Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

How old to get braces?
I feel like DD still has a bunch of baby teeth with no signs of them coming out anytime soon. She's 8.
Will they even do braces on baby teeth? Do we have to wait for them to all come out first?

Last time she was at her dentist for her check up they didn't mention it and I forgot to ask.

Message edited 12/4/2018 4:48:18 PM.

Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

There were kids with braces in third grade so they definitely put them on baby teeth. They seem to put them on earlier and earlier, then they have to wear the retainer longer and longer from what I've been told.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

Interesting. But I wonder what happens when that baby tooth needs to fall out? Does it just hang there caught up in the metal and wires?
And then the new tooth starts growing in and what about that?
So strange

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

My experience with my daughter has been that they put braces on the adult teeth only. She is 9 now but braces were put on the top four front teeth (permanent teeth)when she was 8. The next tooth over is coming in now so a brace will be added once it comes through fully.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

The dentist would’ve told you if your DD needed early orthodontics. My son started in first grade with a palatal expander and it made a huge difference so now at 8 he hasn’t gotten braces on his four top front teeth yet.

Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

My DD is 7 and I took her to her regular 6 month cleaning last week. They recommended she see an orthodontist cause she may not have room for her adult teeth to come in and she has a crossbite. I know of one girl in her class that has a palate expander and my DD told me someone else has braces on their top teeth.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

My DS is 9. I took him to the orthodontist and they suggested the pallet expander first and then after he'll get a retainer and then braces. I do see a bunch of his friends who have braces too. They only put the brackets on the adult teeth. My orthodontist says he doesn't do braces so young bc it's not good for the teeth since kids don't brush so well. I forgot the reason.
Anyway, I do notice with the pallet expander his teeth are starting to straighten out once I stopped turning the key. He gets it off in April and then will get a retainer, which should help straighten the teeth and keep the mouth from getting crowded.
Fun stuff! A mortgage or two later and he'll have straight teeth.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

OK thanks.
They have mentioned in passing - oh looks like she will need braces, oh she has an overbite, etc.
But it was more from the hygienist, and in passing.

The dentist didn't suggest we go yet, so I guess maybe she doesn't need a palate ex pander, etc.

I will ask at our next visit though to find out what age we should be taking her.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

Message edited 12/5/2018 9:26:56 AM.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

My niece is 8 and already seeing an orthodontist.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

My girls got them last December and they were 12 (7th grade) and 10 (5th grade) at the time. My oldest one opted to get four baby teeth pulled so she could start the braces earlier in the hopes of getting them off before high school. My younger one was an earlier teether and lost them earlier than her sister, so she didn’t need to get any pulled. When the adult teeth come in, they glue the brace on then.

Now my son is 8 and in 3rd and he’s only lost TWO teeth so far, so we’re nowhere near ready. No one in his class has braces either.

ETA: I don’t even think my oldest needed braces at all. Part of me thinks a lot of orthodontia is a scam, but I’m not going to go against the grain!

Message edited 12/5/2018 12:20:25 PM.

Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

I think it depends on the child and what needs to be done to the mouth. I know kids that needed palate expanders started early. No braces just the expander. They will not put a brace on baby teeth. Usually they will skip that tooth and wait until the adult tooth comes in. It also depends on the behavior of the child. If they can not take care of them properly then the othro will wait. My DD just got braces a few months ago at 12. She needed them earlier but she just wasn't ready and it would have been a disaster. Most kids around me are getting them the end of 5th to 6th Grade.

Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

My son just turned 8 on Sunday. His mouth is over crowded. We are going in January to start the process of upper and lower palate expanders, which he’ll wear for about 6 months, then after that he will get 4 braces on the top. After that it’ll be a nightly retainer.

Message edited 12/5/2018 3:03:03 PM.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

See my DD definitely does not have a crowding issue- I feel like it's the opposite- she has a lot of space.
So I doubt she needs a palate expander or anything like that.
That's probably why nothing was mentioned by the dentist yet

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

If there's a lot of space the hope is that the adult teeth will find their way to the appropriate places. Space is a good thing in orthodontics. It's needing to find space that's the bigger issue. If her teeth don't align, she may need braces, but it sounds like she's still young and growing so your dentist will probably give it time.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

I was told 8 but dd even at 5 is a chronic thumb sucker at home. If she doesn’t stop she’ll get a guard and then we will proceed from there.

Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

My niece got braces at 8 and I think they just didnt put the little bracket thing on the teeth that were still baby teeth, so they skipped over them and as the adult teeth grew in they added the bracket. When I was young (a long time ago) my orthodontist had my baby teeth pulled, and it was a lot too, like 6 at least, if not more. I dont know if they do that anymore.

Re: Spinoff to Crooked Teeth

So as an update, DD had her consult with the orthodontist yesterday at the recommendation of our dentist due to her overbite.

She definitely has a pretty bad overbite, but they said she is still too young to consider braces and she doesn't need anything else at this point yet either.

She has about 8 baby teeth that still need to come out and at this point he just wants to keep a watch on her every 6 months.

She has a lot of room in her mouth and he wants to see how things shift and move as more baby teeth come out and adult teeth come in.

I was glad he wasn't rushing her to anything- I'm not ready for this yet! (nor is my wallet!)

And yeah, pacifers are apparently really bad for their teeth. But at the time, it was survival for us!