Fully guided Elk hunt or Braces?

Marshian said:
I don’t think braces qualify as cosmetic to be fair. And the unfortunate reality is that middle and high school kids can be incredibly cruel and cliquey to those who stick out. The stigmas and emotional changes that can happen during these times can affect a personality for years. Especially if that stigma can be readily reversed.
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Yah I can remember some of my buddies whose parents who didn't have the money. They got ripped on it pretty good. Til they didn't anymore. Just the same if my kids need braces I'll find the money.
 
I didn’t get braces until the summer before my senior year of high school, which meant that I had braces for my first three semesters of college. The fact that it didn’t bother me that I was out of synch with the rest of the kids (middle school and early high school for the vast majority of cases) either means that I was socially clueless, or perhaps I was appropriately self actualized that I was ok with looking “weird”.
 
Nick87 said:
Guilty as all hell.
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No one told us at the time that there was a lifelong commitment to wearing a plastic retainer after having braces...

I swear, I got my braces taken off when I was like 14, and they said alright, now you just have to wear this.... wear it when you sleep at least. I'm like okay, how long? Dude says forever...

What the hell did we just spend 2 years doing here if I have to wear a damn retainer all the time?!
 
Makes me wonder what braces cost, we didn’t shop around but had nothing but great experiences with particular ortho and dentist. $5k flat here and not done or fully paid for and another kid to go. Perhaps they are cosmetic but could be pretty fundamental to a lifetime of self-confidence. Perhaps that’s shallow, but I look at my child’s smile a lot more than any of the elk antlers I have gathering dust.
 
Gravelyctry said:
How old are your kids? Our insurance covered braces once per lifetime per person. Our kids were little when some ortho convinced my wife the kids needed braces. We argued, and of course she won.
They were too young, imo, and their teeth kept moving as they grew. I think they could have benefited more if we would have waited.
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She is 12 and it’s time. Insurance covers $2000 lifetime orthodontic care which would leave us on the hook for roughly $5000.
 
Trial153 said:
The costs are significant, I hate to see kids that obviously need it go without it. I think it’s more than just cosmetic in some cases.
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My wife absolutely should have had them but her parents chose to ignore it. Now as an older adult she has constant maintenance to keep everything healthy.

She has a ton of angst against her parents over the issue. So there really is no decision for me or my daughter here. My wife has dictated the daughter is getting braces.
 
Marshian said:
I don’t think braces qualify as cosmetic to be fair. And the unfortunate reality is that middle and high school kids can be incredibly cruel and cliquey to those who stick out. The stigmas and emotional changes that can happen during these times can affect a personality for years. Especially if that stigma can be readily reversed.
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At least with braces, it's pretty much a level playing field. All the cool kids are getting them at least that's what I told my kid to get her in the door lol. My kiddo got her tops a couple months ago and is getting her bottoms in a couple weeks.

God blessed me with good straight teethe, but for that he cursed me with leg braces like forest gump that I wore for about 4 years of my life. If you think kids are jerks, try wearing leg braces from 1st through 4th grade....Wow, kids are a$$holes. Thats a fact. Good news is that 99% of the kids that made fun of me all turned out to be 0's in life, so the joke is on them.

Maybe that's why I am such a salty bastard. lol
 
OverlordBear said:
I won’t pay for cosmetic stuff for my kids. Plus it might keep them from dating in high school which will save them even more time, money, and drama. I d go on the elk hunt. And then offer to pay for it after she turns 18.
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Two issues here, insurance may not cover them after 18 and it will cost you more.

Secondly, like in my wife’s case, the jaw bone is most likely done growing at that point. If it didn’t space out properly and has to be broken to align it you are hurting your kid and paying significantly more for it.

@kansasdad can correct me if I’m wrong but from our experience this is best done while they are still growing.
 
Addicting said:
She is 12 and it’s time. Insurance covers $2000 lifetime orthodontic care which would leave us on the hook for roughly $5000.
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My kids were only like 6 or 7 years old when they had them. Way too young looking back, but sounds like yours is at a better age.

Good luck to you and your daughter.
 
rjthehunter said:
No one told us at the time that there was a lifelong commitment to wearing a plastic retainer after having braces...

