New!! Please Advise!?

[alleyj]

My son is only 10 and we were sent to the ortho because his adult teeth are coming in on top of his baby teeth... One ortho said he had an under bite and cross bite. Phase I, is $3,995.00, treatment lasting a year and then Phase II and III lasting two to three years with prices unknown...depending on how his jaw "developed" from Phase I. I sought a second opinion, she agrees with the palate expander, but said nothing about the cross bite. She wants him to wear head gear at night. Her cost and is $5,000., but that covers everything for the next three years (braces, office visits, etc). No Phase I, II, or III...I like the second opionion, but I am concerned about the head gear or face mask. Any advice, I appreciate!!

Thanks,
Alley

[jjs34748]

I don't know where you are, but I would say get a couple more oppinions from some other Orthos. My youngest has been through his Phase I treatment and it has made a world of difference in how his teeth are now. His Ortho did the Phase I treatment for a very good price (free) with the full understanding that there will be a Phase II in the future. By the way, he did have a small crossbite and it was fixed in just a couple of months.

[badbite]

Well the expander is to correct a crossbite. Both of my girls wore reversed pull headgear, pallete expanders and braces across their front 8 teeth. My older daughter (who is now ten) is also getting a space maintainer on her bottom teeth. Both of their phase I treatments cost about $2,000 each, but they didn't have to have any teeth pulled. Phases II or III may cost as much as $4,000 each. The Phase I is most important since it corrects jaw problems while they are still growing though.

I made sure they got treatment because they both have what I do. Underbite, cross bite, crowding (I also had open bite). It took two surgeries (breaking my jaw to expand it) and the other was to break my jaw and move it forward 8 mms. All of this could have been avoided if I had treatment while I as still growing. My total cost is well over $85,000. I had endured lots of pain, 3 years of braces, and emotional stress. Over my 35 years of life, these "bite issues" have caused, cavities, pain, tmj,a flat face, and had even gotten to a point of pulling a tooth because of the pain it was causing.

[alleyj]

Thanks, so much, for responding!

I have decided to go with the second Ortho that we saw. She explained things to me in more depth on the second visit...the expander is to create more room for his adult teeth (his top jaw is too narrow) and the face mask is to pull jaw forward for underbite and rubberbands/braces will eventually correct cross bite.

He got his spacers in this week and he says it is uncomfortable...I have a feeling this is only the beginning and it will get wrose!!

[badbite]

The spacers will probably be the worst part! Good luck!