Please tell me if this is completely insane (estimate from orthodontist)

[Anonymous]

PP, I thought an impacted tooth was one that is NOT coming out of the gum.

But what you describe sounds like the baby tooth is still in the gum and not falling out, and the adult tooth is trying to come out as well. I thought that was called "shark teeth".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10 year still does not have all his teeth in. Dentist says we fave to wait before seeing ortho. Is that the case?

Same here. 10 year old. Dentist (Kuwabara) said wait till teeth come in.

[Anonymous]

Get a second and third estimate. There are fancy-pants orthos who charge for the sake of charging, and then there are more basic orthos (even in DC) who do a really good job. Ask your dentist for a recommendation for someone who falls in the latter camp.

[Anonymous]

It is what this one charges. Get a 2nd and 3rd estimate.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax here. $4500 all in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't fall for the the two-phase BS:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15179390

"After a second phase of fixed appliance treatment for both the previously treated children and the untreated controls, however, early treatment had little effect on the subsequent treatment outcomes measured as skeletal change, alignment, and occlusion of the teeth, or length and complexity of treatment. The differences created between the treated children and untreated control group by phase 1 treatment before adolescence disappeared when both groups received comprehensive fixed appliance treatment during adolescence. This suggests that 2-phase treatment started before adolescence in the mixed dentition might be no more clinically effective than 1-phase treatment started during adolescence in the early permanent dentition. Early treatment also appears to be less efficient, in that it produced no reduction in the average time a child is in fixed appliances during a second stage of treatment, and it did not decrease the proportion of complex treatments involving extractions or orthognathic surgery."

Brilliant. Thank you for this!!!!

[Anonymous]

We're currently on a posting and in our post report (one of which is done by the govt for every country) it specifically warns about unnecessary dental and orthodontic interventions on both coasts of the US. The analysis suggests that too many procedures just "because" can actually do more damage than good and so we're strongly encouraged to get dental treatment at home where possible. It's not an issue of cost but rather an insurance and cultural prerogative in the US to do something when it may actually make more sense and be safer in the long term to do nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10 year still does not have all his teeth in. Dentist says we fave to wait before seeing ortho. Is that the case
?

We got the same advice.

[Anonymous]

We live overseas and only do regular dental appointments. In the U.S., dentists recommended a whole line of pre-orthodontia, but we never followed-up because we are overseas. Meanwhile, my 11 year old's teeth - which initially came in crazy-crooked and seemed crowded - straightened themselves out. He'll still need braces on the lower row, but probably not the top. The point, I guess, is that we waited it out (we had to) and things realigned as the kids got older.

[Anonymous]

Just barely did this 2 weeks ago with DS (11) and DD (17). I'm going to caution people to not only pay attention to the costs, but pay more attention to the treatment they're recommending. This isn't the Ortho's kid, so the long term repercussions aren't their problem! DD had an overbite and a crossbite to correct. DS;s teeth were a mess. He's got an incredibly small mouth and has teeth dropping into the palate of his mouth because there's no where else to go.

We saw 3 Ortho's. You'd be shocked at the spread in pricing between them.
Ortho 1 tried to sell this Phase 1 & 2 snake oil and wanted to do a palate expander in DS. I got up and left when he told DD it takes 8 months to clear up gingivitis and he couldn't band her teeth before then. Turned out she didn't have gingivitis. She just brushed a little hard and irritated the gum above 1 tooth. For both kids I was pushing $21K
Ortho 2 and 3 both said no expander because it'll create a crossbite/overbite that doesn't currently exist and you can only move the jawbone a small amount. They both did recommend having premolars extracted to bring DD's overbite back and banded her teeth to correct alignment. For DS, we've extracted some baby teeth that won't shed and we're waiting to see what the adult teeth are going to do.

[Anonymous]

I think the need for treatment obviously varies by child, based on a number of different factors. We got more than one consultation and then talked with our pediatric dentist. We really trusted her to help us make the decision.

[Anonymous]

PLEASE get 2nd, 3rd or even 10th opinion. I am a hygienist, see this all the time. Way over the top. Should cost around 4-6k depending on teeth. No more. Geez, what a scum bag

[Anonymous]

I am an orthodontist and if those prices are even close to realistic for your area, I need to move there quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two of my kids had palate expanders and then braces - between $4500 & $5000 per child.

Mine is getting a palate expander and lower lingual holding arch for $4500. Braces will be another $6000. We are in moco.

This is exactly what we are paying for the same thing. We are also in MOCO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an orthodontist and if those prices are even close to realistic for your area, I need to move there quickly.

Lol. Everything here is expensive.