Dd9 and her f***ing brace!

[lightswitchedoff]

So fucking cross with dd9

She has had a retainer brace since march, first one has had about 4 weeks then while on holiday she took it out at dinner in restaurant wrapped in napkin and left on table... of cause when we went back when we realised it had been binned! So I had to pay for replacement.

So today she has just come to me saying she doesn't know where it is, retraced her steps and asked her if she took it out when eating chocolate in town and if so what did she do with it... of course she put in coat pocket! The same coat that's on her bedroom floor and of course she has had friend over and the coat has been trod on and the retainer is now broke in two!

Yesterday morning I woke up and found the fucking thing in bed with me!

She is a nightmare, just abandons shoes, coats, toys where ever.

Her teeth really do need early intervention to hopefully prevent very intense treatment when older but she just doesn't seem to be able to grasp the importance

And I can bloody afford to replace again

I really just need to rant

Eating with a retainer isn't THAT bad.

It's very difficult to start with but then you just plain get used to it.

I had a varied assortment of removable and fixed braces, headgear (showing my age!) and retainers. It's all worth it in the end, but you have to keep it in your gob as much as possible

I had retainers 50 years ago and remember how yucky it was to eat with them in. Had train tracks at 12 which was much simpler as I couldn't lose them.
Why not wait till she's a bit older and her friends will have fixed retainers too? I know in the States they go for retainers very young but I'm sure that's just to prolong the duration (and therefore increase the cost) of treatment.

Roly my DD can't physically eat with her braces in- because of the two blocks of plastic at the back her teeth don't actually meet, so it's impossible for her to chew anything.

I hated the retainer and I was in my twenties, I was self conscious when eating infront of people. I also had the bands when I had the train tracks and barely spoke for fear of spitting. Eventually needed my jaw broke and that was the easiest of all.

Best way is to attempt to get her to eat with it in, difficult at first but once she's not taking it out numerous times a day (aside from cleaning) she won't be leaving it anywhere.
Maybe I hit lucky with DD, she's had a retainer for almost a year, had a week or so of getting used to it but then she only took it out for cleaning and treatment is progressing well. Train tracks go on in a few weeks and retainer has gone 🙂

Sorry I can't help but just had to say- if you had ever tried to eat with a retainer in then you would completely empathise with your daughter!! It is really truly awful! I had one and lasted one day before refusing to wear it ever again. So so painful and tried eating something only for it to dribble down my chin. Please cut her a little bit of slack.

TBH she is still very young, so I don't blame her for occasionally forgetting it but it sounds like there are a lot of cases and she doesn't use any of them ... perhaps she needs to just have one or two?

There was a girl I used to teach a few years ago who was around the same age as your daughter, and when she was at school she had a case which was attached to a lanyard so she could wear it round her neck and she wore it all the time (even when her braces were in, she would just leave it on so if she ever needed to take them out, the case was always there. Perhaps you could look into a way of having her case wearable on herself so that she always has one to put her brace in and there's no need to put it in a pocket or on a table or wherever?

Eating with a retainer isn't THAT bad

It depends on the type of retainer you have ... not all retainers are the same so you really can't generalise.

I had upper and lower retainers and eating with them was physically impossible because they took up so much room in my mouth, - my upper retainer covered the entire roof of my mouth, so food would be forever covering it and I'd have to take it out to clean it after every meal anyway, then my tongue would get caught under the bottom retainer and "unclick" it from my teeth while I was eating, and then I'd have to try and swallow my food, without swallowing my retainer, so that I could go to the bathroom to fish it out, rinse it and then put it back in. So I just did the easy thing and took them out before I ate.

Eating with a retainer isn't THAT bad

Yes. It is.

I used to eat with mine in

Oh and had the headgear - well i never wore it ..... boarding school social suicide

Can she get unremovable ones?

OP have you ever worn braces? They can be incredibly painful. And because of wearing them constantly, it's chronic pain for years on end, which is hellish. I'd say leave it and she can have train tracks when older. Which are still going to be painful for DD but at least you won't be frustrated and losing money with her taking them out.

Im 43 and had my brace off a year ago, I wear a retainer every night.

I am very organised but still I misplace it at times. Then panic at the cost.

How about blu-tacking it to the bathroom tiles when not in use!

Show her a picture of someone with really crooked teeth and ask her if she would like that. Let her think about it.

I had the brace with blocks at the back (to correct a severe underbite, my front teeth were behind my back ones so I had to keep my mouth open to allow my front teeth to move forward). And it covered the entire roof of my mouth. I think I was 8 at the time.

Anyway, it was possible for me to eat even with that in. It just took time, practice and appropriate food. The first night I spent 2 hours eating my dinner, but then I sped up. It was impossible for me to bite, so needed something that came in bite sized pieces and was fairly soft so I could chew with the lumps of plastic instead of my teeth.

So yes, I would get her to persevere with eating with it in and hopefully that will solve the problem of her leaving it everywhere!

I had a retainer and managed to eat with it, yes it was uncomfortable but needs must. I had mine at 10, for a couple of years until train tracks

Whilst I don't have any suggestions on how to help with your DD I am amazed at the number of posters who are saying she is too young, you should postpone her having the brace, you should go straight to train tracks. Are you all orthodondists????

I do feel your pain, but she's only 9. I'm pretty sure most 9 year old girls lose things constantly and I think they struggle to get their heads round the long-term consequences of things at that age.

If it's any consolation, my colleague is just about to go to Specsavers to pick up her son's fourth pair of glasses this year. Apparently he's lost two pairs and broken one pair by treading on them on his way to the loo after he dropped them on the floor by his bed.

I feel sorry for your daughter that she is possibly in for another seven years of such treatment. Straight teeth are important but is there a chance you could get a second opinion on exactly hoe extensive her treatment should be?

Plenty of kids seem to cope fine with orthodontic treatment but others (me) are sensitive types that find it drawn out torture. My misey was compounded by an orthodontist with an awful bedside manner that made me feel somehow responsible that my treatment wasn't working despite me reluctantly compliant. It went on for years. I would be in tears for hours before my appointments.

Hi OP my DS has just turned 9 and has had a retainer to stretch his palate for about 6 months-he's just had train tracks on the bottom teeth too :( Obviously Ds and your dd don't have exactly the same issues but I feel your frustration!
Ds keeps his retainer in 24/7 except for toothbrushing as he's scared of the operation he would need if the orthodontics don't work (so am I tbh) but he fiddles with it constantly and drives me mad! Can your DD maybe contribute at least a part of the replacement retainer using pocket money or doing chores?

Just to clarify fixed braces are not a option until the retainer part of her treatment is complete and any teeth that need removing are taken out, her treatment is going to be long (at least 7 years) her teeth are about as bad as it could get with every problem possible going on in the mouth

I feel for you.
When l was 15 l had fixed braces, back in '87. They annoyed me so much, l actually picked them off!
I was sent straight back to the hospital to have them redone.

I have 3 DC and all have had removable braces since 7. DS1 is 17 so that's 10 years of lost braces, "it just fell apart in my hands" braces, "chewed by the dog" braces... the orthodontist is amazed at the variety of ways my 3 have managed to lose or break them.

I am amazed at the number of posters who are saying she is too young, you should postpone her having the brace, you should go straight to train tracks. Are you all orthodondists????

I know! All these qualified orthodontists all in one place, Truly amazing :o