Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 18:41:33 GMT -5
Well, sort of lol ... DS3 got his braces off yesterday, he still has to wear gutters (?) for two years, but I'm SORT of done. It's much cheaper now, he has to go every 3 months instead of every month, but best of all ...
there is no younger sibling to take along!
DS1 is 27, and we started seeing the (same) orthodontist when he was 11 or 12. Every time a sibling got their braces taken off, I'd drag along the younger sibling for an evaluation, and the whole cycle would start again. Rinse and repeat, 3 times!
Tonight I went up to joyously announce that I was FINALLY DONE with braces (which she knows, she's also a neighbor, and her DS1 and my DD were in the same class for years, and her DS2 and my DS3 are the same age).
Her reaction really surprised me. She is Asian, and has always been EXTREMELY reserved. She jumped up and said, oh, you are so lucky to be nearly done with me! I wish I were done with me too! I can't stand these monsters anymore (while she affectionately hugged DS3). She said, I'm getting more and more adults, so I want to change careers, I want to treat only adults!
I said, can you do that, can you change careers? She said, you bet! DS1 is in dental school, I just have to wait 3 more years till he can do orthodontics with me supervising, and 3 more years after that till he's a qualified orthodontist. So in six more years, hopefully, I'll never have to see a teen again (she gave DS3 another affectionate squeeze). LOL!
The whole interaction just cracked me up LOL!
But the best news is, NO MORE BRACES!!! AFTER 15-16 YEARS, I AM FINALLY DONE!!!
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Dec 18, 2013 19:08:09 GMT -5
Well, sort of lol ... DS3 got his braces off yesterday, he still has to wear gutters (?) for two years, but I'm SORT of done. It's much cheaper now, he has to go every 3 months instead of every month, but best of all ... there was no younger sibling to take along!DS1 is 27, and we started seeing the (same) orthodontist when he was 11 or 12. Every time a sibling got their braces taken off, I'd drag along the younger sibling for an evaluation, and the whole cycle would start again. Rinse and repeat, 3 times! Tonight I went up to joyously announce that I was FINALLY DONE with braces (which she knows, she's also a neighbor, and her DS1 and my DD were in the same class for years, and her DS2 and my DS3 are the same age). Her reaction really surprised me. She is Asian, and has always been EXTREMELY reserved. She jumped up and said, oh, you are so lucky to be nearly done with me! I wish I were done with me too! I can't stand these monsters anymore (while she affectionately hugged DS3). She said, I'm getting more and more adults, so I want to change careers, I want to treat only adults! I said, can you do that, can you change careers? She said, you bet! DS1 is in dental school, I just have to wait 3 more years till he can do orthodontics with me supervising, and 3 more years after that till he's a qualified orthodontist. So in six more years, hopefully, I'll never have to see a teen again (she gave DS3 another affectionate squeeze). LOL! The whole interaction just cracked me up LOL! But the best news is, NO MORE BRACES!!! AFTER 15-16 YEARS, I AM FINALLY DONE!!!Do the Orth's kids send you cards thanking you for their college education?
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Dec 18, 2013 19:14:56 GMT -5
My orthodontist was my father's dental school roommate. My dad worked on his family's dental needs for cost and his roommate worked on our orthadontal needs for cost Win-win for all.
Boy was I glad to finally get those things off.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 19:15:53 GMT -5
They would have to send a TON of cards, not just to me LOL.
Today, on the way home, DS3 (who is 15 1/2 and thinking about future careers) asked me, so do you think her son is becoming an orthodontist just because she told him to? And I told him, it can be very nice to work with and own a business with close family. Look at M (a distant family member) who is a pediatrician, and who went into her dad's practice (he's a pediatrician too). He said, that's true.
I said, but to answer your question, how many people do you know who would go to university for 8 or 9 years to learn to do something they don't want to do, just to please their parents? DS3 burst out laughing and said, none. LOL
I know that exchange sounds extremely simplistic, but DS3 is not stupid, and it's at this age that they get all this info about what they might / can / do want to do later. Or not.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 19:17:41 GMT -5
Tenn, she is perfectly bilingual LOL. Trilingual, in fact.
