My dd just had one of those too. Thankfully we DO have dental insurance. Overall the cost for everything is about $4K, and thats just the beginning. She'll get these off in a year, and then have them again when she is 12. She is only in 'phase 1' of treatment. I've only had to pay about $2600 oop, but they put me on a payment plan which I paid off quickly.

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan9.Samantha7,Cameron5

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if the situation is for the sake of the post crooked teeth with gaps absolutely braces are needed. self esteem can make or break you as I say. it can be devastating to a child to be teased and tormented.

if teeth look good then and there are no major problems then no I don't think braces are needed.

I have one already that I will be getting braces for. there is no way i'm leaving his teeth they way they are. no matter what the price.

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.

Self esteem is VERY important I would say it's a need. If I couldn't afford them I would try to take out a loan or borrow from my in laws to get them for my boys. Obviously I would pay them back of course.

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In some severe cases they are a need (from a health perspective). In my daughter's case they were a want. Her teeth aren't bad at all (a little crowding). I was happy to provide the braces though because she seems to have low self esteem (various issues - dad abandoned her and doesn't see her for years at a time, etc), and anything I can do to help I will try to do. She is a beautiful girl (truly a natural beauty), and tries to "hide" herself (wears clothing that would fit a 240 pound man on her 115 pound frame, etc). I feel sad for her. Her braces cost $3,900, of which I will get 50% reimbursed from insurance.

I think they're a want. Me and all my siblings could probably use braces, but my parents we never able to afford them (5 kids living on an income of about $30,000). We all have the same problem, our 2 front teeth are slightly overlapped, and one of our bottom teeth is pushed back (adult tooth started growing before the baby tooth came out), and we all seem to have overbites.

We didn't die from not having braces. I went to college and graduated with honours, my next sister is 17 and wants to be a vet, I think we turned out fine. If you don't die (or severely suffer) from not having something then I don't really consider it a need. You'd suffer or die from no food, shelter, clothing, but having straight teeth is definitely not on that list.

That said I do plan on getting braces eventually but I will admit it's for purely cosmetic reasons.

We have one child through a set of braces, and 2 children getting ready to start. In due time, we'll have a 4th child getting braces too.

We pay 100% of the cost.

In our family, they are a need. We'll cut down in other areas to ensure that we can pay for them.

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SAHM to 4 rugrats

Honestly? Unless it's purely cosmetic, we will pay for braces. We "might" be able to get away with no braces for DD, but the dentist jokingly told us to stop putting money in DS's college fund and start the orthodontia fund LOL! We don't have dental insurance, so we're bound to see some hefty bills at some point in the future. But, he's got a really small mouth and his baby teeth are wedged in pretty tightly already, so the assumption is that he won't have enough room for his adult teeth if we just let nature take its course.

Yes, I agree totally.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

See if you can barter (offer bookkeeping, office cleaning, landscaping, etc) to take some of the cost off. Most orthos are self-employed and can charge as they see fit.

If it's a real hardship now, you can always wait a few years for things to turn around financially. Most dentists like to put braces on early to ensure they get the sale.

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"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang the best." ~Henry Van Dyke

IMO they will be a need for my kids if they are needed per the dentist.