Best age for braces to straighten child’s teeth?

[blueskiesandsun]

What age is best for starting orthodontic treatment to straighten teeth? (For aesthetic not medical reasons.) Interested in thoughts and experiences… (I guess it must vary by country and different cultures too…) TIA

My son had his fitted just before his 18th birthday

Interesting as when I had braces they x-rayed first and took into account the fact I had wisdom teeth in my gums, so removed 4 teeth including 2 of said wisdom teeth to make space for the rest.

DD has had to wait until 16, she probably would have had them at 14 if it wasn't for covid. But her adult teeth came in quite late so wouldn't have been any earlier.

My dd was 13, after all her milk teeth gone. I felt it should have been earlier but three orthodontists said no, so clearly I was wrong.

We went private although we met the NHS threshold. I absolutely could not stand the idea of the NHS dentist doing a crappy hack job on my dd’s mouth; I’m happy to pay to have it done properly. Even though it means I’ll be driving my crappy car for five years longer as I now cannot afford a new one.

Surely it depends on the individual child? My son visits the orthodontist every few months but so far no actual braces. We had to wait until all his baby teeth fell out but that didn't happen until he was 15! When he was 14 he still had 10 baby teeth so it would have been pointless. At the next appointment he will be 16 and it will be decided whether or not he meets the threshold as his teeth are drastically different now.

Due to covid 16, but lots of friends have them still. They have a lifetime retainer to wear at night so I think being older is helpful. Less chance of losing it

There's no best age. It depends on the child and the teeth, and the individual problem.

DD 14 before our dentist would refer as late losing baby teeth, even though she met NHS criteria, we were told up to a 4 year wait as wasn’t a bad case, we went private as very self conscious about teeth and had them fitted within 3 weeks, (same orthodontist), DD had choice of Invisalign, white ceramic or good old fashioned silver train tracks - which she choose - cause they’re trendy - apparently.

I don't remember having an Xray the first time at 12, but I did at 23 and 4 extractions which were pretty horrific at the time. I didn't think most people got their wisdom teeth until around 17 so I am surprised in hindsight that they put them on so young before these have grown in. I did wonder at the time if it wasn't just capitalising on the teen fears of image then cashing in again later, but I'm cynical like that!

My ds3 has been told recently that he will need braces at some point because he has missing teeth. He qualifies under the nhs but the wait is long. He is 13.

Ds4 has been under the orthodontist since before he was born. He is meant to be having an operation before having braces. His operation has been cancelled twice and we have been waiting 2 years 4 months so far so no idea when he will get his braces. He is 10

My best friend is also my kids’ orthodontist here in Canada. She ‘followed’ them for a couple of years with x-rays to find the sweet spot in terms of timing and understanding how the adult teeth were coming in before they even appeared fully- treatment is very individual based on type and complexity of problem. Doing it too soon may mean the kid has braces for longer and doing it too late could crate more work with lesser results. Ours both got theirs at 11 and 11.5 and were done by 13. They now both gave incredible teeth. I would definitely recommend seeking your orthodontist to get the initial appointment and plan out a treatment timeline that works best for your child.

Never thought of it that way to be fair. We are Irish in Ireland and there was no hope of any of mine getting HSE which would be equivalent to NHS treatment for braces as none of their teeth were actually that bad but I have always felt that nice straight teeth are a must so I paid 4k each child for their teeth and they do have amazing teeth. Youngest about to get their braces off in the next few weeks.

I’m in Australia and for most children here it’s 12+
I don’t even know if we have public dentists here, we’re paying $5900 for my son’s expander and brace. So for him, he was advised by the dentist to see an orthodontist when he was about 9 and she has been watching since, waiting for his teeth to fall out and face to grow. He has an overbite and so is having a jaw expander and train tracks (next month!). He is now 13 and she is starting now as she says this is a good age because he is still growing but has lost all baby teeth.
They’re very against taking out teeth over here now, they prefer to expand.

It’s definitely very individualised and our ortho is quite conservative. She said if the overbite was bothering him a couple of years ago, they could straighten it a bit, but we would still need to do expanding at 13+. He wasn’t bothered so we didn’t do anything earlier.

Well we are in Germany and my kids had braces from 6/7, so I think it might do!

Our orthodontist stated that we take care that braces aren’t purely about teeth that are visible but the teeth in the gums and the jaw itself.
All were out of braces by 11 and with perfectly aligned teeth.

Thanks so much everybody… sounds very varied in terms of people’s experiences and views on what works. Appreciate all the anecdotes as it has helped me to understand various possible outcomes and things to be aware of.