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I have a feeling I am going to take a lot of heat for this post. I’m going to tell you all about braces and orthodontics, but I’m also going to talk about my personal opinion, and that always seems to get me into some hot water. Be gentle.
I have been told on more than one occasion that both of my children need braces. But, I’ve never actually taken either of them to an Orthodontist. The reason I never took them was; I have heard from many friends that when you take your child to the Orthodontist it is “free”, but once you are there you are basically put on-the-spot to make a decision to get the braces, or be charged for the visit. So, if you decide to agree to a payment plan at that moment, you avoid having to pay the $150.00 (or so) consultation fee. Bargain. Personally, I don’t know one person that has taken their child to an Orthodontist and didn't leave convinced they needed to get the braces. Since I didn’t have the money, even for payment plans, I figured avoidance of this particular office would be my best bet. I also think that even though my children's teeth may not be considered "perfect", they look just fine to me.
I’m not saying that I recommend this “avoidance” method for all parents, I know that there are many instances when braces are an “obvious” necessity. Basically, I have a two part problem with this whole “to get or not to get braces” thing. One, is the “money” factor, the other is the “guilt” factor.
I don’t have a problem with braces in general, but it seems to me that (practically overnight), necessity went from…baby teeth fall out, and permanent teeth are obviously “crooked”, to pull-out baby teeth and make sure the permanent teeth will be “perfect”.
Though early treatment may be the best approach for some conditions, there's controversy over the usefulness of putting braces on little ones.
From Star-Telegram...
The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland research firm, projects that the market for orthodontic devices will grow more than 6 percent a year to reach $3.7 billion by 2010.
Braces aren't cheap, and dental insurance usually covers only a small part of the bill.
So patients predictably have questions about the expense.
Packard estimates that orthodontic treatment typically costs $4,800 to $5,200 locally.
As a single mother, I found this quote by "Packard", a little offensive. Maybe I'm taking this too personally, but where does an orthodontist get off declaring what the "all-American family" should look like?
"The people that come to us are the ones that have three or four kids. Both parents work. Two of them are teenagers. They both need braces, and they don't want to spend 12 grand for those kids. They'll spend [$9,000] with us," Packard said. "Our market is the general run-of-the-mill, all-American mom and dad who are trying to make a living and take care of the family."
Am I not "taking care of my family" because I choose to wait and see if they will really need braces, or if I just can't afford to get them braces? This is where the "guilt" thing comes into play.
For me, as a single mother, I carry around enough guilt. So, I wasn’t going to let my dentist (brother in-law) make me feel guilty over not taking my kids to the orthodontist. Not he or anyone else could tell me that not correcting the small gap between my son’s teeth, would definitely become a problem as his later teeth came in. I was also told that there wasn’t enough room in his mouth for all his teeth…So wouldn’t that make the gap close up? I’m told maybe, or maybe it will make all his teeth crooked. That was about ten years ago. Today my son’s teeth are perfect, except for a (very) small gap between his two front teeth. He looks fine (perfect to me), and I can’t see how him having braces would have made much of a difference.
When children’s front incisors come in, between the ages of six and eight, a gap can develop between the two central ones. This is called a diastema. Dr. Richard Marcus, a Toronto orthodontist and president of the Canadian Association of Orthodontists, says the gap may go away on its own when children reach 11 or 12. The eruption of the adult eye teeth (the
