topic Re: Braces in Community Spirit

Braces

daydream**believer — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:29:37 GMT

My 12 year odl daughter needs braces.

What im wondering is, is it something i should "shop around" for. Do braces prices vary from dentist to denist?

And if i should shop around? How do i do that? Will they give prices over the phone or do i have to take daughter in to see every dentist to get a price?

Re: Braces

izabsmiling — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:37:18 GMT

Perhaps you can ask the dentist who said that she needed braces to recommend an orthodontist.

From memory I think that my son had to have an initial visit at the orthodonists to see what was needed

and they offered a payment plan which helped .It cost around $5500 I think about 12 years ago.All necessary follow up was covered in that.

Re: Braces

izabsmiling — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:39:24 GMT

Amy, do you have private health insurance which covers orthodontics?

Re: Braces

daydream**believer — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:41:37 GMT

@izabsmiling wrote:
Amy, do you have private health insurance which covers orthodontics?

nope

Re: Braces

i-need-a-martini — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:43:22 GMT

It won't be the dentist that puts them in. He will refer you to the appropriate specialist depending on why she needs braces. All the dental specialists specialise in various areas. For example my sons jaw needs to be brought forward so we were referred to a particular specialist. But my daughter needs other types of work done so she sees another specialist.

Your family dentist should sort this out for you.

Re: Braces

*elizabeths-mum* — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:43:30 GMT

Definitely shop around with recommendations from friends. After my son had his plate put in (to push his teeth forward) we found the dentist's recommended orthodontist was also the significantly most expensive in town. I didn't know you didn't have to go to the recommended specialist.

Re: Braces

daydream**believer — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:44:03 GMT

"Perhaps you can ask the dentist who said that she needed braces to recommend an orthodontist."

She gave me a list of about 20 of them.

I didnt want to have to make an appointment at all of them to find out the cost by each of them.

Re: Braces

punch*drunk — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:46:20 GMT

Most orthodontists have a payment plan available. We paid $1000 up front and $270 per month for my sons braces. Cant remember what the final amount will be, somewhere around the $6000 I think. He's had them nearly 12 months so far.

My daughter will need a bit more work than him. 12 months of something that she wears at night before they'll put her braces on, so I expect hers will be more expensive. The repayments should be much the same though because they average them out over the time you have the braces for.

We didnt shop around, I was happy with the orthodontist as soon as I met him and I now know others that had him do their kids braces and they're all really happy.

Apart from the per month cost for braces and the one off $250 fee for moulds, we dont pay anything when we see him for regular check ups. Its all included in the braces cost. We go every 2 months for adjustments.

Re: Braces

punch*drunk — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:48:05 GMT

@daydream**believer wrote:
"Perhaps you can ask the dentist who said that she needed braces to recommend an orthodontist."

She gave me a list of about 20 of them.
I didnt want to have to make an appointment at all of them to find out the cost by each of them.

Ring them, It might be hard for them to quote exactly without seeing the teeth in question because some need more work than others, but they may be able to give you an average or approx figure. You can also ask about payment plans.

Re: Braces

izabsmiling — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:49:36 GMT

That is a similar cost to what I paid 12 years ago Punch.That's good to hear.I know that my DD will need them as well

Re: Braces

daydream**believer — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:50:09 GMT

ok. thanks 🙂

Re: Braces

freddie*rooster — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:54:17 GMT

What's with these braces, is this just an expensive trendy fad?

Back in our day there were never any such thing, we had fillings and extractions, thinking back, my brother who passed away at 66 still had all his own teeth, my brother who passed at 53 also had all his own teeth. My own son had over crowding which meant pulling a couple of back teeth, his teeth are perfect.

Re: Braces

*elizabeths-mum* — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:03:10 GMT

I have these discussions with my dentist who also has an aversion to everyone walking around with identical sets of gravestone teeth, but sometimes it is necessary for function rather than just cosmetic. It's a bit harder on teenagers today though to be the only ones with an individual smile.

Re: Braces

punch*drunk — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:03:14 GMT

@freddie*rooster wrote:
What's with these braces, is this just an expensive trendy fad?

Back in our day there were never any such thing, we had fillings and extractions, thinking back, my brother who passed away at 66 still had all his own teeth, my brother who passed at 53 also had all his own teeth. My own son had over crowding which meant pulling a couple of back teeth, his teeth are perfect.

I dont know how my kids ended up needing braces. My husband and I have both got really good, straight teeth.

My sons are mostly cosmetic to fix crowding and crookedness, they did look really bad.

My daughters dont look as bad as my sons, but she can poke her tongue out with her teeth clamped together and her jaw is growing abnormally, they cant do her braces until her jaw stops growing. Our latest trip to the dentist, last week, resulted in her needing 2 teeth pulled out. The new ones are trying to come through, but they are slightly deformed (1 point instead of 2) and they havent pushed the baby teeth out of the way. Hasnt been done yet, he wants us to check with the orthodontist before he removes them. She also has an unusual amount of tooth decay, and she has very little sweets and soft drinks compared to most kids.

So I dont know how we ended up with her having such bad teeth, I always thought knocking 3 of her teeth out when she was little resulted in the bad formation of the front ones, but the ortho says they'd have been like that anyway.

Re: Braces

daydream**believer — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:04:01 GMT

I know freddie.

I was also a bit funny with braces. Thinking it was a thing that people were told they needed but probably didnt.

But, Miss 13's top teeth are quite crooked

Its affecting her as she doesnt smile with her mouth open and when she laughs, she covers her mouth so people wont see her teeth.

😞

I dont want her having to do that cause she hates her teeth

Re: Braces

*elizabeths-mum* — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:25:36 GMT

One dentist I had (before moving state) told me that problems with teeth can be caused in utero if mum has an infection or a high fever at a certain point of pregnancy. Given the number of things that can go wrong from externals during that time. that makes sense to me.
My daughter has very deep fissures which cause food to stay trapped and was having something put in them for years to ward off decay.

Re: Braces

izabsmiling — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:29:09 GMT

What's with these braces, is this just an expensive trendy fad?

With my own kids.It was/is the best medical treatment I could give them.

Re: Braces

twinkles**stars — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:32:16 GMT

From memory cost us about $13000 for the two girls. Looked lovely until their wisdom started to come through 😞 Now in their 30's they could do with braces again just on the bottom.

An ex dental nurse told me that unless you are prepared to wear a retainer 'forever' your teeth will move again.

More older people are having their teeth straightened to prevent headaches, jaw ache etc.

Re: Braces

freddie*rooster — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:34:19 GMT

I guess it's the same for illnesses which appear to be more common now then in years gone by, every 2nd person you come across has someone in their friends or family suffering from cancer. Maybe our lifestyles really arn't as heathly as they were, food additives and environmental issues are more prominent in todays life.

Re: Braces

azureline** — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 00:13:44 GMT

One of ours has a tooth removed to allow his other teeth to align, after a dentist said he needed braces, so we got 2 other opinions.

Another had a retainer for a few years and then didn't need braces.