I took my 11yr old son to the Orthodontist yesterday for a consultation. When I was a kid, braces were considered a terrible thing to get, now I think the attitude is different. Do your kids have braces (or had)? How do (did) they feel about them?

My son got his braces when he was 15, and he just got them off a couple months ago at age 17. He didn't mind them. Now he has his retainer, and he lost his first one within a couple weeks, so I made him pay for the replacement himself. (I self paid for his braces - about $5,000 - as our insurance doesn't offer any orthodontic coverage). He was vigilant about brushing as we were both worried about him having tracks on his teeth when they were removed, but no problems there. His teeth are now straight - he is very attractive and I wanted him to have straight teeth. We are both happy with the results.

His orthodonist did recommend having his jaw broken and reset before we started treatment, but I refused that and said I just wanted his teeth straightened. I have heard of too many people who had that done and had ongoing problems with their jaw as they aged.

I should also add that my son didn't start his treatment until age 15 because he was still growing (he's 6'4) and the ortho said that it would be useless to start the treatment until he was pretty much done growing. We had the first consult when he was about 13, and they checked him every year until we started treatment at 15. So if your son is just 11 and you think he is going to be quite tall, you might want to talk about that with your ortho.

My 12 and 11 year old have both had consultation for braces, but we have been advised to wait another year at least because of they rate they are growing. I had braces and hated 'em, but I think they are so common anymore, that they dont' have the same stigma they used to......I actually still have "permanent" braces on the back of my teeth, to prevent any possible movement. My teeth were already straight, they were put on to shift things (dont' remember exactly why, but had to do with the history of TMJ in the family)

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Nicole

We have 4 in various stages of othodontia right now. (Ages 7, 10, 12, and almost 14).

My DD (age 12) had the early braces in second grade. I was told she might need a full set at a more typical age, but then the treatment time would be less. She just got her full braces last month. Not only did the early treatment help her spacing, appearance, etc, but our orthodontist deducts what we paid for early treatment from the full set's cost. So, we had nothing to lose in this case. She will be in her full braces less time and the cost is very slight.

DS (almost 8) has a terrible jaw shifting issue, terrible spacing (we have waited over a year from some teeth to grow in), and he still sucks his thumb.

We do have dental insurance that covers some orthondtic care.

ETA None of my kids have felt any stigma and are happy to get started with the changes. No trouble here other than minor pain and missing gum and sticky stuff!

DD (13) is presently in braces. She couldn't wait until she could get braces as her teeth were very crooked and she was very self conscientious about it. Insurance covers $1750.00 of them.

My 2 stepsons also had braces. Between our coverage and DH's ex-wife insurance thier treatments were completely covered.

Fortunately for us - DS (10) will not need braces.

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My DD11 currently has an appliance on her upper jaw. She had a terrible cross-bite so would shift her bite quite a bit. Her upper jaw was not growing wide enough, so this is put in to widen her upper jaw. It sounds like what mitcham said about her DS. Our orthodontist said that in about a year, her jaw would no longer be able to be adjusted because it permanently fuses. Right now it is basically in two pieces and can still be molded somewhat. I think it sounds and looks painful, but DD said it's not too bad. There is a little "key" that I have to insert each night to adjust the appliance and widen it a tiny bit each night.

After she wears this for about 4 months or so, they will put in something else to hold her jaw where it is until she is ready for full braces.

We had our now 10yo DD evaluated about a year or so ago. Her top & bottom front teeth are very crooked. Poor kid takes after both DH & I. She also had to have 3 baby teeth on the bottom pulled because the perm. teeth grew in behind them...so you can imagine how they look.
Recently she's made comments about it that tells us she's becoming self-conscious about it. I don't know that any kids are saying anything about it...she's always been "popular" and gets along with just about anyone.

A lot of her friends at school have had braces on their front teeth this year and that might be why she's thinking about it more. She'll be moving up to 5th grade (new school) next year so we're going to look into getting those teeth straightened.

I remember being in braces and not liking it because they're just a pain. I remember how miserable the achy feeling was and how meticulous I had to be about keeping my teeth clean around all those wires and brackets...and then the retainer that you had to keep track of when you took it off.

Even with our insurance a full set of braces will cost us $2300.00. Whew.

peapie

I think more middle school kids here have them than don't. Some of the ones who dont' have them, want them. It's almost like having a cell phone! My oldest had them for 2 years, she got them off in December, wears a retainer at night now and has commented how much she loves her straight teeth. She's 14 and in 8th grade. Her dentist recommended a 2 stage process when she was in 3rd grade. I didn't like that and took her to an orthodontist. He said she only needed 1 stage and to wait until all her baby teeth fell out. I liked his opinion better, went with him and it's turned out great. We'll probably be going through it again when youngest loses the rest of her baby teeth because her's are crooked, too.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

My 8 yea old has them. He got an expander at age 7 and has had full blown braces for a year (he's almost 9). He had to get his jaw expanded (bad jaws run in both sides of the family sadly). He'll get them off in about another year and then most likely get them again as a teen (to straighten out the teeth). Right now they are more for making room for his teeth that are coming in. My DD (who is almost 7) will need them in a year or two as well.

The attitude is MUCH different than when I had them at age 13. There is one other girl in DS's class that has them and probably 10 kids overall in 3rd grade with them. It's been no big deal and he's handled them well (in terms of taking care with brushing, etc)

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

In your case, will you have to pay for the braces twice? There seems to be a trend going on now where really young kids are getting braces. Is it necessary, in most cases, to have to get braces twice?

Also, is cost determined on how long the braces will be worn?

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

No, we won't have to pay twice. What we have paid on this set will be applied to the 2nd set so we will have a minimal charge. I don't think it's always necessary that braces be worn twice but I know it would have helped my husband and brother if they would have had braces and/or expanders at an early age to help with their jaw problems. The first set is really for spacing and helping the jaw form to fit all their teeth while their mouths are growing and forming. the 2nd set is for straightening and tweaking it all. Cost and time worn wasn't a factor. Braces were a set price no matter how long they are worn and no matter how many office visits to "fix" them (brackets, etc).

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

My daughter will be 13 on March 26th. She got them about 1.5 years ago and has about 6 months to go. She is doing great with them. It is definitely not like it use to be.

Yes, mine have them. They wanted them, so I was glad.

I know when I had them when I was younger, it was not very common to see a 10 year old with them, but, now, they want to catch problems earlier, to intervene and fix it so the "fix" won't be so terrible. I had a terrible space problem between my top and bottom teeth...they literally did not meet. I was fitted with an appliance that somehow realligned my jaw so my teeth would meet. I know a few people recently with the same problem, that had to have major jaw surgery.

Braces have come a long way, and I even see "the older crowd" proudly sporting them.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Our orthodontist wanted to have our son wear some sort of spacer on the top teeth and then braces down the road. After it was all totalled up, it was going to be close to $7,000. We opted not to get him the spacer... from what I understand, that means they'll have to pull a couple of adult teeth to make the space -- a lot less $$$ than $2,500 that the spacer would have cost.

I had to have four permanent teeth pulled to make space in my mouth and it's been no problem yet... in my 40's. We'll see if I feel the same way when I hit 80!

We hope that we are making the right decision... It is so complicated being parents!

*I also think that because dentists are almost putting themselves out of business with all of the sealants and preventative dentistry, they are getting some sort of kickbacks from the orthodontists. Just my own pure speculation! They have to make money somehow!