Too Soon to Start Orthodontics at Age 8? - Poway,CA

Does your daughter even have her adult teeth yet . Maybe a retainer to help adjust to the teeth postion but full on braces I,m not a dentist to say so. as a parent with an 8 year old boy I would say second opinion an absolute. The expense alone would be a killer. I wouldnt put braces on my son so young . good luck god bless you .L.

C.,

I've worked for two different pediatric dentist and we had orthodontists in both offices with us. It is not completely abnormal to do ortho this early. It is also not always necessary. Sometimes doing something this early can actually save you money in the end if you can stop big problems from forming. However, I have known some orthodontists to recommended it far too often in my opinion. I think your best option would be to get a second opinion. Most will do a new patient eval for free. Don't tell the 2nd Dr. that you want a 2nd opinion, just go for the appointment and see what he says. If he agrees with the first Dr, you know you are on the right track and can then choose between the two. If he disagrees, you might seek out one last opinion (a 3rd Dr) just to be sure. Good luck!

I was told the same thing, and I made the decision to wait on both of my daughters. I don't think their intent in suggesting this is only to make more money. I do, however, believe in waiting until all permanent teeth are in. I wouldn't go with it twice - unless there is some pressing medical need, that I've never been aware of.

For me, the key was to go to an orthodontist I can trust. I waited until my son was 14 before starting orthodontia, because his baby teeth never fell out. He ended up having 9 baby teeth extracted and then started orthodontia.

I have wondered if it might have been less of a production if he had started earlier. Now I realize that we probably didn't have to wait for the baby teeth to fall out. So it might have been better to start sooner.

BUT my biggest concern about starting an 8 year old is that it's a huge amount of pressure on a child, to keep track of the brace, because it will most likely be removeable. If they lose it, it costs at least $100 to replace.

This is just my opinion, but I think this should be a big concern, whether the child is mature enough. And make sure you have an orthodontist that can answer every question you have, including "what can we anticipate if we don't go this route." I had several consultations with the orthodontist before we signed a contract and started paying. I would not go to any orthodontist if I wasn't 100% sure that what they were doing was the best course.

Good luck.