My daughter is 7 almost 8 yrs old. She needs braces for an overjet and crowding. My only concern is though that if she has them too young she will need them a 2nd time around. My understand was that if they have then before age 10 or 11 that it's considered phase 1 and that does not completely fix the issue, and that after age 10 it's considered phase 2 and often times with braces and then retainer as usual no other ortho work is needed.
The reason I ask is because I am currently braced and am having some pain and my daughter is a complete whimp when it comes to discomfort and pain and there is no way I will put her through it twice.
Debating on when to get braces for my child
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sauerkraut
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I think you're right that ortho treatment on such young children generally only prepares the way for later treatment. My ortho had to treat my daughters when they were younger because they needed palatal expansion. That had to be done before the palate fused. But everything else has/had to wait until the second teeth come through.
Has your ortho already said that he wants to start treating your daughter now? If not, maybe you could ask him just to take a look and he may well be able to reassure you that treatment can wait until later, depending on what needs doing.
Has your ortho already said that he wants to start treating your daughter now? If not, maybe you could ask him just to take a look and he may well be able to reassure you that treatment can wait until later, depending on what needs doing.
My 8 year old had a consultation last month and the ortho recommended that he have four baby teeth removed becasue his permanent teeth were ready to start coming in and he didn't have any room for them and this would potentially create less crowding. That was one of my problems as a child--a permanent lateral came in behind a baby tooth that hadn't come out yet--and it is finally where it should be thirty plus years later.
My oldest son had braces on his upper front teeth for about six months when he was nine or ten but his cainines didn't come in well. He still had to have braces put on when he was fourteen.
All I know is that I'm not going to let my kids wait until they are almost 40 to get braces like I did! We found an orthodontist that we are comfortable with and I'm willing to trust his judgement.
My oldest son had braces on his upper front teeth for about six months when he was nine or ten but his cainines didn't come in well. He still had to have braces put on when he was fourteen.
All I know is that I'm not going to let my kids wait until they are almost 40 to get braces like I did! We found an orthodontist that we are comfortable with and I'm willing to trust his judgement.
My 9 year old has been in braces almost a year now. She had the palate expander put in last March and removed a couple weeks ago. Braces on top teeth only went on shortly after the expander went in. First she had just the two front teeth and 2 back molars; now she has all 4 front teeth braced. I expect she will move to a retainer in the next 3-4 months.
The way it was explained to us... she needed the RPE to fix her crossbite. That had the added benefit of creating a bit of room for adult teeth - the ortho doesn't believe in using the RPE *just* to gain space.
There is a slim possibility that she won't need braces again when she is a teen, but we are not counting on it. The purpose of the Phase I work is to get her front teeth aligned and hopefully keep them there while the rest of her adult teeth erupt. We can deal with other crowding issues once all of her adult teeth are in.
She was sensitive to her front teeth being wonky, and has been very agreeable about the whole braces thing. Even with the expander, she never really complained of any discomfort. I think its because the bones are softer at this age and the teeth are moving anyway, the pain is not as much of a factor as it is for older kids and adults. Really her only complaint has been if a wire is poking her, and the time she had springs over the wires the first day or so was tough on the inside of her cheeks.
The way it was explained to us... she needed the RPE to fix her crossbite. That had the added benefit of creating a bit of room for adult teeth - the ortho doesn't believe in using the RPE *just* to gain space.
There is a slim possibility that she won't need braces again when she is a teen, but we are not counting on it. The purpose of the Phase I work is to get her front teeth aligned and hopefully keep them there while the rest of her adult teeth erupt. We can deal with other crowding issues once all of her adult teeth are in.
She was sensitive to her front teeth being wonky, and has been very agreeable about the whole braces thing. Even with the expander, she never really complained of any discomfort. I think its because the bones are softer at this age and the teeth are moving anyway, the pain is not as much of a factor as it is for older kids and adults. Really her only complaint has been if a wire is poking her, and the time she had springs over the wires the first day or so was tough on the inside of her cheeks.