Daughter going in for consult.

Message

#16 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:05 pm

Just a thought here, this is what my ortho told me. We talked about the Damons 3's for both my son and I. My Ortho carries Damon2's, Damon 3's, Time2 brackets, and the Innovations, (all of which are self ligating)

I originally wanted the Damon3's as did my son. My dentist told me he would prefer not to go with these. He said a lot of dentists have been having a lot of trouble with the brackets coming off lately. He said another orthodontist friend of his went to nothing but Damon 3's in his practice and in 8 months had to re-bracket all of his patients in new brackets because they kept falling off. He told me it was very costly for the dentist, but mostly that it was very inconveniant for his patients. He also said that kids tend to be much tougher on their brackets than adults do and that he would not be comfortable at all using the Damons on my son (who by the way is almost 14, so not even that young)

We went with the TIME2 self ligating brackets....and having just got my braces on today I have to say they seem good. I did get to compare them to the Damon 3's in size, and the TIME2 are quite a bit smaller, and do not stick out as far. They also have smoother edges than the damons, and the gates on them are supposed to be much easier to get open once they have been on for awhile.

Being new to braces and the whole irritation thing (since today is my first day in them), I can say that these babies are a bit uncomfortable but not too bad. My lips do not stick out very far when resting on them, and mostly they are not too terribly irritating so far. I'm pleased with the way they look and don't feel like they are totally ripping my mouth to shreds (not yet anyway) so that is a big plus.

Just something to think about. I did a lot of research before deciding to go with these, but I feel happy with my choice now, and you can call me crazy, but I swear that I can already tell that my bottom teeth are moving!

Here is a link to check them out if you like.
http://www.americanortho.de/time2_manual.pdf

Brandy

#17 Post by **adollface** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:10 pm

I've had Damons for well over a year now and have never had a bracket come off, and I don't baby my braces either, I eat lots of things I shouldn't. Even my hygentist likes them because they are easier to clean around. My ortho started using them when they first came about and likes them so much and has so little problems with them that it's all he uses now. I know some people on here have had a problem with the doors not opening but I also understand that if the correct tool is used the problem goes away. I think it depends on the ortho and their experence with Damons and braces in general. My ortho has been in practice for 35 years now. Amazing what different dentist and orthos believe about different systems.

Amy
Damon 2's top and bottom
braced 12-16-04

#18 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 6:09 pm

Hey Amy,
It was the Damon 3's my ortho was referring to, not the Damon 2's like you have.

I chose the TIME2 brackets because they don't stick out as far as the Damons.

Brandy

#19 Post by **adollface** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 6:25 pm

I understand that it was the Damon 3's you were referring to and so was I with the exception of when I mentioned that I have had no problems with my brackets. I am one of few on the board who has Damon 2's most who wear Damon's have the 3's and that was what the rest of my post was referring to as well. Not to get into a heated battle of which system is better but I think it all depends on the ortho and their experience with the system as to how well it works for you and them.

Amy
Damon 2's top and bottom
braced 12-16-04

#20 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 7:19 pm

Oh I agree.....Personally I really don't care too much about the asthetics of my braces. They are on to do a job, and while I didn't want something super ugly, I was mostly concerned about the amount of timeI would have to wear them. I knew for sure I wanted self ligating and like I said I'm happy with the ones I got.

I was just telling you what my ortho said. He also has been in practice for over 25 years so I trust him. I'm sure it is like most things in life, it is a personal decision even for an orthodontist on which brackets they prefer to use. I really don't care too much as long as the end result is that my teeth are straight.

Brandy

#21 Post by **adollface** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:47 pm

Well, we went to see ortho number 3 today, this is actually the guy we saw last year who said he didn't want to do anything yet and he'd see her in a year. He said the same thing again today. So now I have two orthos saying do nothing, one of which wants to see her in 6 months and one is a year and the third ortho (which is my ortho) who wants to put on partial braces (Damon 3's) and a herbst appliance. Not sure of what to do. She goes in to see our dentist on March 1st. so I am going to ask him what he thinks is the right thing to do since he started all of this with a referral a year and a half ago. So stressed!! In my mind it would be nice to not have to fork out the money yet and to be able to wait but than something in my gut says to go with my ortho and start treatment now and maybe just maybe she won't need a full set of braces in four years. Thanks for letting me vent! I had an adjustment today, you can read about it on the Metal Mouth forum under "something out, something in".

