A couple of weeks ago, Cameron had her "records" appointment with the orthodontist. Basically, they did impressions of her teeth, took photos and measurements of her face, and took a bunch of different x-rays. The ortho evaluated everything and sent us a detailed report of what he found and which treatment plans he recommends.
He gave us 2 options. (1)We can keep doing what we had been doing - she had a lingual arch on bottom to hold some space. That can be left in, perhaps a space maintainer on top too - and it will be quite a tight fit for when her permanent teeth come in. Extractions to make room are a likelihood.
Or (2) We can do phase I/early treatment and try to help her jaws expand enough to accommodate her permanent teeth when they're all in. That involves a palate expander in the roof of her mouth, a lip bumper on the outside of the bottom teeth, AND a limited set of brackets/braces on the permanent teeth that she does have now.
All of this is supposed to take about a year. And then after that, phase II is the full set of braces to correct all problems for the permanent set of teeth, which will take about 2 years.
I was prepared for all of this info. We had a consultation with this ortho back in the summer, and he told us about the options. We took some time to think about it and do some research. We decided to go ahead with early treatment for her, so that we don't have to remove teeth. It was my understanding that they place the expanders first, then later add the braces. But for some reason, he's going to put the braces on Cameron right away. Like 2 weeks from yesterday.
So she's got separators between her back molars right now, they're doing another set of impressions at the next appointment to make the expanders, and she's getting braces in 2 weeks.
Good news - Logan doesn't have this space issue and won't need the whole phase I/early treatment. We just have to wait until she gets all her permanent teeth in, and she'll go straight to phase II. He says she'll only need braces for about 18 months.
3 comments:
Now I know who to talk to in a couple of years when Max goes through this. Right now he doesn't even have room for his 2nd adult tooth. I can't imagine what it will be like with a whole set.
Cameron is almost 11, and she's only lost about 8 or 9 teeth. I think she just doesn't have room for the adult teeth to come in.
I was resistant to "early treatment" at first, because it's not what was done to me way back 100 years ago. But it's new technology, and they've only been using it since the mid 90s.
The price is reasonable, and it's only for a year. Hopefully, everything will go well. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
Our oldest had early treatment to expand her palate when she was only about 7, because her cross-bite was so severe. We were warned that the cross-bite would likely return (it has) and require additional treatment once her permanent teeth are in place (they are still not in yet). I still can't believe the difference the initial treatment made - not only in the shape of her mouth, but her whole face. Be sure to take close-up photos before and after - it will make you feel a LOT better about all of the time, energy, and money you'll be spending on this project!
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