DD is getting very upset about having braces

[vilamoura2003]

DD has a couple of teeth that need sorting out - they are not horrendous, one has come through quite high up on the right had side of her smile and that means we are covered under the NHS. Dentists have said she has a very slight overbite which they want to correct first (personally I didn't think there was much wrong with that - but hey ho), and then two teeth out and fixed brace to move everything into place and bring the tooth down.

DD doesn't seem overly keen. She says she doesn't mind it - she is 13 and my thinking is that we need to crack on with this now - it will be 2 years and that will mean it will be done and dusted by the end of year 10 - ready for GCSE year and Prom year to be brace free.

Poor DD though is getting quite emotional about them and says she thinks people will think she is ugly and that she will get picked on. Her friends may not like her anymore etc.

Should I just tell her to suck it up princess and crack on .

I really think that if I leave it, when she is an adult she will regret not having it done, but feel quite mean........

Any advice? Do the kids still pick on the kids with braces?

You can also opt for invisible braces or the ones you only wear at night.

My brother ought to have had braces for the same reason your DD needs them - an incisor moving upwards. My mum just never got round to sorting it out.

At 25 it looks bloody awful. Far, far, far better to get it over with at 13 than deal with it once it's gotten worse. I think you're better to push now, unfortunately.

And with the summer holidays coming up, maybe a brightly coloured dip-dye would make her feel less self-conscious until she's used to the braces?

DS (14) has his removed last week! I have a ‘before’ & ‘after’ photo!
It’s an incredible difference & he is delighted.

He picks up his retainer this week. It’s a plastic ‘guard’. A mould was taken last week. He has to wear it full time (apart from eating) for the first month & then only overnight to stop his teeth moving again.

If she has a fixed brace she should be able to pick what colour bands she wants. It helped me that I could have alternate pink and purple!

I would recommend getting one of those mini bottles of mouthwash and having her take it to school to rinse with after lunch (preferably when no one else is in the toilets!) as food does get trapped and that's not a good look!

I would agree to do it as soon as possible, so it's over as soon as possible. She'll be grateful for having lovely teeth when she's older. Loads of other kids get braces round this age so she won't be alone, for sure

My DD had to have twin blocks first to correct her overbite and then train tracks.She was self conscious at first but then others started to get them.She had hers removed about 6 months ago.She wears retainers at night.They are thin clear and moulded to keep the teeth in place.You actually can't tell she's got them in.
If you can help her see the benefits it helps.It can be uncomfortable but my DD and her friends weren't bothered too much and the result is amazing.

DD (nearly 14) has had twin blocks for 4 months now. They were difficult to get used to at first but she persisted and she wears them for >23 hours a day (she removes them for PE and for brushing her teeth / cleaning the brace). Her overjet has already improved. She will wear the twin block brace for another 9 months or so, then possibly have a tooth extracted, then have a fixed brace for about 2-3 years. She will hopefully be finished in Y12.

If she needs a twin block brace then she should start treatment now, as it takes longer to work once they've stopped growing.

A twin block brace is visually less obvious than a fixed brace, but affects their speech more.

She will regre not having them sooooo much. I'd kill for the money for braces. Having a good smile and all that confidence will outweigh the year of braces.

The NHS waiting list where I live is 2 years. If its anything like that where you live you might just as well put her down for it and see how she feels in 2 years time.

Permanent retainers are wires shaped specifically for your teeth (once straightened) that are 'glued' behind the front teeth. Mine have been in for 3 years now; I know they'll need redoing at some point but, I'm hoping for many more years yet.

I also recommend a waterpik water flosser to get all the food particles from around the braces/permanent retainers because flossing with the normal thread is quite tricky. [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterpik-73950177436-Ultra-Water-Flosser/dp/B00FJXHC72/ref=sr_1_7_s_it?s=drugstore&keywords=waterpik&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1529534182&sr=1-7
waterpik]]