11 yr old daugher 4 extractions and braces

Richlp5 · 26-05-2010 11:52AM #1

Hi all,

I am the father of an 11 year old daughter. She has overcrowding in her lower and upper teeth. We went to see the orthodontist a few months ago and he recommended 4 extractions and braces. My wife and I thought about it long and hard and decided to sacrifice the family holiday this year and get the braces for our daughter.

My daughter had the 4 extractions last week, it was terrible seeing her go through that and very sad to see the 4 perfectly healthy teeth after they were removed. However I was still happy with the decision we had made until I spoke to the parent of another child, who I met by chance.

She told me her daughter is now 16 and had a very similar treatment, to that which, my daughter is going to have. She told me her daughter has "perfect teeth" now but has to wear a retainer at night and she will need to do this for the rest of her life. She also said her daughter had to go back a fews times to have braces fitted for a few weeks at a time due to forgettign to wear the retainer.

I may have been naive but I thought once the treatment was done, say 2 years or so, that would be it. I feel very foolish for not finding out about this beforehand but also angry that the orthodontist did not make this clear. I have not spoke to him yet about it but have an appointment with him next week.

Its just the thought of her been so young now and having to do this for the rest of her life (going on holidays, when she goes to collage, gets married etc. etc..) or else have a permanent retainer fitted which I don't know the implications off but would image it would have some impact on how she would enjoy food or eat an apple.

Has anyone else gone through this with their kids and might be in a position share some info. I would be very appreciative.

seamus · 26-05-2010 12:20PM

Richlp5 wrote: »

She told me her daughter is now 16 and had a very similar treatment, to that which, my daughter is going to have. She told me her daughter has "perfect teeth" now but has to wear a retainer at night and she will need to do this for the rest of her life. She also said her daughter had to go back a fews times to have braces fitted for a few weeks at a time due to forgettign to wear the retainer.

Yes and no. Everyone is different, and the main problem is that the layout of your mouth can continue to change well into your twenties as your wisdom teeth come up.

I had braces between the ages of 12 and 17. When they came out I wore a retainer full-time for a year and was then told to wear it every night for the rest of my life, otherwise my teeth would go back to the way that they were within 5 years and all the hard work would be undone.

I haven't worn my retainer at all since I was about 19 (9 years at this stage) and aside from some minor crowding at the bottom from the emergence of my wisdom teeth, my teeth are still as good as they were when the braces came off.
I have two brothers with exactly the same experience.

In future, I may get some work done to fix the crowding (though it's only very minor) and it will still have been worth it compared to wearing a retainer every night.

It's tough to say how it will pan out for your daughter. I will say though that for a teenager, a retainer is far more preferable to your normal braces. It generally doesn't affect you at all day-to-day and if she's going out to a party or otherwise being image-conscious, she can pop them out for a few hours with no ill-effects.

Once she's an adult, it's up to her to decide what to do. My own personal experience, given the teeth that I had at twelve, it was entirely worth it to wear braces and a retainer for all that time so that I had great teeth during those curcial socialising years between 17 and 25.

day dreamer · 26-05-2010 01:45PM

Hi there

The down-side of orthodontic treatment is that afterwards the teeth tend to go crooked again or relapse. This is unpredictable, some will get no problems, others will get the teeth going back to their original position. This is why retainers are so important.

I can only assume without seeing your daughter that if she is planned for 4 extractions and 2 years of treatment her teeth or bite must be quite out of line. The treatment will benefit her and for the vast majority of people who have orthodontic treatment, children and adults, the benefits outweigh the risks.

The implications are not as grave as you may think. She could have bonded or fixed retainers. They have to be kept very clean but have very little effect on diet. If she gets a removable retainer, immediately after the braces are removed she will wear the retainers full time but after a few months it is at night only and after a while it is every 2nd or 3rd night.

If some scientist could invent a way to keep teeth straight indefinitely it would be great for dentists and patients but we are not there yet. Overall the benefits of the treatment will outweigh the downside of the retainers, most patients do not regret getting the treatment at all. If there is some relapse it is usually the lower front teeth and most people can accept this given the improvement in their teeth overall.

Hope this helps you. I am sure the orthodontist will go through this with you when you see them next

Richlp5 · 26-05-2010 01:56PM

seamus wrote: »

Yes and no. Everyone is different, and the main problem is that the layout of your mouth can continue to change well into your twenties as your wisdom teeth come up.

I had braces between the ages of 12 and 17. When they came out I wore a retainer full-time for a year and was then told to wear it every night for the rest of my life, otherwise my teeth would go back to the way that they were within 5 years and all the hard work would be undone.

I haven't worn my retainer at all since I was about 19 (9 years at this stage) and aside from some minor crowding at the bottom from the emergence of my wisdom teeth, my teeth are still as good as they were when the braces came off.
I have two brothers with exactly the same experience.

In future, I may get some work done to fix the crowding (though it's only very minor) and it will still have been worth it compared to wearing a retainer every night.

