Braces?

James and I both have very straight teeth, free of any hardware or braces throughout our childhoods. Every six months at my dental appointment, I get asked if I ever wore braces because it's apparently improbable that my teeth be that straight without external help...well it's true, I am a modern marvel :) With James and I both wearing glasses, it has certainly crossed my mind that one or both children will eventually need some spectacles. But braces never crossed my mind. When we took the kids for their dental checkup in December, Quinn had a cavity and needed to go back for the filling. The dentist remarked at the initial appointment that his teeth were straight and it looked like he'd passed the first test for braces....but then when we went back for the filling, he commented that Quinn was showing signs of an open bite and that we should take him for an orthodontic evaluation. So being the good mom, I scheduled the free evaluation at the orthodontist across the hall.

Today was that appointment. I'm not sure what I was expecting...but the verdict was that he needs some braces. It was a lot to digest, because I really did not expect that conversation following the exam, measuring, and x-rays. Apparently, Quinn has an open bite caused by tongue thrust. His tongue is not in the right spot in his mouth (at the top and toward the back) and that is causing his teeth to not grow in properly in the front. It also seems to cause some issues with his speech, particularly his "s" sound. The doctor mentioned some tongue exercises for him to do to re-train his tongue (among them tongue push-ups!) but then immediately suggested a course of 1 year of braces. Followed by a retainer and possibly a second course of braces after the permanent teeth are all in. This is a tough diagnosis to digest and process honestly...because you just know that these orthodontists are salesman. In fact, they even toured the office with Quinn and showed him all these cool things he gets to do (chances to win prizes, cookies offered, video games in the waiting area!) if he gets braces. I am sure they're trying to make braces cool and make every kid walk out of there wanting them. That's their job, to make money. I'm sure they care about the kids' teeth too, but seriously it's a business. I know I am being cynical here but it's hard not to be in this situation. We've decided to get a second opinion, and we would be crazy not to at $2,500 for the braces! James is even more cynical than I, and we're wondering just how much they can tell at this stage. Quinn is only 8 and his mouth, head, jaw and teeth have a lot of growing left to do. I swear when we were kids there were not as many with braces. It just seems like we over analyze everything about our children these days, teeth included. But it plays on the guilt -- like if I don't get him these braces now, will I be causing more damage in the future? Or maybe it will all be fine and in a few years, his mouth, tongue and jaw will have caught up with his adult teeth. It's a lot to think about, so on to find another orthodontist I go for that second opinion!