Hi Ladies. I'm interested to see if any of your children started orthodontic work as early as age 8. The orthodontist said that she is ready to start correcting a cross bite. She will need the expander put in the roof of her mouth for 12-14 months. Her teeth has matured very quickly. The dentist said when she was 6 that her jaw age was that of an 8 year old. Now that she is 8, her jaw is ready,but I dont think that she is mature enough to handle it. What were your experiences?
Megan went to our normal dentist for a cleaning and I asked for her opinion. She said that she understood why I would question if she was ready, as she has no problem with telling anyone exactly how she feels/very fiesty. However, she does believe that she would be able to handle it. She said that whether we wait 6 mos or not, she will still complain, but she believes that she is mature enough to endure the treatment. I have decided to wait until Oct/Nov so that she wouldn't be getting use to it during the start of school. May be too much transition at once, but I will start in 2-3 months. She has a very pronounced crossbite, and we really shouldn't wait much longer than that.
Thanks for all of the advice. I was relieved to hear that it was not painful. I imagined it being excruciating. Her ortho is actually Dr. Schacter in Woodland Hills. I do really like the atmosphere of the office. We just need to dive in, and get it over with.
Thanks again for the help, J.
My 15 year old started the same thing around age 8 or so. Never had to have braces but did wear a head gear at night only for some time. Her teeth are gorgeous now! Drs. Schacter (father and son team) on Fallbrook at Victory in Woodland Hills are fantastic! ###-###-####
Hi J.,
I don't know who your kids ortho is, but I have a 21 year old that now has perfect teeth and one that just turned 11. I used to live over that side of the valley, now I travel over there to go back and see Dr. Feldman.
He is the best. He believes in trying to keep a full set of teeth in your mouth instead of pulling them out to make room like so many orthos do. He is really kid friendly and he is amazing. It's worth my drive from Burbank to go to Woodland Hills. He also has one of those cool xray type machines that just goes around the mouth and he can show you what's going on right on the spot. He explains everything down to the last detail for you so you don't have these doubts. Also Olga who runs the office is the best! If you want a 2nd opinion I would really go over there and see what he says. Not to say that your ortho isn't right, my daughter does know a few kids that had to straighten out their jaw line and have been wearing certain types of small braces and weird gadget things and rubber bands since they were about 6 or 7. So I guess it's never to young to start straightening the lines in the mouth for the teeth to come in correctly. Ok, enough of my rambling.
The number to Dr. Feldman if you would like to go for a 2nd opinion is ###-###-####
Have a great day!
A.
My daughter was 11 when she got her braces. She also had a crossbite and needed an expander. The orthodontist we originally started with told me I should have brought her in when she was 9 and that treatment would cost $9,000.00. I got a second opinion and the cost was less than half of that and the orthodontist said that starting younger would not have made any difference. I would get a second opinion. I'd recommend ours, but he retired.
I am now 41, and my son is 4 1/2 (just as background). I had braces beginning when I was 9, in 5th grade. (I recall getting glasses that same year too.) It was hard at the time because the kids teased me some. I wore headgear for an overbite for a year, all the time. I remember that my parents gave me the choice to wear it all the time for a year, or only at night for 2 years. I chose all the time. I was grateful for that it was my choice. I wore braces for 3 1/2 years, so I finally got them off just before high school, but wore a retainer thru high school and college. At that point, I was really glad that I had started early, as I had friends who were just starting in high school. So....it all worked out for me. Kids are mean no matter what sometimes, I think some kids will FIND something to tease about if there isn't something obvious. I hope that this helps. I remember braces being painful and it was a bummer not to be able to eat some foods, but my parents reminded me to focus on how straight and pretty my teeth would be when I was done, and that helped. My top and bottom teeth were REALLY crooked, and my overbite was so bad that I could stick the tip of my tongue out without opening my mouth.
we went through the same thing when my daughter was 6 - I went to 4 different orthodontists and got different answers - I ended up going to Dr. Sciarra ###-###-#### in Woodland Hills. He put her in a retainer at 7 to fix the crossbite - she still may need an expander but he felt the jaw is still growing quite a bit and she is still young (she's 8 now) - go check him out - I feel very confident in him
My 8 year old has had her expander in for the last 6 months and I have to say that there has been no issue with the appliance. We started with orthodontics about 11 months ago and had some springs put in to rotate a few molars that were growing in initially and then the expander was put in. I have to say the best thing about this whole process was that since all of her teeth are in the "moving" process, there hasn't been one instance of pain which is what I had been worried about. (My daughter has low pain tolerance.) Her teeth look great already which was a surprise to me. We love our orthodontist. My youngest can't wait to get braces which I think is funny. His name is Paul Austin and is located in Santa Monica. His number is ###-###-####.
