time, she has enough difficultly to contend with now, I don't want to add to her plate. It's her first year of HS next year too.

UGH.

Don’t force it. Tell her when she is ready at any age you will pay but you’d like to do it now.