ETA: But I think those "barter" situations are lovely, when they are equitable. They can create close bonds.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Dec 18, 2013 19:21:21 GMT -5
woo hoo! We are just getting ready to start! Next summer much to DS's disappointment.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 19:22:10 GMT -5
Agile, they are always SO eager to start! And then they are SO eager to get those darn things off LOL.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Dec 18, 2013 19:29:35 GMT -5
I thought DS was going to cry. I keep telling him that if he just does EVERYTHING they tell him to do, he can get out of them faster.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 19:53:17 GMT -5
You are right! DS3 kept getting parts of his unstuck, and it lasted longer than it could have.
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Works4me
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Post by Works4me on Dec 18, 2013 20:00:52 GMT -5
Now now now, don't celebrate prematurely.
Some parents are lucky enough to have children like me - I had to have braces twice! I had an overbite with small teeth so the first time they set my mouth for my wisdom teeth to come in and stay, to hold my bite from the back. Only problem was my wisdom teeth came in and they were huge - must have been from a different ancestor.
My mouth really hurt as they came in but I figured it was normal. It was not until I went to the dentist for a regular check up that I found out my wisdom teeth had pushed by entire bite forward. In college I had to have braces with neck strap again! The orthodontist only charged my parents a banding fee for the second set but it was really fun having braces in college and having to go home every 2 or 4 weeks for adjustments. Fortunately the only thing that bothered me was it really hurt a lot more the second time - cannot even image how painful would be to have orthodontic work done at a later age!
Never even though about them on a bad way - I had them on my engagement pictures taken at age 21 but the came off the week before my wedding 3 months later. Both times I wore my retainers as directed and in fact, continued to wear my second set for years on occasion to make sure my teeth did not move again - wore them until I had to get a bite plate for grinding my teeth. That is the one tip I was given by one of the mothers from my group of friends - keep and wear your retainers on occasion for several years. From what I have seen it really does make a difference.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Dec 18, 2013 20:01:44 GMT -5
"Gutters" I wonder if those are "retainers" in English? Are they permanent?
I went the Invisilign route. We're supposed to wear the retainers every night for life.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 21:06:49 GMT -5
Yeah, my daughter got braces as an adult on her dime after being in them for five or six years on mine. She wouldn't wear the retainer. After a few weeks when I found out, she said, "It hurts." Duh. That's because your teeth have already shifted. I wasted money on my son because the doctor prescribed "head gear" when he was about ten. I made him put it on every night, and every night he took it off. When the doctor prescribed braces, I said, "Nope." Meanwhile, I wore braces for several years and now at age 59 have crooked teeth on the bottom. When the wisdom teeth came in, the bottom teeth shifted. Grr . . . It bothered me enough in my early forties to ask about braces. This was before invisaline. I would have had to wear headgear every night. I still loved my ex back then. Congrats on getting the three through it, Debt. But do try to make them wear their retainer or gutters or whatever.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Dec 18, 2013 21:20:49 GMT -5
DD was in braces for 7 years. They did a fabulous job of coaxing her adult teeth into place by selectively pulling and bracketing her baby teeth. But it seemed like an eternity. She is the poster child for dental health. No cavities, flosses every day, brushes frequently. Likes to whiten them between cleanings. And goes ballistic if she misplaces her retainer. She wears it every night faithfully and will put it in if she's going to be hanging around the house for a couple of hours. Her brother, not so much. So very glad its over.
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Works4me
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Post by Works4me on Dec 18, 2013 22:39:49 GMT -5
Both times I would sometimes remove my headgear in my sleep - my mother said that sometimes about an hour after she went to bed she would hear a clink that was my headgear hitting the opposite wall and sliding behind the dresser. So in order not to have braces for eternity I took to wearing it from the moment I got home from school both times.
I have never understood not wanting to cooperate with braces and not wearing retainers after going through the time and expense of them. Maybe I was unusual but enough of the kids I went to school with, even college, had braces that it was not unusual. Also, I viewed it as a privilege and knew my parents were working hard to give me the advantage of straight teeth and a jaw that did not pop out plus it appealed to my vanity - lol
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 22:54:01 GMT -5
We are into our second expansion right now. Hoping that stops tomorrow. We won't be done, but daughter is ready for this part to be over... Glad you are seeing the end draw near!