I swear, I got my braces taken off when I was like 14, and they said alright, now you just have to wear this.... wear it when you sleep at least. I'm like okay, how long? Dude says forever...

What the hell did we just spend 2 years doing here if I have to wear a damn retainer all the time?!
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You must have shown some compliance lol.

I got a permant welded wire on the inside of my top and bottom teeth.
 
Old school orthodontics used to “wait for all the baby teeth to be lost, then we will get them straight”. A more updated approach is to detect issues early on and either work to rein in excessive growth, or accelerate retarded (dare I use this word??) growth to end up with a better finished result.

All three of my kids had Phase I orthodontics in early grade school, and then more standard middle school Phase II treatment. And our oldest needed to go back into brackets/archwires and orthognathic surgery to reposition a wayward lower jaw excessive growth while he was in college. Walking into his recovery room, seeing his ballooned up face looking like he had eaten a steering while in a bad car accident is gut wrenching.

I’ve participated in numerous major jaw surgeries as part of my USAF residency, but when it’s your own kid, it makes it a lot more personal.

My genetics of a very narrow lower jaw mixing with Mrs kansasdad grew some tricky to treat issues. The end result of their orthodontic care is a better first impression, and healthier jaw function, that is easier to maintain, and a better self image.
 
I swear half the people that get braces are talked into it by a dr that is all about “making your kids teeth perfect”. Our dentist mentioned it to my wife about my son he’s 10 hasn’t even lost all his teeth and they are straight no bite issues. Scam.. I tried to get my parents to not put me in braces when I was a kid. Lost that battle and my teeth and more crooked now then they were then. In some cases yes worth it but the majority just cosmetic
 
MtEngineer said:
You must have shown some compliance lol.

I got a permant welded wire on the inside of my top and bottom teeth.
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I got that cemented on wire for the top and bottom as well, but they still said I had to wear a retainer... I decided then that there's no way I'm wearing that for the rest of my life so I might as well just quit then!
 
We have a program in school district where we have our shore house, it helps children in the district that need orthodontic care and their family’s can’t afford it. They worked with an orthodontist and provided no interest funding, other family’s would volunteer to pay a months payment. The biggest issue they had was getting the parents to follow through with the aftercare and take the kids to the appointments. I think the lack of care isn’t always just a money issue.
We sign on for a month every year, it’s negligible and I take out of the rental income. I would love to see that in my home district.
 
WildWill said:
Yea I had that fight for years. SOB had the last laugh when he installed a permanent one on the bottom.
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My daughter's orthodontist drilled out my glued-in retainer last year after I told him the wire was unglued again, free of charge. He said it had lived its best life, I'd been waiting 25 years to lose that thing, best day I've had in a long time :ROFLMAO:
 
wa_archer said:
In some cases yes worth it but the majority just cosmetic
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I used to think that but now I don't. I look at my peers in their 40s and I can tell who had braces, who didn't, and whose teeth are starting to look like they have issues that are beyond cosmetic and caused by bad alignment.
 
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LuketheDog said:
My daughter's orthodontist drilled out my glued-in retainer last year after I told him the wire was unglued again, free of charge. He said it had lived its best life, I'd been waiting 25 years to lose that thing, best day I've had in a long time :ROFLMAO:
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Literally don't know why I've never thought of that. I'm about to make a call to my dentist and right a almost 20 year wrong. Tired of picking bbq out that damn thing.
 
kansasdad said:
@Addicting
I’m guessing that your question is more rhetorical than actual, but there are similarities regarding your two possible purchases. I encourage my patients to visit with more than one orthodontist office. Sometimes one office will be a much better fit for your kid/family. I imagine the same philosophy applies to elk guides.

And I would point out that usually you get what you pay for. A T-shirt from Dollar General won’t last five washings. It’s cheap and it shows it’s nature quickly. Getting a great elk guide or a great orthodontic office will be worth it in the end.

One little nugget of truth I leave with families contemplating orthodontics is this: when done well AND WELL MAINTAINED afterwards, this ends up being a lifetime investment. And I share with them that a fairly significant percentage of my orthodontic patients (active aligner technology similar to Invisalign) are former teenager orthodontic patients who didn’t do the retainers like instructed.
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As has been commented on by @noharleyyet and @Irrelevant on several of my photos I still wear my retainers every night 20 years later.
 
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