Initially, she planned to to do the treatment in two stages. Stage 1 would last a year and would cost us $1000 after insurance. We never discussed stage 2. Apparently, stage 2 is a really big deal
Today, we met with her to hash out all the plans now that x-rays, molds, and pictures had been done.
Things changed...a lot.
The oldest boy apparently has a skeletal overbite and a dental overbite. The good news is that according to his growth plates, he hasn't yet had his major growth spurt. In fact, he's god another 10 to 12 months of slow growth before he really starts growing.
Both the Orthodontist and I found that quite amazing since the 12-year-old boy is already 5 feet 8 and wears a size 14 shoe.
I don't want to think about him growing a lot more.
Anyway, The dental overbite will be treated with braces. The skeletal overbite will be treated with this contraption to encourage his lower jaw to grow quicker.
Yeah....that's what I thought also. It's called a Herbst appliance. They look like the things on our storm door to keep it from slamming.
The poor boy will have to wear this and/or braces for the next TWO YEARS. And he will will most likely wear a retainer until he is in his 20's. (So says the orthodontist.)
Poor kid. He's got years of torture ahead of him. Paid torture.
How much will 2+ years of dental torture cost us?
Are you sitting down?
I would recommend it.
Especially if you have a kid with an overbite....and very little in the way of a chin.
And you know insurance only covers about $1000 to $1500.....lifetime.
Ok....you've been warned.
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$5900.00, plus $170 for all the x-rays, molds, and photos.
The boy got spacers in today. He hasn't complained but he did ask for some Tylenol. In a week he will have metal bands put in instead of the crowns in the above picture. A week after that, he'll have 4 baby teeth pulled. Then he'll be measured for his torture device....umm...Herbst Appliance.
Two weeks after that, everything will be installed. Braces, spacers, Herbst, and a few bands just to round out the event.
But it's better than the option of waiting until adulthood. Adults with skeletal overbites have to have jaw surgery.
Thank goodness he's still growing.
I wonder if the mil-pay can set up an allotment to the orthodontist. We do have three more boys coming up behind this oldest one. We might be able to fund our own treatment room.
Oh...and we'll need to start a shoe fund. We can't find many shoes larger than a 14 around here. I don't foresee his foot to stop growing any time soon.
7 comments:
Ouch. Both for Matthew's mouth and your budget. My condolences on the loss of your money.
You know Mike wears size 16 1/2 shoes. A few tips - try any big & tall store. They don't often have a big selection, but since the ginormous sizes don't always move fast, you can sometimes find a clearance deal. Nike outlets usually have a decent choice for him. My favorite tip www.2bigfeet.com They run out of LaGrange even!
Oh my--we have orthodontist coming up.....ugh....
On shoes--try www.zappos.com We've got a "Big Foot" in our family tree, too!
Ditto the OUCH!
We were told that since my son was born with a cleft lip, and has some related dental issues because of it, that Tricare would cover orthodontia...but now that we're nearing the age...no one is jumping up and down at the tricare office to help us out. We've got a few more years to wait for the rest of the baby teeth to fall out, but I fear we'll need to start saving now.
I was joking with my dh the other day that our son will probably need like head gear or some crazy dental apparatus. You'll have to keep us posted on your progress.
Yikes. I've got a couple of kids who'll need orthodontia, too, but I'm waiting for them to finish most of their growing first. Let Mother Nature do what she will first, and THEN call in the expensive orthodontist. :-)
Hmmm... I wonder if I can talk the boys into building a contraption that will "encourage" jaw growth *now*... hmmm... there's gotta be a way (says the Mom who has an overbite, a crossbite, and misaligned jaws...) Zorak and I both needed to have had orthodontia, but our parents couldn't afford it. We want to be able to do it for the boys, but I'm thinkin' I need to start selling off our furniture now in order to pay for it, huh? YIKES!!
{{hugs}} to the little guy. Believe me, though, when he's in his 30's and he doesn't have bone loss from the overbite being left for so long, he'll be very thankful!
Wow that seems awfully expensive. My son had the Herbst appliance for one year and then the full set of braces for little over another full year (wears his retainer every night to bed and was told he'd have to for always). I don't think our costs were over 3000. I guess prices have gone up. Have him take Tylenol or something before they install. I was amazed at how well my son handled the appliance. And just wait - after you get it all done then you get to have their wisdom teeth taken out - we did that this year - lol!
Lillium
One of my friends was wearing size 17 shoes when we started high school. He always had a fairly easy time finding them at outlet malls.
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