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Dec 19, 2013 7:32:25 GMT -5
We'll likely have a long time of braces.
My youngest and oldest are 8 years apart. My oldest just started braces, and we are looking at two phases (and needed to have oral surgery before we started).
I'm really hoping that the middle child doesn't have messy teeth. It's likely the youngest child will.
I could potentially be spending 20K on braces for my kids (and that's after insurance.) That's not too far off from being a half a year of gross my salary at my dayjob.
I will be looking forward, someday, to being in your shoes, OP.
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milee
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Post by milee on Dec 19, 2013 9:21:45 GMT -5
I hope that in the future Americans rediscover the joys of more natural appearing teeth. The obsession with Chiclet white teeth that are perfectly aligned is expensive and unhealthy. Even kids' teeth aren't that glow in the dark white fakey shade that seems to be required now; natural teeth are like pearls, more of a creamy white color and that should be OK. Natural teeth aren't perfectly aligned and Americans are way overboard with their orthodontia craze. In most other countries, teeth that are clean and not causing pain are considered good and frankly, they are good.
It's sad that one of our social standards now requires expensive, painful procedures for mostly cosmetic reasons. It's one more thing that identifies, isolates and holds back poor people or people with different ideas.
DH and I debated long and hard about braces for our kids. Neither has physical issues from their bite, it's purely a cosmetic procedure. We have the $6k per kid to do it, so it's not a money debate. It just annoys me that society pressures parents into putting their kids through this and costing an amount that would pay for a good portion of a semester at college simply as an identifier that your kid is socially acceptable or conforms to the US standard of beauty. DH is English, so obviously he gets my point. Be he also convinced me that I shouldn't use my kids as a form of protest against something I don't agree with. He's right, but I just hate it (the societal "standard" not DH being right, although that's annoying as well.)
And before I get 27 replies with how your child needed braces for a medical issue, I get that and that's not what I disagree with. I'm not talking about orthodontia to correct pain or prevent physical issues, just like I'm not objecting to whitening to counteract stains or discoloration. I'm just disagreeing with the idea that healthy, functional, normal colored teeth need tampering with.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Dec 19, 2013 9:52:24 GMT -5
Yeah, my daughter got braces as an adult on her dime after being in them for five or six years on mine. She wouldn't wear the retainer. After a few weeks when I found out, she said, "It hurts." Duh. That's because your teeth have already shifted. I wasted money on my son because the doctor prescribed "head gear" when he was about ten. I made him put it on every night, and every night he took it off. When the doctor prescribed braces, I said, "Nope." Meanwhile, I wore braces for several years and now at age 59 have crooked teeth on the bottom. When the wisdom teeth came in, the bottom teeth shifted. Grr . . . It bothered me enough in my early forties to ask about braces. This was before invisaline. I would have had to wear headgear every night. I still loved my ex back then. Congrats on getting the three through it, Debt. But do try to make them wear their retainer or gutters or whatever. I still wear my retainers 4-5 nights a week, 15 years after getting my braces removed. My DH makes fun of me, but I can tell when I haven't worn them in a while - my teeth are in all the wrong spots. I take great pride in my teeth.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 19, 2013 9:52:52 GMT -5
Nope, I got them for my kids because I wanted them to smile without covering their mouths with their hands. I had to be an adult before that happened for me.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Dec 19, 2013 10:04:17 GMT -5
When it came time for DS to get braces his dentist (same one I've seen my entire life) recommended he see Dr. W. I put my foot down and said "Nope, anyone but him. He was a cranky old sadist 20 years ago when he was my orthodontist and I imagine he's even worse now". So DS sees one of the other orthodontists in Dr. W's practice. They are the primary orthodontist office in our city and basically everyone goes there. So before and after school appointments are like a social party- waiting room is always full of other kids DS knows and parents that I know They said 18 to 24 months for him. 18 months will be Feb 2014. At his appointment this month they said "he'll need a couple more visits and then he can get them off" so I'm assuming it will be around Feb/March/April time frame. They were a little vague. Other than the expense ($5835 spread out over 24 no interest payments after the $800 initial fee). It's not been too bad. He's a rule follower. So when they say "wear these rubberbands whenever you aren't eating" that's what DS does. So he had two 1 month periods with rubberbands and that was it. Pretty textbook so far, no broken brackets or wires. He'll have a retainer for a while after he gets the braces off. He had a cross bite that they felt needed to be corrected and a small mouth so they did the expander thing too. Debt- my mom feels your pain. There are 7 years between my older brother and my younger sister. So from when M got braces when he was 12 to when my sister got them off when she was 16 was it was like 11 or 12 years of continuous braces. She figures she at a minimum bought Dr. W his boat.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 10:13:31 GMT -5
I'm counting my blessings that older son inherited my teeth and won't need a thing done to them. The 3 year old just went to the dentist for the first time last week, and he's guessing from the initial look that he'll be the same way. I know it's too early to tell for sure, but it's encouraging anyhow.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 14:21:17 GMT -5
Enjoying all the responses lol!
