<p>My 13-year-old S has apparently decided to declare his independence by refusing to wear the elastics that are meant to help move his teeth. He’s had braces for a little over a year, and for the past 4 months or so he’s been supposed to put on elastics that (I believe) move his lower jaw forward. He’s worn them only sporadically since he first got them, and now what was probably passive resistance has become overt resistance: he now says that he won’t wear them at all because (1) they’re painful, (2) they’re annoying, and (3) it’s disgusting to take them out in front of people before eating. He is supposed to be wearing them 24 hours a day except for short periods when he’s eating. The orthodontist mentioned that this is the right time for him to have them, because of where he is in his growth curve. He also said that not wearing them is prolonging his treatment.</p>
<p>I’m worried that without the elastics he won’t get the right result, and I’m angry that after we spent a small fortune for this treatment, and I’ve spent the time to drive him to the orthodontist every month, he is not doing his part. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any strategies to suggest? This is the first time he’s been unreasonable. I don’t expect that it will be the last.</p>
<p>I’d hoped to fix the typo in the header, but I’d not available to me while editing… you all believe that I know how to spell it, right?</p>
<p>My daughter had rubber bands at several different points in her orthodontic treatment, and she tried hard to comply with the instructions because she wanted to get the treatment over with as quickly as possible, but they really do hurt, and it is difficult to deal with them in school.</p>
<p>How about scheduling an appointment with the orthodontist in which your son could explain the difficulties he has been having with compliance and ask whether there are any alternative ways to achieve the same goal. Then, if the orthodontist insists that rubber bands are the only way, it’s the orthodontist saying it, not you.</p>
<p>Good suggestion, Marian - thanks. He already has an appointment with the orthodontist next week. I’ll suggest that he discuss the issue himself. This is better than what I was thinking of doing - calling the orthodontist ahead of time and asking him to speak to my son about it.</p>
<p>we wont introduce your son to my daughter. But I hope this makes you feel better.</p>
<p>After my D had asked for braces ( she has only mild correction that really only a dentist would notice), and went through the process of the extensive xrays, and the impressions, she went to have the bands put on. we even paid extra for the clear bands on the top.</p>
<p>( She also has tactile sensitivity and some things are excruiating to her so I knew that this had to be something she wanted)
THe installation process took quite a while, and I left the office to do other things, when I came to pick her up, she wasn’t quite finished but was visibly upset and in tears.
I took her home to calm down and get some pain medicine and took her back to school.
She sat in the back of the car, to stay out of the sun and to drink her lunch.
I thought
during the 30 minutes it took to drive her back to school, she had removed every single one of her bands apparently only using a hand mirror and a pair of tweezers.
When she came home that night , after soccer practice, I looked at her and said " wow, those clear bands work really well, I can’t even see them!"*</p>
<p>NYMom2 – I understand your situation! Oldest S had braces for a total of 7 years – started in 4th grade, wore them for 2 years, had a retainer for a year and then back into braces again when he had more permanent teeth. He also had to have 13 baby teeth removed by an oral surgeon at different times, since they just didn’t fall out on their own. S2 wore braces for 3 years and is now in a retainer. (Had his wisdom teeth out yesterday, which is another story!)</p>
<p>In any case, both kids resisted wearing elastics at school. I understood this, and we compromised. They wore the elastics from the time they got home from school until morning, and didn’t wear them at school. I’m sure the orthodontist didn’t have this in mind, but it worked for us. I now have some issues with S1 not wearing his retainer at night, but at this point – $7,000 later – it’s his business.</p>
<p>I’d consider working this from both angles – encourage your son to bring up his concerns with the ortho at the next appointment. AND call the ortho to let him know your son plans to bring it up at the next appointment; perhaps if your son changes his mind about talking to the dr., the dr. could bring it up himself (or herself) with an intro other than, “So your mother tells me…”</p>
<p>I agree with the posters who have noted that the ortho’s words will carry much more weight than yours. We never had any luck convincing S2 not to suck his thumb when he was a toddler, but one gentle hint from the dentist made him go cold turkey.</p>
<p>When our daughter broke her bands by eating Doritos when she had been told not to eat them we dealt with it by making her pay the $45.00 charge to replace them.</p>
<p>You cant eat doritos?
I think the only things I couldn’t eat when I had braces were things like taffy.
No she didn’t have them put back on.
