Anonymous wrote:Did anyone ever have an orthodontist tell you that you DON'T need braces? I think it is kind of racket to a certain extent.

I did, my ortho said I didn't need them, so I never got them. My thumb sucker DD will need it though and I am dreading it.

30 years ago, my ortho took mine off unexpectedly. My teeth look fine but my bite is a mess.

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone ever have an orthodontist tell you that you DON'T need braces? I think it is kind of racket to a certain extent.

I'm OP, and that was my litmus test too as we considered orthodontia (which we eventually got): find an ortho who at least is able to tell folks they don't need them. I asked so many people to point me to an orthodontist who said you don't need them. (Ours said both kids didn't need them when young, but at around 12 or 13 suggested it.) I got notwhere. I went to 4 different orthodontists, all said would do them, but they did differ on how urgent they said the problem was, ranging from "just cosmetic" to "kid is headed for big problems." I did manage to find a dentist (much beloved on DCUM) who said DC didn't need them, would just be cosmetic. Somehow despite this I became convinced to do them.

Did anyone ever have an orthodontist tell you that you DON'T need braces? I think it is kind of racket to a certain extent.

Nope, my kids and I all had braces longer than originally predicted. Sometimes the fine-tuning at the end of the process takes longer than expected.

I demanded that mine be removed a year earlier than projected (before freshman year of HS).

My teeth look fine 35 years later.

I had braces as an adult, but they came off 3 months earlier than expected.

Mine took over a year longer than predicted.

At our last visit, ours predicted that DS would be done early by several months.

I have the impression kids often have to stay in braces longer than originally "predicted" by orthodontists. My cynical self has always assumed original predictions were part of the sell. (Though orthodontists have some incentives, if you'd paid a lump sum up front, to get you out early, as they don't make more money by keeping you there.) Anyway, does any kid ever get out of braces earlier than originally predicted? As you can imagine, we are getting antsy after a year.