Dentists: Does my daughter need braces?
Discussion
I took our 12 year old to the dentist last night as her mum is convinced she needs braces to straighten her teeth. I noticed she has a big 'overbite', her top teeth are about 6-8mm ahead of her lower teeth when she closes her mouth normally.
Her top teeth look good, but the bottom ones are all higgledy-piggledy crowded like mine, too many teeth in a row so they don't fit.
The orthodontist tells me they can use braces to straighten and sort her teeth out, but I don't see quite how a piece of wire will move whole rows of teeth forward or back several millimetres. Can they really work the miracles they suggest?
We are in the Philippines, and we do have a very good dentist, and the £1500 price tag should be covered by my insurance, but I don't want my daughter wearing this big mouth full of hardware unless strictly necessary.
Her top teeth look good, but the bottom ones are all higgledy-piggledy crowded like mine, too many teeth in a row so they don't fit.
The orthodontist tells me they can use braces to straighten and sort her teeth out, but I don't see quite how a piece of wire will move whole rows of teeth forward or back several millimetres. Can they really work the miracles they suggest?
We are in the Philippines, and we do have a very good dentist, and the £1500 price tag should be covered by my insurance, but I don't want my daughter wearing this big mouth full of hardware unless strictly necessary.
If overcrowded then she'll probably need a few extractions as well to make space for the remaining teeth to realign. I went through all that around that sort of age. Had about 10 teeth out (some milk teeth hadn't fallen out) and braces top and bottom. I'm sure things have progressed a bit since the early '90s, it was unpleasant at the time but I guess I'm thankful for it now!
< mostly straight teeth!
< mostly straight teeth!Braces sorted out my overbite, and the fact my upper and lower teeth weren't in line too - think my jaw was to the left of the rest of my face (only mildly).
Started with like a wire-retainer set up in my mouth to move my jaw - no idea how this worked but it shifted everything in line, then had the train tracks to straighten my teeth out (luckily no removals). Eventually had little elastic bands to line up on the left-right axis, then a plastic retainer to wear over my teeth to ensure they stayed straight, initially all the time, then at night, then some nights...
Strictly speaking I should still wear it, but it would be a massive ballache doing that at uni. My teeth are straight though, and if they shift a bit they won't go as bad as they were.
Get it done sooner rather than later. Braces suck aged 18. Just warn her it will be uncomfortable - used to dread every time they tightened them as it would ache for a good couple of days. The first train track day was the worst though - had to avoid things that were too crispy for a while!
Started with like a wire-retainer set up in my mouth to move my jaw - no idea how this worked but it shifted everything in line, then had the train tracks to straighten my teeth out (luckily no removals). Eventually had little elastic bands to line up on the left-right axis, then a plastic retainer to wear over my teeth to ensure they stayed straight, initially all the time, then at night, then some nights...
Strictly speaking I should still wear it, but it would be a massive ballache doing that at uni. My teeth are straight though, and if they shift a bit they won't go as bad as they were.
Get it done sooner rather than later. Braces suck aged 18. Just warn her it will be uncomfortable - used to dread every time they tightened them as it would ache for a good couple of days. The first train track day was the worst though - had to avoid things that were too crispy for a while!
Overbite or overjet?
My youngest daughter exhibited what I thought was an overbite but I was corrected and it was diagnosed as an overjet of ~10mm.
As a result it was treated by the dear old NHS over a period of 2-3 years. Result is a young lady with the most perfect set of teeth.
She started with braces at 13 for 18 months. It was truly staggering to see how quickly these braces pulled her lower jaw forward. Within 3 months the difference was visible. It changed the whole profile of her face. This was followed by a year of 'train tracks' and then another year of overnight sleepers!
I really do recommend the treatment. It is painless (relatively) but does require the persistence of the patient too! She won't thank you if you don't do it!
PS: I realise you're not in the UK but this is really tried and trusted treatment.
My youngest daughter exhibited what I thought was an overbite but I was corrected and it was diagnosed as an overjet of ~10mm.
As a result it was treated by the dear old NHS over a period of 2-3 years. Result is a young lady with the most perfect set of teeth.
She started with braces at 13 for 18 months. It was truly staggering to see how quickly these braces pulled her lower jaw forward. Within 3 months the difference was visible. It changed the whole profile of her face. This was followed by a year of 'train tracks' and then another year of overnight sleepers!
I really do recommend the treatment. It is painless (relatively) but does require the persistence of the patient too! She won't thank you if you don't do it!
PS: I realise you're not in the UK but this is really tried and trusted treatment.
Yes, it sounds like it is worth doing then. I never realised her top teeth were so far ahead of the lowers until I saw her laid in the dentists chair. Caiss is correct, it is 'overjet' she has, as well as some overbite.
I'd guess that if her lower teeth were pushed forwards a little they could spread out and cure the overjet and crowding in one hit.
I'd guess that if her lower teeth were pushed forwards a little they could spread out and cure the overjet and crowding in one hit.
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