<p>LongPrime, I’ve heard a lot of people get recommended a mandible break… and every single one of them did something else after talking to another oral surgeon. Definitely get a second, third, fourth opinion before you break a perfectly good jaw.</p>
<p>Go to a TMJ specialist in your area.</p>
<p>What is a TMJ specialist?</p>
<p>TMJ=Temporo Mandibular Joint (which is where your mandible attaches to your cranium). The specialist on this is usually an orthodontist or an oral surgeon.</p>
<p>My husband and I let our son turn down braces. As with the OP’s son, he was on the older side when the recommendation was made. It seemed inappropriate to force a teenager to have something done to his body against his will.</p>
<p>Now, as a 23-year-old, he is not disappointed with his teeth. But I am. He has had much more extensive problems with cavities, some requiring crowns and/or root canals, than his sister does. (She did have braces.) I wonder whether some of his cavity problems are due to the difficulty of properly brushing crooked teeth.</p>
<p>Still, if I had it to do over again, I would have made the same decision. I just could not have forced a 14-year-old to get braces that he didn’t want. I doubt he would have cooperated with the treatment even if I did force him.</p>
<p>DH’s mom gave him the choice. He said no. He wishes now he had gotten them.<br>
He has had to have a lot of dental work over the years due to poor bite.</p>
<p>As soon as you stop wearing the retainer the teeth start moving back
Older daughter had braces-( she was also an extra early premie and had a narrow arch- you should see the size of her navel- it is smaller than a dime.
Younger daughter was term and her teeth looked pretty good, although both her dad & I had braces and extractions.
She was finally ready when she was in 10th grade, ( could have been 9th)
I didn’t stay for the application- came to pick her up, she was very uncomfortable, I took her back home to get pain reliever before I took her back to school ( she still had class & track practice after school)
On the way back to school, she removed her bands- all of them apparently)
( I didn’t see- she was in the back seat- because it was shadier)
When she arrived home that evening when I commented when I didn’ t notice them- we had paid extra for the " clear" - " they are really invisible"!
She told me, she took them off.
Guess the glue wasn’t dry, they had let her watch with a mirror- while they put them on- so she didn’t have any problem taking them off.
I had her teeth checked- but we decided that it wasn’t worth it.</p>
<p>THis kid also pierced her own ears up high in the shell part of the ear when she was 5 or 6, she knows what she does and doesn’t want.
;)</p>
<p>From the age of 10-12, every time D1 saw her dentist, the dentist always recommended braces because a few of her teeth didn’t grow in straight (her baby teeth were so stubborn, they wouldn’t fall out when her regular teeth were ready to come in). My H opted to wait. When she turned 13 and went in for her regular cleaning, her dentist said, “Wow, you must have just gotten your braces off, your teeth look great.” By then all her teeth have straighten out by themselves (she said she used to push at them). My H firmly believes too many kids have braces unnecessary.</p>
<p>This is just our own anecdote on braces, probably not very relevant to OP’s situation.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation that you look into Invisalign. I just finished an almost two-year-long course of Invisalign and while it wasn’t fun, I am incredibly glad I did it. As a child I had fairly straight teeth and in those days you only had braces if they were quite crooked. As an adult I had bite problems, decay and wear problems and sort of a collapsing of the lower arch of teeth - the front ones got so crooked that they kind of fell back and the side ones were getting closer together. The Invisalign trays worked as advertised and now my teeth are quite beautiful, if I say so myself. I had a permanent retainer placed behind the bottom 6 teeth in the front and it doesn’t bother me at all. I highly recommend these retainers for anyone who isn’t likely to wear a removable one at night. All three of my kids have them and their teeth have stayed put very well.</p>
<p>Can you force ANYTHING on 15 years old boy? I assume he is average person who can easily remove braces if he does not want them. Consider yourself very lucky if he listens to you sometime, most of them do not.</p>
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<p>I second this suggestion. The vision of having a mouth full of metal may hold back a kid from saying yes to braces. A practically invisible set up may be a good middle ground, if it is available.</p>
