Is also supposed to get braces, but his orthodontist said that no kid should be expected to wear braces until ALL of their baby teeth are gone, which at 9 years old usually they are not. If you are paying half the bill, I would suggest getting a 2nd opinion on whether or not your SS really needs braces. Just my opinion...

...is likely going to need braces, as well, but there's not a thing that can be done until his baby teeth are all out and the adult teeth are all in. He still has a few to go, but we are making him an appointment with an orthodontist in the next couple of months or so just to get prepared and find out how this will all play out. Now, I had a neighbor who had a daughter who started out young with retainers first to make space for her adult teeth to come in and then had the braces on by 5th grade. I think a lot depends upon the severity of the problem and whether the problem is minor enough to do a little preventative space-making with retainers so as to avoid braces altogether. I'd probably go ahead and make an appointment, just to get an idea of what the future shall hold for this little guy and his teeth. That way, you have plenty of time to plan for the financial hit. And in our case, if one parent chooses to use a provider that doesn't take the insurance, then that parent has to pay the full amount. I also think there's a difference between "medically necessary" and "the other parent wants it done now." I want my children to have fabulous teeth, too, but if we have to wait six months or a year to be able to afford it, well, that's what we have to do. But when the skids needed braces, we didn't even know about it until they were already on the teeth and we were getting a bill. (Fortunately, she didn't use a provider covered by the insurance, so she got stuck with the bill, after all.)

~ Anne ~

The dentist said she will need braces--later. As in when all baby teeth are gone and the adult teeth in--her mounth is too small for all her teeth and they are crowding as they come in. However my sister who had braces had to have space maintainers in quite a while before she actually got braces--in order to get her teeth ready. I would definately check into it before handing out any funds.

Alisha

I agree 9 I think is a little young. He is to young to remember to brush his teeth now let alone have braces and take care of them. I only know I have two kids around that age. SO I think with you that she should wait till he comprehends taking care of them.

my SS got his at 9 too. Reason is that he had a HORRIBLE over bite that affected his jaw.

The other thing is that everyone is different. There is also some new techniques and trends happening with orthodontics, and studies show that if you start to do the process while the new teeth grow, it is easier and faster than waiting for the bone to start to harden. So a lot of orthodontics are moving to doing serious work at an earlier age while the jawbone is still soft. The actual moving of the teeth is faster, but wearing a retainer will be longer, or throughout the teen years to keep them inline until the jaw starts to harden.

Again, if it is recommended that a child start orthodontics earlier, they probably have a just cause for it.

What they will do is work around the baby teeth. They will start with just the front teeth, (but it all depends on the individual's needs) then later down the road, put brackets on the back teeth, rather than the whole shebang, and work around those baby teeth until they come out on their own.

The other thing is that our BM pushed for braces too, but I thought he was too young also. My mother works for dentists, and so I thought I had a pretty good idea, until I spoke with my mother. Things are changing now. A lot of research has been going on in orthodontics.

And the other thing we did was have the orthodontist office bill separately. We wanted to make sure that BM was paying half of it, because we couldn't afford it, and we made that point very loud and clear in the office, over the phone, in writing with BM. She agreed she would be responsible for 1/2 of the payment. We don't actually have to pay anything, because the office is billing our insurance which is waaaayyyyy better than the insurance she was covering, plus we have another set of insurance called a piggyback, that takes care of the rest of any unpaid amount... while BM's portion was ran through her insurance and she was responsible for paying what ever was left on her end... turns out that she no longer is working, and guess what... doesn't have insurance anymore... but the office KNOWS, it's all in writing, that we are not responsible for that portion of the braces, and they can not come after us for it... they go after her. In fact, for months, the office manager has been trying to get a hold of BM, verifies with us the info they have on file for BM, but BM won't contact them or return their calls... nice huh?

So, what I would do is find an orthodontic in your area, speak to them about it, and have the experts decide.

His dentist told us when it was time to go and take him to an orthodontist. He is 11 now but still has some baby teeth so the orthodontist said to wait. He has gone in for observations just to see where his teeth were at. He also had to get a retainer for about 6 months to keep his teeth from rubbing together wrong while he waits for all of his baby teeth to fall out.
Our orthodontist did say that some orthos will put braces on a kid before they have lost all of their baby teeth and then they have to get them again later on down the line.
So, I would say that until his baby teeth are out, braces wouldn't make sense.

Dawn

is what i was told my daughter is 10 and she also needs braces but they will not do it til shes 12.

And does need braces. After the custody case we can't afford a 300 buck a month payment, even with BM's 365 CS that has been coming in. We have Delta as well, they will pay 2000 according to the orthodontist we went to. BUT...that leaves 2000-3000 more. BM is required to pay 30 percent of out of pocket expenses, but b/c we have fought her on every little thing for so long, DH never made her do it before.

SO....BM has been harassing us about not getting SD's teeth that BM says, "Look TERRIBLE" fixed. BM is demanding we get SD to an oral surgeon to remove two baby teeth (top canines) that are not coming out on their own and have therefore blocked the adult ones, making them come in super high. The OD told us not to do any oral surgery until bands are on so that they can drop the teeth down where they belong quickly and before it heals all the way. This makes sense to me.

SD and BM are going nuts over getting this started asap.

Then...DH reminded BM that she needed to pay thirty percent. She claimed he was making that up. He told her to contact her attorney if she didn't get a copy of the agreement yet. She hung up. And no mention of braces since.

In my book your kid gets braces if and when you can afford them. Just like we did. DH didn't get braces until he was 18 and the army paid for them.

Peace, love, and red wine

At least you get to love SK's...I'm not allowed, by BM. Oh she says she wants me to (in writing in case anyone's reading it) but she proves different by her actions. I'm only here to wait on them hand and foot and contribute $$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!
Sorry, bitter today.
My SD12 was just put in braces 6 weeks ago, without DH's consent (they have joint parenting agreement), in fact we told BM we're not paying for them, firstly because her teeth are barely out of line and secondly SD didn't want them either. We had "negotiations" about the braces for a couple months before BM went ahead and got them for SD.
DH is responsible for 1/2 unpaid dental, but not orthodontia specifically. Now this may be splitting hairs but in the case of BM it has to be done....give an inch take a mile kind of thing.

Hope your SS doesn't have to go through the pain and hassle of braces if he doesn't need to.

"I prefer my life STRESS FREE...When you're STRESSIN'...You're STRESSIN' me"