Kids braces!

[KsRancher]

My oldest got them in 2019 and off in 2022. Took WAY longer than they originally said. But that didn't change the price any other than taking off of work and commuting 1.5hrs one way to take him to appointments. It was $5500 out of pocket. Getting ready to go for a set on my oldest daughter.

 

[WCB]

Question...how many are getting the braces due to actual health reasons or because the kid as 1 or two slightly crooked teeth or a small gap or two?

 

[Lowg08]

Question...how many are getting the braces due to actual health reasons or because the kid as 1 or two slightly crooked teeth or a small gap or two?

Both of mine have actual medical necessity when getting them. Bites were off, crowding or mouth is too small for her teeth to come in correctly

 

[CorbLand]

Question...how many are getting the braces due to actual health reasons or because the kid as 1 or two slightly crooked teeth or a small gap or two?

My mom just wanted me to have straight teeth. I didnt need mine for medical reasons.

 

[Nine Banger]

Same business model as gutters..."you need gutters" said every gutter guy.

 

[tdhanses]

Checkout Invisalign, was about $2k cheaper then old school braces and my 13yr old daughter loved them.

 

[5MilesBack]

Same business model as gutters..."you need gutters" said every gutter guy.

Gutters are nice, especially the larger ones.

Invisalign was more expensive here, a lot more.

 

[BTLowry]

Check to see if there is a dental/orthodontic school near you

Don't remember what it cost but know it was around 50% of what the local ortho quoted. Got both kids done for the cost of one

Only negative was it took longer as the dental student was learning. Instructor was experienced and checked their work so no worries about sub par job.

This was not first year dental school students either

Kids have had their braces off for 8-10 years now and no problems

 

[tdhanses]

My oldest daughter’s braces were $6,500 3 years ago. 13 year old son gets his next week.$7,500. Payment plan is $250/month.

Did you guys shop around, our first quote was $6800, ended up getting Invisalign for my daughter for $4300, with a 3yr guarantee to allow for more trays. She just finished up but will have to do her bottoms again once her permanent teeth come in.

This price also included her retainer.

 

[KsRancher]

Question...how many are getting the braces due to actual health reasons or because the kid as 1 or two slightly crooked teeth or a small gap or two?

My son could have gotten by just fine in life physically without braces. But his teeth were so crooked it was a self esteem thing. It wasn't just a tooth or two. Pulled a couple, expander and then got them staightened up.

 

[waspocrew]

Our daughter definitely needed it - mouth very small for incoming teeth which would have caused more problems in the future.

I had braces for 6 months during my senior year. I had one “snaggle tooth” and didn’t really mind it, but would occasionally have comments about it from family or friends. Braces cleared it up quick and never looked back.

 

[The Guide]

My daughter is at the Orthodontist right now getting her braces off as I post this. One suggestion I have since we experienced this is to get the braces put on in January. We did middle of the year with my daughter and insurance started paying their portion in monthly installments to the provider. My wife's work (who we carry our insurance through) changed dental insurance companies for the following year. We only got part of the payment we were supposed to get applied to the account due to the changes. Do it in January and you should be able to get the full payment even if your insurance gets changed to a different program or provider. We lost over $500 in insurance payments due to this situation. Your mileage may vary.

Jay

 

[intunegp]

For ***** sake, spring for the permanent retainer when they are done. My wifes parents spent like 5000 getting her teeth straightened when she was a teenager. Get to the end and it would have been 500 to get permanent bottom and top. Nope, ~15 years later and I will get to spring to get them fixed again when my wife finally threatens to divorce me if she doesn't get braces.

Lady I use to work with had three kids all get braces at pretty much the same time. I think she said they were like 17000 bucks for all three.

For what it's worth I had the permanent retainer on the bottom installed when I was like 17 and it came out on it's own probably 8-10 years later. It became the bane of my existence while it was there. Constant cuts/irritation on the tip of my tongue from trying to pry out food that got stuck behind it, and flossing/brushing around it well enough to satisfy the dentist was a chore. Anything and everything you bite with your front teeth will lodge behind it and be extremely uncomfortable.