Amy
Damon 2's top and bottom
braced 12-16-04

#22 Post by **pruettmj** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:54 am

adollface,

We had the same experience when we went for consults. I had 2 docs say they'd start right away (with differing treatment plans), 1 that would start after 2 teeth were lost, and 1 that said wait 6-12 months and then pull some teeth before starting!

I knew we didn't want to have teeth pulled; my husband had that done as a teenager and is not happy with the result now.

Also, with my younger daughter, only 1 doc wanted to do expansion. All the rest said they'd see her back in a year. After seeing her x-rays where all the adult teeth were crowded and pointing inward, I had to agree with him.

I found in researching ortho on the web that there is really no standard treatment. Also, our doc has his own lab in house, and said that many docs don't use appliances (expanders, herbst, etc.) because they have to send out to have them made.

You kind of just have to weigh all your options and then choose. I think you might want to heed your "gut" feeling, though. It must be there for a reason. Good luck!

#23 Post by **adollface** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:31 am

My husband and I talked about it a lot last night. He thinks we should go with my ortho who wants to start treatment now. Like your ortho. he also has his own lab and I just really trust him, especially after what he has done with my teeth. I am going to talk with our dentist next month before I set up her records appointment just to get his take on it all. I know my daughter will be really happy to get things going and she said out of the three she really likes my ortho the best. I have to take that into consideration too. Thanks for your input, it's nice to hear that I'm not the only one out here getting so many different opinions.

Amy
Damon 2's top and bottom
braced 12-16-04

#24 Post by **adollface** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:46 pm

Well, after over a month of consultations and consideration, we took our daughter in for a cleaning with our dentist (which by the way is the person that suggested the consults in the first place). One of the first questions he asked me was when we were going to start orthodontic treatment. So I explained what we have been doing for the last month and asked him what he thought would be best. He said that is was more a decision that we needed to make but that in his opinion he would go with the ortho that wants to start treatment now (which happens to be my ortho and the one my daughter felt most comfortable with). His reason for this is that with some crowding she has she is getting cavities because she can get in between those teeth to floss and get all the stuff out. So once we can get the down payment and hopefully a little bit more together she is going to start. I'm hoping that it will be at the beginning of April. She is off from school for 3 weeks and it would be the perfect time to do it. I feel really good about this decision and so does my daughter and husband. Wish us luck! Thanks for all the support!!

Amy
Damon 2's top and bottom
braced 12-16-04

#25 Post by **adollface** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:01 pm

Well, we take the plunge on Thursday. She has her records appointment. Hopefully the following week she will get braced and than the following week the herbst appliance will go in. Trying to get it all done in the next couple of weeks because she is going to be off of school for break for three weeks and I want her to have time to adjust to them before sending her back to school. This will give her a solid week at home before having to go back. Plus I figure I can watch over her cleaning habits in that week and make sure she is doing everything she needs to do. She's excited but nervous. I know how she feels. I feel the same way for her. The final straw that made us take the plunge was when she hit her mouth on the counter last week and pinched her bottom lip between her teeth and got a nasty blood blister. I made the call to the ortho the next day. Some of our family doesn't agree with what we are doing but in my heart I feel this is right.

Amy
Damon 2's top and bottom
braced 12-16-04

#26 Post by **adollface** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:36 pm

She's braced!!! My daughter's braces went on Thursday and she did wonderful. I had gone out and bought all these soft foods for her and some pediasure (just in case she coudn't eat at all) and she was totally fine. The only time she was in pain was late Thursday night. By Friday she was eating without a problem (I wish I had been like that). She looks so grown up with them on. I can't believe how much the braces changed her appearance. She is really liking the Damon 3's and points out that her braces are prettier than Mom's. She goes back in this Thursday for the Herbst appliance. I hope that goes as well as rest of it has.

Amy
Damon 2's top and bottom
braced 12-16-04