Yes, Bonny, I must mean "retainers", sorry.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 14:55:49 GMT -5
I agree milee. Son has no medical issues. His teeth aren't 'perfect' but you would not look at them and think he needed something done. I told him it was his choice. If he went for a consult or not. He said no thanks.
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justme
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Post by justme on Dec 19, 2013 15:16:39 GMT -5
Are orthodontists telling you to wear your retainers more now? Mine said only a year or two (forget which) of needing to wear it. Never mentioned wearing it at night only or anything so I only did it sporadically and often forgot it once I went to college (right after the 2 years initial time). I have a permanent retainer on the bottom so those haven't really moved, but the top have. I got a TMJ splint 7 years ago since it's basically a retainer, so they haven't moved since then, but definitely not straight anymore.
I'm now in the crappy position of trying to decide if I want braces for the THIRD time as an adult. It's mostly cosmetic so so far I have declined, but my back molars (not wisdom teeth, those were yanked out) came in after braces came on and have moved a few things out of whack, plus my TMJ problems have made a few things change.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2013 16:36:27 GMT -5
Milee, I pretty much agree with you, which is why we said no on the braces for my son. The headgear was supposed to prevent problems (I think . . . he's 34 now so my memory is vague), and I guess he wore it just enough. There's nothing particularly noticeable about his teeth.
My daughter, on the other hand, would have had rabbit teeth without the braces. I'll never forget, though: she CRIED when they took the braces off. She wore them for a long time and was not good about cleaning around them. She had years and years of no cavities, and then they took the braces off. Both of her front teeth had noticeable cavities! She thought she was going to have this gorgeous smile the next day and didn't. She got veneers as soon as possible.
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spydah
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Post by spydah on Dec 19, 2013 19:46:08 GMT -5
Congratulations!
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Dec 19, 2013 23:22:30 GMT -5
Enjoying all the responses lol! Yes, Bonny, I must mean "retainers", sorry. No need to apologize, things translate differently.
Although it would give a whole new meaning to someone being a gutter-mouth!
BTW Not everyone needs to wear retainers for life. A lot of people of central European descent are fine like DH (maternal side is Hungarian). I'm of the accursed Celtic pointy jaw. I go a couple of days in a row without the retainer at night and I can tell my teeth are moving back to their old spots on the bus!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2013 0:07:57 GMT -5
I sucked up and got braces for my youngest DS a couple years ago. Every single month those payments suck, but I have FOUR more months and I too will be done! I still can't believe I somehow found 5K in my life to pay for them. Dang it is a lot of cash.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2013 9:49:24 GMT -5
I guess I would need to see what milee considers teeth that don't need braces but I know I can't stand talking to people who have crooked teeth, overlapping teeth, a prominent overbite, or missing teeth.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2013 10:14:10 GMT -5
I got braces for purely cosmetic reasons. My bite was normal but I had a giant gap between my two front teeth. My dentist kept telling me my wisdom teeth would push them together and then the summer after Junior year he told me "you don't have any wisdom teeth. Have you thought about orthodontia?" Uhhhh......every freaking day since they came in!!!! I got them on the day before my Senior picture and got them off a week after graduation. They moved the two front teeth together and then bonded my eyeteeth.
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