The next time I went to the dentist they wanted to recommend an ortho to install a new one. I told them not a chance. For less than $500 out of pocket, my general dentist got me three pairs (top and bottom) of invisalign-style clear thingies. They told me they're supposed to recommend I wear them all the time to keep my teeth in place, but realistically wear them to bed every once in a while and as long as they're comfortable and not causing soreness it's a fair indication that my teeth aren't moving.

I understand it's a hard ask to expect a kid to be responsible with wearing anything they can choose not to, but if they don't the burden will be on them to get their teeth fixed again when they're an adult. Based on my experience as the wearer, I'd take the clear retainers over a permanent 11 times out of 10.

 

[KurtR]

My mom just wanted me to have straight teeth. I didnt need mine for medical reasons.

Yep mine to i wanted a car instead of braces. Looking back the straight teeth did pay off when it came to the ladies haha.

 

[Luked]

Son got braces almost 2 years ago.
Our price was like $5700-$5800.

 

[CorbLand]

Yep mine to i wanted a car instead of braces. Looking back the straight teeth did pay off when it came to the ladies haha.

My teeth were one of the first things my wife noticed about me and my wife is amazing, so it was a good investment on my moms part.

 

[CorbLand]

For what it's worth I had the permanent retainer on the bottom installed when I was like 17 and it came out on it's own probably 8-10 years later. It became the bane of my existence while it was there. Constant cuts/irritation on the tip of my tongue from trying to pry out food that got stuck behind it, and flossing/brushing around it well enough to satisfy the dentist was a chore. Anything and everything you bite with your front teeth will lodge behind it and be extremely uncomfortable.

The next time I went to the dentist they wanted to recommend an ortho to install a new one. I told them not a chance. For less than $500 out of pocket, my general dentist got me three pairs (top and bottom) of invisalign-style clear thingies. They told me they're supposed to recommend I wear them all the time to keep my teeth in place, but realistically wear them to bed every once in a while and as long as they're comfortable and not causing soreness it's a fair indication that my teeth aren't moving.

I understand it's a hard ask to expect a kid to be responsible with wearing anything they can choose not to, but if they don't the burden will be on them to get their teeth fixed again when they're an adult. Based on my experience as the wearer, I'd take the clear retainers over a permanent 11 times out of 10.

I have both top and bottom. My top busted off about 10 years or so. I had it fixed twice and it just kept breaking so the last time I told them to take it out for good and I will watch my teeth. They have moved some but nothing major.

My theory with them is that for 500 bucks, you added 10 years to the work that braces did. Small price to pay when you look at it as a whole. My wifes parents didnt and in 10 years of not having them, her teeth have all shifted and turned. She will need braces again some day. 500 bucks would have been a lot cheaper than redoing them.

You get use to digging things out of them and its kind nice to get some of last nights dinner for lunch the next day.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Pro-tip if your kid gets any dental work after getting their braces off, get new retainers molded. My daughter got her braces off a couple months ago but had a front tooth that died and needed a root canal, the plug on the backside of the tooth contacted her Invisalign style retainer and pushed up her tooth in the matter of a couple days before we noticed it. She now has to get braces put back on for a month or so.

 

[intunegp]

I have both top and bottom. My top busted off about 10 years or so. I had it fixed twice and it just kept breaking so the last time I told them to take it out for good and I will watch my teeth. They have moved some but nothing major.

My theory with them is that for 500 bucks, you added 10 years to the work that braces did. Small price to pay when you look at it as a whole. My wifes parents didnt and in 10 years of not having them, her teeth have all shifted and turned. She will need braces again some day. 500 bucks would have been a lot cheaper than redoing them.

You get use to digging things out of them and its kind nice to get some of last nights dinner for lunch the next day.

I guess my point was with the clear retainer trays/invisalign you get all of the benefit with none of the headache and they'd last just as long if not longer than a "permanent" retainer. Making sure the kid wears them to bed would be the only hurdle/potential downside.

 

[IdahoBeav]

You guys that had parents pay for your braces, you're lucky. I had to buy my own as an adult.