Author Topic: Braces, Orthodontics (Read 12025 times)

greenmimama · « **on:** January 28, 2014, 08:02:40 PM »

I just took my 7yo in for a consult today, this is the first one we have had and I would like to know ball parks if prices.

I know it is diff. for everyone and the city would be very diff than out in the sticks, we are in MI in a mid size town 15 out of Grand Rapids, so midwestern price point?

They were saying 2k for the first phase and then another 2k for the 2nd phase if needed? the first phase is an appliance/retainer and all the office visits that it would require in about an 18mo period, they do give a 5% for payment in full, or you can put $ down and pay 100/mo

I would love your opinions, thanks you

KLina · « **Reply #1 on:** January 28, 2014, 08:46:29 PM »

I don't know about your child's teeth, obviously, but 7 years old seems quite young for braces! My 8-year-old is still getting her permanent teeth in. My 12-year-old nephew, who has pretty crooked teeth, might be getting some soon. Did they say why they are starting so early?

(Not related to your situation, but I started taking my kids to the dentist when they were around 3-4. I have heard of other parents going as early as 1 year for routine visits, because their dentist recommended it, not because they were having any problems. That feels like a scam to me!)

sheepstache · « **Reply #2 on:** January 28, 2014, 09:24:10 PM »

My plan is to pray they get my spouse's teeth rather than mine.

Seriously, though, I would get a second opinion. Many people don't and I think there are definitely some people who will try to sell you the works when you don't need it. It works because people seem to feel guilty second-guessing anyone who suggests they need to spend money on their child.

Simple Abundant Living · « **Reply #3 on:** January 28, 2014, 09:42:37 PM »

I've had two kids that needed a two-phase treatment, and one more that will. Seven is the age of one that just started. She has palate expansion appliances on her upper and lower palate. After the expansion is done, she'll have a few braces to align what's there and then a retainer until she gets all of her adult teeth in. This worked well for my other daughter. Their teeth would have been so crowded that permanent teeth would have come in on top of the others. There is only a certain amount of time when you can expand the palate before it is fixed. My oldest had to have extractions instead of this method. I like the two-stage braces better, because 12-13 is a long time to wait if you feel self conscious about your smile.

And four thousand seems like a fair total price.

secondcor521 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 28, 2014, 09:58:24 PM »

My two youngest are in braces and it was $3k per kid per phase, so $12k total. But insurance pays half of that, and I split the rest with the ex, so my part has ended up as just about $1k per kid per phase. I'm in Idaho and that price is for the ortho recommended by our pediatric dentist, who I think is fabulous.

I also had braces as a kid from age 14-17 or so. Both the dentist and the ortho said that starting younger allows for more gradual treatment -- you can guide things into place while everything is still in motion and growing, rather than wait for them all to get in and solidified in place and then try to move them again. Also, I think if I had it to do over again, I would rather do headgear and braces and all that stuff in 6th/7th rather than 9th/10th/11th. It's a little more horrifying at the older ages I think.

goatmom · « **Reply #5 on:** January 29, 2014, 06:35:59 AM »

I got quotes from two orthodontists this past fall. One was $8300 (he uses some high speed robotic smartsmile tech) and another for $6500. My son who is 10 has an underbite and my 14 yo has straight teeth, but a problem with some impacted molars. From what I could tell, it is the same flat fee for everyone no matter what you issue is. 4K seems like a bargain to me. My older daughter had "crazy teeth" and I really though she was going to need braces, but we waited and her teeth really look great now. 7 seems young to me. Things can really change when kids grow and adult teeth come in. We are in a small town in upstate NY.

PajamaMama · « **Reply #6 on:** January 29, 2014, 07:00:15 AM »

My kids all have had braces. We are on the last set. I don't remember what the first one cost because it was completely paid for, but the last two have been 5000 & 6000. To be honest we didn't shop around. We just used the same one because he is the best in town. I have heard that his cost is similar to everyone else. If you find a dentist who also does orthodontia I understand it can be cheaper, as other people I know have gone this route. We are not too far from you, so I'm guessing that cost should be comparable to GR area. I think 4000 sounds great. The last child has really crooked teeth and needs a lot done. They expected the total treatment to be about 5 years. Her baby teeth didn't want to fall out so her adult teeth were trying to come in around them. She is 14 and still has a couple to lose.

greenmimama · « **Reply #7 on:** January 29, 2014, 08:15:50 AM »

Thank you all, this helps. The reason for me having him seen so soon, is that it is much easier to correct while everything is still growing, snd we are hoping that just an appliance is needed, maybe we wouldn't need to go through with the 2nd phase.

golden1 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 29, 2014, 08:47:25 AM »

My son is getting braces this year at 9. He is having a small phase 1 treatment lasting 4-6 months followed by a more extensive phase 2 treatment when he is older. The phase 1 costs only $1200 because it is a partial treatment of only his top front teeth. I am not sure what the second treatment ment will cost yet because they are waiting to see how things develop before deciding what to do, but I am guessing it will be more costly, in the range of $5000-6000.

GuitarStv · « **Reply #9 on:** January 29, 2014, 08:54:20 AM »

FWIW, my teeth were badly out of alignment at 7. By the time I was 14 they had straightened out naturally, and there was no need for braces. 7 seems ridiculously young for getting this kind of dental work done.

Nothlit · « **Reply #10 on:** January 29, 2014, 09:15:05 AM »

I had ridiculously awful teeth as a kid. My mouth is very small and was overcrowded. When I was probably around 8 or 10 my dentist recommended an upper palate expander. Turns out that was premature, as I ended up having to have the same thing again around age 12-13, and then braces from age 14-18. (Not to mention 4 wisdom teeth and 4 other teeth pulled to make room for the braces to even shift things around.)