It's tough to say how it will pan out for your daughter. I will say though that for a teenager, a retainer is far more preferable to your normal braces. It generally doesn't affect you at all day-to-day and if she's going out to a party or otherwise being image-conscious, she can pop them out for a few hours with no ill-effects.

Once she's an adult, it's up to her to decide what to do. My own personal experience, given the teeth that I had at twelve, it was entirely worth it to wear braces and a retainer for all that time so that I had great teeth during those curcial socialising years between 17 and 25.

Thank Seamus, did you have 4 extractions before getting the braces on ? if so you story makes me fell better

Richlp5 · 26-05-2010 01:57PM

day dreamer wrote: »

Hi there

The down-side of orthodontic treatment is that afterwards the teeth tend to go crooked again or relapse. This is unpredictable, some will get no problems, others will get the teeth going back to their original position. This is why retainers are so important.

I can only assume without seeing your daughter that if she is planned for 4 extractions and 2 years of treatment her teeth or bite must be quite out of line. The treatment will benefit her and for the vast majority of people who have orthodontic treatment, children and adults, the benefits outweigh the risks.

The implications are not as grave as you may think. She could have bonded or fixed retainers. They have to be kept very clean but have very little effect on diet. If she gets a removable retainer, immediately after the braces are removed she will wear the retainers full time but after a few months it is at night only and after a while it is every 2nd or 3rd night.

If some scientist could invent a way to keep teeth straight indefinitely it would be great for dentists and patients but we are not there yet. Overall the benefits of the treatment will outweigh the downside of the retainers, most patients do not regret getting the treatment at all. If there is some relapse it is usually the lower front teeth and most people can accept this given the improvement in their teeth overall.

Hope this helps you. I am sure the orthodontist will go through this with you when you see them next

Thanks Day Dreamer.

abbey2000 · 26-05-2010 03:59PM

i had my braces off last year and wear my retainer at night now. i usually wear it every night out of habit. wearing a retainer is no big deal really, i had to wear my during the day for a while after i got the brace off and it was grand, definitely better than the brace anyday!

as i understand it, without the retainer there is the danger of my teeth moving again, and after years of a brace there is no way im taking the chance of that happening. my teeth are straight now and i want them to stay that way. talk to your orthodontist about the fixed retainer, and if you end up getting the removable one, make sure your daughter wears it!

Lynnsie · 26-05-2010 04:59PM

I'm by no means a dental expert but thought I'd counteract the bad experience you heard about by telling you about mine as it sounds very similar to your daughter's. I got braces for 18 months when I was 10 also due to overcrowding and and also needed 4 extractions in advance. When they were removed I was told to wear a retainer at night (a plastic one that looked like a gumshield) but I couldn't get used to it and only used it for a matter of weeks, and invariably when I woke up I had taken it out in my sleep.

Years (too many!) later and I've had no problems and never needed any futher treatment, so there's no guarantee that she has a lifetime of treatment ahead of her.

fifofum · 26-05-2010 07:44PM

I wear fixed retainers and they have absolutely no impact on my day-to-day life; eating, talking, speech- nothing. It's wholly you& your daughters' decision whether/not you wish to continue to wear retainers during the "growth" years; personally, I wouldn't (&don't) leave Mother Nature to chance!

cynder · 26-05-2010 07:50PM

I had braces fited at 15 (should have been done at 13 but they lost me).

I only needed them on top and had 2 healthy teeth removed, i had them on for 16 months and had a retainer fitted, i wouldnt wear it when i ate or drank as i could not taste anything and couldnt tell if the tea was too hot. i lost the retainer after 3 months, my front tooth slightly overlaps my other front tooth but they are way better than what they were.

When i had the braces fitted I had to wear a head brace at night and that was really painful and had headsches because of it. The brace pulled back on my teeth to make them keep moving back into the place where my teeth had been removed.

sudzs · 27-05-2010 06:56AM

I was in a similar situation as your daughter, overcrowding and crooked teeth. I actually had a misshapen gum at the front causing my lower front teeth to cross over each other. Anyway, I had a few extractions and then braces, I think for around 18 months possibly longer...

(it was quite a while ago!!) Then I wore the retainer at night for a year or so.

Now, 20 odd years later everything has pretty much stayed in place. There is some slight movement of my lower front teeth but I think that might be due to my crooked gum.

I have never heard of anyone having to wear a retainer for the rest of their life, I would imagine this is not the norm. I think you have done the right thing for your daughter in getting this treatment. Hope it allo goes well!

btkm8unsl0w5r4 · 27-05-2010 08:51AM

I think to answer the OPs question that this is par for the course with orthodontic treatment. No need to be alarmed about retention or extractions everyone who has had braces ever has had the same issues.

Richlp5 · 27-05-2010 11:01AM

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I printed out the responses and went through them with my wife and we both felt a lot better and are again happy with our original decision.

Thanks Again!
Rich.

btkm8unsl0w5r4 · 27-05-2010 11:14AM

Excellent glad to be of use....+1 for boards.ie

11 yr old daugher 4 extractions and braces

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