Braces

choccyface2006

LadyMorticia wrote: »

I can't wait to be metal free

xx

Me too, another year - 18 months to go though!

Sarah x

LadyMorticia

choccyface2006 wrote: »

Me too, another year - 18 months to go though!

Sarah x

It will be worth it in the end.

I saw someone the other day that I haven't seen in about a year and they were like "My gosh, your teeth are so straight now". I was like "Woo"

My teeth are so much better than they were. Did you have to have any teeth taken out to make room for the braces? I had to have four taken out - two from the top and two from the bottom.

xx

choccyface2006

Hi ladymorticia,

Yes I had 6 out.....yikes! And I had already had one out years ago so I felt very self concious and gappy at first. I'm 15 months into a 2-3 year treatment plan and quite relaxed about it really, I expected it to be alot worse. I still can't wait to get them off though!

Good luck with your debanding and enjoy your new smile

Sarah x

tigerliz

OK so to just clarify...if you're over 18, you need to pay for orthodontist work/braces yourself...possibly with an option of a monthly payment plan to your dentist? Just checking as I've been told recently I can only get a brace privately (which I had already assumed being 25), but cannot find any dental insurance that includes cover of braces.
Thanks, Tigerliz

Toothsmith

You won't find any insurance that will cover orthodontics.

How could it be comercially successful for a company to make an insurance product that paid out more than it took in in premiums?

Boots came a cropper with it's dental insurance product in the early days, as people only took it out if they needed work doing, and they didn't have a time bar.

Tesco's insurance at the moment looks similar, but their premiums are higher, and there is a '3 month' rule, so they probably won't loose toot much on it!

To answer the first bit - Yes, if you're over 18 you will almost certainly have to pay privately for orthodontics, UNLESS your teeth are waaaaaay out. Then it would qualify for NHS. As ortho treatment generally goes on for a couple of years, it shouldn't work out too badly if the orthodontist lets you pay off the bill visit by visit.

something_girl

I'm getting a bit concerned reading this thread.

My 11 year old daughter has removeable braces, had them for about 15 weeks. She hated having the moulds taken, created a right scene, then when they were ready she wouldn't let the poor orthodontist put them in, so we took them home and I had to basically ground her until she agreed to put the damn things in, we did eventually get them in and she is fine with them now. Trouble is, she cannot talk properly with them in, so she has to take them out for certain lessons at school, she is doing a school play, so they're out for that, they're out for sport, as well as of course, for eating, in other words, they're out for a lot of the day, but I insist she wears them every night, all night (although I did sneak into her room one night to check and they were out!), she promises they are in at night now.

At the first checkup at 6 weeks, the gap had gone from 11mm to 8mm so the ortho was pleased with her, at the last check a few weeks ago, there had been no movement so he was not happy with her, told her how if she wasn't wearing them when she should, then she was wasting time, money etc etc, I felt really humiliated and got a lot harder on her.....

anyway, it's this osteotomy I'm reading about on here that is worrying, because that is why my daughter is wearing them as her receding lower jaw is creating the 11mm overbite.

Also, are fixed braces not used for this type of correction? It would be far better if she had no choice but to have them in. Due for her third check on 22nd July and I'm worried that there will again have been no movement.

Thanks for any advice.

Toothsmith

'Choice' doesn't come into it.

If kids don't want braces, then even if they have fixed ones, they will not take the necessary care, and they will break them - often!

She doesn't have a 'choice' now - she wears them, or the teeth won't move - it's that simple.

You CAN get used to speaking in them - If you wear them.

You CAN eat in them (Apart from one or two types - but the orthodontist will have told her to leave them out at mealtimes if that is the case) but the only way to getting used to eating in them is to eat in them.

She CAN wear them in ALL lessons (Unless she does rugby).

Just wearing them at night in no use to anything.

If she doesn't want the treatment, it's best for all concerned if you just abandon it. No-one ever died of a funny bite.

Eventually, she may come round to it, and hopefully, it will be when she's to old to expect you to pay for it.

Orthodontics is probably a kids first big life decision. It's no good if it's just the Mum, or just the dentist who want her to have it. If she doesn't want it, then no amount of shouting or pushing will help.

I tend to JUST talk to the kid about braces, to see if they really do want to be wired up for 2 years before I refer anybody. BUT I explain that I have a lot of adult patients who wish they'd had it done as a kid, but now have to pay £2000 if they want straight teeth, and that a 13yr old with braces doesn't look funny, but a 25yr old with braces does.

I wouldn't worry about an osteotomy unless you've been specifically told one will be necessary. The sort of problem that proceedure corrects won't come about by not wearing a brace. And, osteotomies aren't done lightly. It is quite dangerous surgery and needs VERY informed consent.

something_girl

thanks for your reply.

She has been told to take them out for eating, so at least she has a valid reason there!

Are fixed braces not an option for the realignment of lower jaw, rather than pure tooth movement?

I've just been searching around a receding lower jaw stuff online, myself and my 15 year old daughter both have the same profile, she detests it, but I guess the gap between top and bottom teeth wasn't enough for her to be referred.

Think I might get myself a chin implant after seeing the before and after pics online!

something_girl

oh and just to mention, the orthodontist did say to my daughter, that if she didn't wear them now, she would probably need an operation as her lower teeth are starting to go into the roof of her mouth, sounded like he was saying that to give her more reason to wear them now, I didn't take the 'operation' suggestion seriously at the time, but now I've read up on it, perhaps it will come to that.

It's just too hard for an 11 year old girl, out having fun with other little girls and about to start high school, to understand fully, that if she doesn't do something now, then things might not be so great for her later. That's why I would far prefer the fixed brace, so she has that 'choice' taken away from her.

Flutter

Toothsmith wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about an osteotomy unless you've been specifically told one will be necessary. The sort of problem that proceedure corrects won't come about by not wearing a brace. And, osteotomies aren't done lightly. It is quite dangerous surgery and needs VERY informed consent.

Really?

I have read that these surgeries are relatively safe and straight foward procedures these days.