Braces at 12?

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stockrex

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My oldest orthodontist wants to her to get braces "again" to make space for 2 adult teeth coming in.
She already had braces when she was 9 to align her front teeth (not sure it was necessary then).

Anyway, she has not lost all her baby teeth yet, she still has few more to lose.

what has your experience been with braces for someone that young?
 
My experience with braces has been that I have lived for quite a few years without them and cannot think of (or would rather be oblivious to) a situation where my slightly crooked teeth changed the outcome of a social interaction.
 
I honestly don't feel anyone should have them until their mouth stops growing. All that was worked for can get messed up again.
 
Nine is too young. The jaw is still growing too fast to safely shape tooth position.

I have two college-era friends who had baby teeth braces. One has had his jaw sawn off and repositioned with titanium. The other needs to, but can't afford it. Both had their parents lectured it was medically necessary, child abuse if not done, we know so much more now than before, etc., etc.

Had the same lecture for my oldest, waited until almost all the baby teeth were out, curiously everything is still fixable, not what we were told 4 years ago. It would be too late. Huh? Every year my dentist tells me it's not too late to fix my teeth with braces. I'm not exactly a Spring Chicken.
 
Medical necessitity should dictate the best COA. Correcting teeth is not primarily about straight teeth, but about proper bite, which affects health dramatically. Based on my own experience it's best to get teeth corrected by the time your are done growing. At 13 I wore a removable retainer that I took out for meals, sports etc. After a while I had to wear the retainer only overnight. I was glad to have my bite corrected by age 16. But the OP has a baby girl daughter, soon to b a teen. So probably permanent braces and orthodontic headgear are in order.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I honestly don't feel anyone should have them until their mouth stops growing.


So in some cases never then?
grin2.gif
 
I'd get a 2nd opinion for sure, maybe a city over so the two guys don't play golf together... When my old dentist retired, we had a new guy who must've had big student loans, as we suddenly needed lots of work done, and we switched dentists.
 
Why would she get them at 9 years old? If she hasn't even lost her baby teeth that's way too young.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Why would she get them at 9 years old? If she hasn't even lost her baby teeth that's way too young.


Our orthodontist and dentist both said our son needed braces to correct his bite but he couldn't get them installed until all of his baby teeth were out.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Why would she get them at 9 years old? If she hasn't even lost her baby teeth that's way too young.


If the bite is off quite a bit, damage to the teeth or even to the jaw joint and jaw nerve can occur. I would leave evaluation of the necessity for treatment to a docor instead of using what may merely appear to be common sense to the layman. Also, a jaw that is still growing is easier to manipulate than an already fully grown one.
 
He must like your insurance plan. I'd def get a 2nd opinion.

When I was 13-14, I was dragged into an orthodontist, who told my parents, sure, he could do something. They said no. I now have a pair of sideways incisors but otherwise perfect bite. (I did have three wisdom teeth out at age 21 which didn't change much "up front".)
 
Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Why would she get them at 9 years old? If she hasn't even lost her baby teeth that's way too young.


If the bite is off quite a bit, damage to the teeth or even to the jaw joint and jaw nerve can occur. I would leave evaluation of the necessity for treatment to a docor instead of using what may merely appear to be common sense to the layman. Also, a jaw that is still growing is easier to manipulate than an already fully grown one.
I agree, if it's medically necessary then getting them earlier makes sense. Doesn't sound like it was medically necessary for the OP's daughter to get them so young.

I got braces about a month before I turned 12 and had no baby teeth.
 
Originally Posted By: stockrex
My oldest orthodontist wants to her to get braces "again" to make space for 2 adult teeth coming in.
She already had braces when she was 9 to align her front teeth (not sure it was necessary then).

Anyway, she has not lost all her baby teeth yet, she still has few more to lose.

what has your experience been with braces for someone that young?

Why braces on your daughters baby teeth? Did she have some sort of abnormality? My first son had a couple of baby teeth growing at an odd angle. Dentist pulled the worst one, left the other one to fall out naturally. When his permanent teeth finished growing, he needed to have a crooked one pulled, then had braces for about 3 years. He ended up with movie star quality choppers. Cost a fortune....
 
She has 1 baby tooth on each side (upper) and the othro said that there is not enough room for the teeth coming out now, so they want to make room the new teeth.
But they are NOT pulling the baby teeth first.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I honestly don't feel anyone should have them until their mouth stops growing. All that was worked for can get messed up again.


Agreed...there are too many health care "professionals" who have to fix everything then, there, and now.

At 10, our dentist warned us to start saving for braces for our daughter, as in her experience she would likely need them. Suggested not even going to an orthodontist until 13/14, but to start saving.

Late 12, and with puberty and growth spurts, and massive changes in her face from obviously girl to womanlike in many ways, and the problem has resolved itself entirely.

Many many of her peers were getting their teeth "fixed" during their transformative stage...clearly people who make money out of fitting braces recommend fitting braces.
 
My teeth are so crooked that I apologize to my dentist and technician every time I have a check up.But I still have all but three after almost eight decades, and I would have all 32 if I had dental check ups when I was a kid. My parents didn't have much use for doctors and even less for dentists.( think Doc Holiday). They didn't do those mundane things at the parochial school I attended for twelve years..Cost me $6000+ to get everything fixed when I graduated from college but it was worth every dollar. Take care of them and they will last a lifetime.
 
Originally Posted By: Dallas69
Dentists and plumbers are a lot alike.
Hard to find an honest one.


I would liken them to dishonest mechanics, always looking for an upsell and good insurance.
 
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