MrsPete · « **Reply #11 on:** January 29, 2014, 02:16:16 PM »

I know only a few people who've done that two-stage process things. I don't get the point and think it's just a matter of trying to get more money. Plus, braces require some cooperation from the wearer -- you know, more intensive brushing, wearing of the rubber bands. My own kids were NOT ready to do those things at 7.

snellbert · « **Reply #12 on:** January 30, 2014, 10:48:22 PM »

Just a suggestion, if he does end up needing braces (I'm in the "7-is-super-young" camp), see if you have any Universities with dental schools around you. When I was a kid, I had all my dental work done at the University of Pittsburgh dental school for about 25% of what they quoted my parents at my regular dentist. They work is done by dental students, and all work is overseen and approved by their professors before/during/after it's done. Dental school is pretty hard to get into, and the work is good quality, since they need to do it well in order to pass the class and receive their degrees. I know they did an excellent job on my teeth (palletal expander + 2 years braces)-- years later, I still have dentists telling me how straight my bite is.

Gray Matter · « **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2014, 05:28:21 AM »

When I first heard of the two-phase approach, I thought it was a scam designed to extend treatment and get more money. However, my dentist (who is also a neighbor and, I believe, trustworthy) recommends the two-phase approach because sometimes, by taking action when they are younger and their jaws are still growing, you can avoid having to do phase two entirely. For example, you can expand their palate so there is more room for incoming teeth and they may not need later treatment. If you wait until later, you don't have the same ability to expand the palate and are dealing with more crowding, teeth extraction, etc.

MayDay · « **Reply #14 on:** January 31, 2014, 05:38:02 AM »

I was also in the "two stage is scam" camp. After doing some reading and talking to a dentist I know, I decided I shouldn't jump to conclusions ;)

The idea is that often you can solve the problem and avoid the later braces if you make more room while you still can. And that even if you need stage two, if will be much less involved and expensive at that point. They do virtually no headgear anymore, for example.

My brother is an example of "no matter what we do, it's too late to make more room" by the time he was a teenager. He had to have adult teeth pulled to get everything to fit.

FunkyStickman · « **Reply #15 on:** January 31, 2014, 05:40:15 AM »

It depends on the child, and the severity of the teeth alignment (and the reputation of the dentist!)

My friend's daughter and son had pretty bad teeth problems, to the point where they needed major oral surgery. In their case, it was bad enough that it would have caused problems down the road, no question.

My oldest daughter, who has an overbite (very much like mine) went to the same dentist and he was all like "So, we'll do this, and that, and like 3 rounds of braces, and we can finance it, blah blah blah..."

And my wife, God bless her, basically kept asking the dentist "Is this medically necessary? Will she starve otherwise?"

And after 20 minutes of discussing it, the dentist finally admitted it was strictly cosmetic, wouldn't affect her eating at all. So we told them no. We figured, if something bad happens, it would better to get the surgery done after the fact and get it over with, than have to deal with the added cost and hassle of braces. It's not like she's hideously disfigured, either... this was for a slight overbite.

TrulyStashin · « **Reply #16 on:** January 31, 2014, 07:48:28 AM »

Quote from: snellbert on January 30, 2014, 10:48:22 PM

Just a suggestion, if he does end up needing braces (I'm in the "7-is-super-young" camp), see if you have any Universities with dental schools around you. When I was a kid, I had all my dental work done at the University of Pittsburgh dental school for about 25% of what they quoted my parents at my regular dentist. They work is done by dental students, and all work is overseen and approved by their professors before/during/after it's done. Dental school is pretty hard to get into, and the work is good quality, since they need to do it well in order to pass the class and receive their degrees. I know they did an excellent job on my teeth (palletal expander + 2 years braces)-- years later, I still have dentists telling me how straight my bite is.

+1 for finding a dental/ ortho school near you. Both my kids had their orthodontia work done at VCU in Richmond. The treatment was outstanding, very affordable, and I made interest-free payments over the several years they were in braces.

Like any medical practice, our understanding of dental care continues to evolve. No one should make decisions about dental care based on how things were for them or when they were young. Teeth that appear perfectly aligned can often hide other structural problems -- my son appears to have perfect teeth but, in fact, his upper and lower jaws are misaligned.

This is not an area to self-diagnose or self-treat.

projekt · « **Reply #17 on:** January 31, 2014, 08:53:27 AM »

It seems like this could be a good test of the Paleo theory. Perhaps someone could set up a cohort study with Mustachians who are doing Paleo and matched controls who are, perhaps, vegetarian. :)

Lorin · « **Reply #18 on:** January 31, 2014, 12:24:43 PM »

I had braces as an adult. My teeth looked fine as a kid (& we couldn't afford braces then anyway) but I started to have gum problems as I got older due to my relatively minor overbite. So appearances can be deceiving when it comes to teeth.

I went to a dentist who does orthodontics. It cost just under $4k (including retainers & all visits) with a self-pay discount. We did a $1k down payment & then paid monthly.

Zoe · « **Reply #19 on:** February 01, 2014, 09:13:20 AM »

My sister just got braces. She's 27. It cost her $5k.

I have a consult on Thursday. I have insurance which pays 50%, yay. I figure my cost will be similar minus what insurance pays.

beanlady · « **Reply #20 on:** February 03, 2014, 07:24:50 PM »

That's half the price of what we're paying. I did the two stage thing with my oldest but am not feeling good about doing it with my youngest... is it really worth torturing her now so she'll need 4 instead of 2 teeth pulled later? (In other words I'm bitter about my oldest now needing teeth pulled anyway, all aside from the price.)

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Author Topic: Braces, Orthodontics (Read 12025 times)