If it bothered her that much, that she would take them off as soon as they were put on, I wasn’t going to force her.
She actually has a pretty good bite, and it was borderline if she needed them or not, only to be perfectly lined up.
She can always get them when she is older if she really wants to.</p>
<p>I did wonder how she knew how to get them off, but she said that they had her hold a mirror up so she could see what they are doing, and apparently there was one band that had to be removed and reapplied, so she was paying close attention.</p>
<p>I was mostly upset that even though it was painful for her, and making her upset, that she didn’t say something during the process.</p>
<p>Unless some thing is a critical issue, like getting a bone reset, I want her to speak up if she doesn’t want something done to her.
She did go back to make sure all the adhesive was off, but I dont think they must have put very much on in the first place, because otherwise how did she get them off?</p>
<p>( she always has liked tools especially power tools, but her favorite thing is sharks, she is dying to go to Australia and study them)</p>
<p>My D swallowed her bottom retainer at dinner during overnight camp. It was just a wire permanently glued to the back of her bottom teeth, but still! After a couple of days, it passed through her digestive system.</p>
<p>my oldest had the braces from 2nd grade until 5th grade, she had a cross bite and had a gum graft…that was fun</p>
<p>I think because she was younger, I had more “pull” - she wore her retainer ALL the time, she said it felt weird not in her mouth</p>
<p>My youngest had an eyepatch because one eye was weak, so she covered the stronger eye- 6-8 hours a day for a year, and 4 hours a day for the next two years, from 3-5 years old</p>
<p>When she first got the patch (it was like a round bandaid you could “decorate” with sticker) she was shy about it…so we ALL put it on the first few times we went out, to help her and to see what she was going through…it was SOOO weird…depth perception, drawing, doing blocks, everything was off just a bit…she HATED it, but when we told her that if she DIDN"T do it, her eye could permantely feel like that banddaid was on it and she might be able to see much, she was a trooper. and bribery helped ALOT…new cute socks and a mcdonalds happy meal every Friday if she was pretty good about it…i see nothing wrong with a bit of rewards if a kid has to do something really uncomfortable…it doesn’t have to be a big thing, but for their health, why not a little treat</p>
<p>I had major orthodontia
I was even a university test case
I had staples implanted in the roof of my mouth- they cut ligaments to my gum, I had 4 teeth pulled-full braces and two head gears to be worn at the same time- yuck
However I was a premie- wasn’t nursed at all because no one could touch me but the nurses till I was a month old, so my lingual arch wasn’t great</p>
<p>My oldest although she was a premie and also had braces, she was nursed ( for years;) ) and had relatively good arch development. No teeth pulled, a little retainer.</p>
<p>My youngest however was term- but I dont beleive in her case, the comfort level is such that a little bribe was going to help her get through it.
She couldnt be held when she was a baby- literally, I had to lay her on the bed to nurse her without holding her- she is probably what they call, on the “spectrum”, . She had. a great many sensory issues that over time, she has learned to tune out somewhat, but she has high pain, low touch tolerance, an acute sense of hearing, and little to no sense of smell.
With time, and exposure to different things, she has gone through a desensitization process, but it isn’t unfortunately something that is a matter of will or something that can be forced.</p>
<p>I have learned to pick my battles, and in the case of the braces, I didn’t see anything wrong with her teeth,they aren;t “perfect” the way teeth can look in the first 6 months after you have your braces removed, but neither does she look like she is an actor from the Uk-
and if she had changed her mind about getting them, I don’t see what forcing her was going to accomplish.
But I agree that if it is just a moderate discomfort, then something positive to focus on, might be a distraction.</p>
<p>I’ve given up with my son (17 yrs old). He had the braces - straightened everything out perfectly but has adamantly refused to wear his retainer. Because he has one “peg” tooth (not full size) the top teeth have shifted over into the space undoing some of the braces work. Even wearing a retainer at night would help and I’m willing to get him a new one that would fit but he refuses. I give up. Some day he’ll hate his teeth and decide on his own that he wants them re-fixed and then he can pay it himself! They don’t look that bad. And he is the kid that, from the moment he was born, was going to do things his way and only his way. I’ve been lucky that he’s pretty much chosen a good path - no drugs, internet porn or poker bills, no girls pregnant - because if he had chosen the dark side there would have been no stopping him. So I figure a few crooked teeth and a mediocre B average are, in the grand scheme of things, not that big a deal.</p>