<p>2 of my sons had excessive lower jaw growth (in excess of upper jaw growth of about 1 mm) after the braces were removed. Very unusual to have this happen, per ortho, and they have both been excellent about following through with treatment plans, so we were all bummed.</p>
<p>However, ortho indicated that, although the teeth were still straight, in the front the top and bottom teeth meet (instead of the uppers being slightly outside of the lowers). Expectation that by the age of 45 the teeth would be worn down significantly, making them look older and hard to keep teeth healthy.</p>
<p>Son 2 is awaiting further growth until re-treating, and wears a chin strap to hold back further lower jaw growth.</p>
<p>Son 1 had braces put back on (just so the bottom teeth could be pulled back behind the uppers) for about 7 months in his senior year, at the age of 18. Ortho treatment was free and she even let him upgrade to the clear braces on the top. They were not very noticeable at all. Really. The bottoms were metal as clears evidently are not strong enough in that area.</p>
<p>We presented the info to my son, let him stew about it and be unhappy for a weekend, and then we all decided the best time to treat was summer before senior year began.</p>
<p>It is surprising how many seniors and even juniors and especially sophomores still have braces on.</p>
<p>I have huge regrets about one of my teeth that is turned in front due to an accident. I cannot at this point successfully treat it. I only wish my parents would have nagged me about wearing the retainer (they never once did). I often feel self-conscience of that tooth.</p>
<p>I would really think twice about trusting a 15 y/o boy with Invisalign. The treatment is then totally under his control, as he can take the “trays” out at will. Everytime he eats or drinks ANYTHING (except water), he should take the trays out and then brush before putting them back in. You change trays every two weeks, and it can be painful when you first put then new one in. And if you lose one, it’s around $100.
If his teeth aren’t too bad, see if he can wait a few more years, when he’s a bit more responsible, and can still get Invisalign then.</p>
<p>JDA1990, We had the opposite problem. Both of my boys had the Herbst appliance cemented into their mouths to push their jaws forward to make teeth align correctly.
Our Ortho. was a big proponent of the Herbst over “headgear” esp. with adolescent boys who were often non-compliant.</p>
<p>Is Invisalign more expensive than reg. braces?</p>
<p>I think the orthodontist should be able to give you better guidance with regard to long term consequences. A problem with bite can mean really serious issues later - not necessarily cosmetic, but painful jaw issues and problems with decay. He and you need to know the possible financial impact later of not acting now. I regret that my parents didn’t get orthodontic care for me when I was younger. My teeth are very crowded and this leads to many problems that I wouldn’t have otherwise - these problems will only get more complicated and expensive as I age.</p>
<p>DD has Invisalign now at 17. </p>
<p>She is doing really well - but it was her choice to go this way rather than regular braces and therefore I made it really clear it was her responsibility. </p>
<p>They were a little more expensive - something on the order of $100 after insurance. Basically not enough difference to worry about.</p>
<p>Depends how bad his bite could get. If you’re sure it’ll never look bad, don’t get them. But if it’s going to get worse, I’d get them now while he’s still at an age where braces aren’t uncommon.</p>
<p>I think my Ortho said that my Invisalign cost about $1500 more than regular braces but it was well worth it for me. They really are almost unnoticeable and I liked being able to take them on and off to keep them and my teeth super clean. Most braces get pretty gross. If you can stand this little bit of “too much information,” the key to Invisalign trays is to brush them with toothpaste when you take them off, not before you put them back on. If you never let saliva dry on them, they don’t get plaque on them. It took me awhile to figure that out.</p>
<p>(cartera45 - It may not be too late to take care of the crowding now. I started just after my 50th B-day.)</p>
<p>Puzzled - my D’s orthodontist has talked to me about Invisalign. If my business ever gets back to where it was, it is on my list to do. </p>
<p>My D had a underbite. Her pediatric dentist wanted her to have braces, lip bumper, head gear and on and on. I had been warned that this group over treats so I took her for a second opinion. She ended up with the head gear that she wore at night for some time and has a night retainer that it seems she will have forever.</p>