Hi moms,
My 12 year old daughter has an overbite. The orthodontist also says she has a little extra space between some of her teeth (but no gaps that you can see when she's smiling). I guess the overbite is moderately significant. Definitely noticeable if she has her mouth closed in its natural position, with the lips open, and she's looking up. Also maybe noticeable when she smiles with lips parted (her lower lip sort of maybe tucks a little behind her upper incisors), but you'd have to be looking pretty critically to notice that. She doesn't have any baby teeth left, and there's no crowding or crooked teeth.
OF COURSE, the orthodontist recommends correction of the spaces and the overbite with braces and a functional device... (I'm thinking, they have to butter their bread, right?) BUT I haven't been able to get a reasonable explanation of why this is important to "fix". She talks fine, she chews fine, and, if anything, there's only a very minor cosmetic issue. So, I'm wondering, is there a functional or oral health advantage to correction, or is it just cosmetic, or to get her mouth to conform to some arbitrary standard? Also, she's still growing, isn't it possible that if she gets "corrected" now, she might need more "correction" when she's done growing? Or maybe the overbite will even correct itself as she grows? I'd appreciate any feedback... Thanks!
Sooooo glad I did orthodontics for my now 17 year old daughter. Did the first phase at 8 with a palate expander to make room for her teeth. We finished phase two in middle school and she had a perfect smile through high school. It was woth every penny!
K I was an orthodontic assistant before becoming a stay at home mom so maybe I can help you out a little. The thing with ortho is that lots of the work is done to help correct problems now and keep them from getting worse when she gets older. An over bit is a big deal. For one, yes it is cosmetic but don't you want you daughter to have a beautiful smile? Also as she gets older it won't correct it's self......most likely it will get worse. As we age our jaws protrude forward and our teeth shift forward so as she gets older it will show more. Also if she doesn't get it fix she can have speech issues, bit and jaw problems like TMJ (for example). The good thing about getting it done early is that her teeth and jaw move faster and easier when they are young. It's harder to more them when we are adults. And you don't have to worry about it returning as she grows and gets older. She will have retainers she has to wear only at night while she sleeps that will keep her jaw and teeth a lined for the rest of her life. Honestly she could go through the rest of her life with an overbite and may not ever have any real problems other than it getting worse and having more teeth crowding as she becomes and adult but i say if you can fix it do it now while it's easy. Take Care.
What does your regular dentist say about it?
Our family dentist has told me that our kids will both need orthodontia due to overbites. My son (also 12) finally has all his permanent teeth, so the dentist said whenever we want to get them he will give us a referral. No rush.
He doesn't DO the work, so I feel pretty confident in his opinion. My son's teeth LOOK fine. But it could give him problems later with chewing. Our dentist is very conservative when it comes to treatment: usually goes with the "less is more" attitude. Actually saved me from a root canal when I had a nerve that was bothersome... told me to wait it out and leave it alone for awhile. Sometimes the more you mess the bigger problem you make it into. It only bothered me after the birth of my son, and after it calmed itself down, I've never had another problem with it... that was 12 years ago. :)
We aren't in any rush to get the work done on our son. But I don't want him to spend his senior year in braces either. He is in the midst of growth spurt years right now... who knows what can happen in the next couple of years. It will be at LEAST a year before we do anything in his mouth.
We had a dentist actually give me a referral to an orthodontist when my oldest daughter was 6. So we went just to see what they would say, consultation was free. He then says full mouth of braces right now. yeah right!! I walked out of there in hysterics, 6 years old and they wanted to put her in braces, she still had baby teeth.
So now she is 15. Her teeth are straight, white, pretty. She has a slight crossbite that does not affect anything and I did not pay for orthodntiscs for her, nor will I.
My now 12 year old was in a habit appliance at 7,8 and 9 then into a full mouth of braces at 11. She had a plethura of issues thanks to thumbsucking and genetics, thank you Daddy. So yes for her we got braces.
With my oldest I waited until he was 16 and he wanted them. So we got them while he was still under our insurance.
If your daughter's are corrected now they will give her a permanent retainer that is cemented into the backs of her teeth. She may or may not have to wear a removable retainer also.
I just had the same issue addressed with my 9 year old. I told the school's dentist/orthodontist that I appreciated their concern, but that we will not be taking any measures to "fix" this issue right now. 1) She still has some baby teeth left. 2) She's still growing. 3) I know several people who've had orthodontic work done early in life that it ended up being useless. We will be waiting until our daughter reaches 15 yrs old AT MINIMUM before we even entertain the thought.
I doubt it will correct itself. What does your daughter think? Overbites are usually pretty noticeable. The way you are describing it (with her teeth behind her lip) it sounds pretty bad. Why wouldn't you simply want your kid's teeth to be perfect?
My older daughter had quite a bit of orthodontia over several years (palate expander and braces) and I have never had dental insurance. We just made a payment plan. If you wait too long (into the teens) it is much harder to correct things.
If you don't believe the doctor, get a second opinion.
Personally, I would get that corrected. Issues with over- or underbites and teeth appearance can cause jaw problems later in life and self esteem issues in the teen years. Get another opinion too. I interviewed 5-6 orthodontists before I selected one for my sons. Some have different methods, different prices and a variety of payment options.
I read an interesting article in Experience Life magazine many months ago about holistic dentistry -- http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/september-2009/he.... It made me inclined to check out a holistic dentist for my next check-up. Haven't tried it, yet, but I definitely would prioritize checking it out if I were considering braces for myself (again - yep, had 'em; nope, teeth moved back anyway) or my daughter. Here's the website for a practitioner in Hopkins, MN -- http://www.toothbythelake.net/index.html.
The way you describe it her overbite doesn't sound small nor does it sound like something that will magically correct itself when she's older. If anything teeth and jaw issues only get worse as we age. It could impact her speech later in life and be even more noticeable when she's a young adult. Would you really want that for your daughter? She's almost a teenager and soon she'll be in high school. These are very important years for building self esteem. And remember it's HER smile not yours. Just because you might not get braces for your own teeth if you needed them doesn't mean it wouldn't be the right thing to do for her.
It is not mandatory unless your child has structural problems.
In our country, braces are seemingly a "have to get" thing and for appearance.
In other countries, it is not. Different cultural priorities.
I had braces, when I was in 7th thru 9th grade.
I STILL have to wear retainers at night to this day.... otherwise my teeth STILL shifts back.
My Dentist said, they did not do a good job with my braces... and I maybe didn't need it... my teeth were pushed back to much and so my tongue now has inadequate room in my mouth for it. Sure, my teeth are straight and 'nice' and pretty... but, the braces also caused problems... which are NOW evident. And my 'bite' is not ideal. And I will NOT get braces again. I don't believe... it is the thing to do. UNLESS you have structural problems or bite problems with your mouth.
ALSO, my current Dentist said.. that the mouth/structure still changes... when a child and teens and older, and there is NO way to "predict" how the mouth will be, when fully formed. Not to mention the growth of the permanent teeth, still. Etc. AND, that the teeth/mouth has "memory"... so therefore, he said it is NOT unusual, that I STILL HAVE TO wear retainers... now.... currently... in my adult life. Because, the person's teeth/bite can still shift... back.
Braces... is not permanent in that sense.. BECAUSE you will STILL have to wear retainers... all your life, to keep your teeth in that position, that the braces were used for.
Some things to ponder.
This is what happened to me, due to braces.
All the best,
Susan
