My oldest will be going to the dentist in about 2 weeks. She is starting to have large gaps between her teeth (she is very self concious about it in the first place) and is starting to look like we may need to get her braces. I have never dealt with braces before and was wondering if your kids have them how hard are they to take care of and I was curious about how much they cost. I am so nervous about this appointment and would like a general idea so I don't get sticker shock before the dentist talks to me about it more (the last time we went he said we will keep an eye on her teeth for the possiblity of braces), I do however have to say our dentist is old school and he will do a lot of things from his office (thank goodness! Dh loved that fact for wisdom teeth!). TIA!

My kiddos are still too little for braces. I wore them about ten years ago. I don't remember how much they costed, you can do financing and then it just depends. You just have to be sure to brush really well (otherwise it looks like you have fur coats on your teeth!)
I know that probably didn't help much but they really aren't that bad!

My oldest got braces put on this past Janaury. The total was around $5000. We has to pay around $700 down and then monthly payments for 24 months. Our dental insurance paid $1000 towards them (this is the lifetime payout for ortho care per family member). So we are paying about $140 monthly. One thing that we did was use the flex spending account that I can at work. This saved us with taxes. I do know that you can count this as a medical expense on your taxes if you have paid out a certain % in a year - this depends on your income.
As far as taking care of them - they have not been that hard for my daughter but she is nearly 15. We know that within the next year our second will be due for her braces. Goodness - when I was in school the minority had braces now it is like everyone has them!!!

My BIL had braces in the 80's and I know they were expensive back then.

Today there are a lot more options and most dentists do have payment plans.
Good Luck!

They will tell you what is appropiate and what you should and shouldn't do.

BIL had to WaterPik 3 times a day, floss and avoid certain foods

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I have 2 in braces right now, taking care of them isn't that hard, they just have to pay attention and brush carefully. I don't remember how much they cost, both kids have had them for a while, our insurance paid the first $1000 for each child and then we paid the rest upfront to receive an additional 10% off, our Orthodontist also gives a sibling discount of 5% off the total.

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My youngest dd (12) will be getting them, probably, in the fall (we're still waiting for one baby tooth to come out). She has the opposite problem, her teeth are way too crowded and they started overlapping. Our orthodontist has a payment plan where you put down about $1200 and then make 20 payments of $182. Our dental insurance doesn't cover any of it. The total was around $4800, I think.

I got a quote yesterday of $4200

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AMY

There is an article in the Parents magazine I got this week that says about 45% of kids need braces to fix functional problems, such as a misaligned bite, but up to 75% could benefit from them to straighten their teeth and improve the shape of their face.

They also said that every child should have an orthodontic checkup by age 7. That really surprised me because I didn't have them until 13. 7 seems soooo young.

It also said "Although some general dentists offer braces, it's best to go to an orthodontist who's had advanced specialty training. To find one near you, go to braces.org. "

I can't stress that enough - just like doctors, dentists can go to weekend training or seminars where they learn this, but they are not specialists. You wouldn't let you family doctor do open heart surgery on you, so always use a specialist - even with dental. I would not use my personal dentist or my kid's pediatric dentist for orthodontia - and I adore both of them. Even if you have to travel some, I would go to a real orthodontist for a second opinion at least. They should be able to give you a pretty accurate estimate of how long your child will need braces, in order to give you a cost estimate.

Well...seems like braces cost the same all over!! I have one in and one getting them on in August!! #1 was around 4200, #2 is 3800 ...because the ortho is giving me a sibling discount!!! There were a bunch of payment options...pay it all up front and get a discount, pay 1/3 down and then monthly payment for 18 months directly with the ortho or pay nothing down and work with an outside ortho lender. I took option #2.. I pay about 150 a month. Luckily I will only have 2 months of over lap when #2 starts!

Have fun!!!

Our insurance paid for most of it - we had tomake interest free payments of $100 a month on the balance. The kids teeth look beautiful now - definitely worth the cost.