Kids and Braces

Has anyone ever heard an orthodontist say the following....."Your child does NOT need braces."

Several years ago an orthodontist said my daughter needed braces. Otherwise she would have crooked teeth, gaps between teeth and occasional pain. My daughter did not get braces and she has perfectly straight teeth and is pain free.

Over the past couple years I have asked people if they took their kids to the orthodontist and what was the outcome. I log the responses in a spreadsheet on my computer. As of 10/3/12, the spreadsheet contains the names of 102 kids that were told they required braces, and precisely ZERO names that were told they do not require braces. ZERO!

After obtaining 102 responses, I have come to the conclusion that orthodontist's are 100% full of shit!

I guess asking an orthodontist if your child needs braces is like to asking your dog if it wants steak for dinner.

I have 4 kids. I was told that 2 did not need braces, and to wait and see on one. The other did indeed need braces.

I guess I found the magical 1% of honest orthodontists.

I doubt that any Homo sapien possesses perfectly aligned teeth. All four of my kids, and my wife, have had braces. The ortho said my oldest did not 'need' them in a medical sense, but might benefit due to one 'misaligned tooth.' The others all fell into the 'need them' category. Allegedly.

So... yes.... Orthos are salesmen and their business is predicated on their Marketing skills. Sorta like the gaming industry.

My oldest needed braces and top jaw expansion, yet my daughter was told her teeth where fine and did not need them. All in all 2 needed them 2 did not.

Out of my family (myself and 2 sisters), the orthodontist recommended the full set of braces for my oldest sister, nothing for my middle sister, and pretty minimal braces for myself (only on top teeth, only on the front 4, and for less than a year).

I'm not sure where you live, but based on the replies here it seems like your data is...skewed.

There is of course a gray area between "required for health reasons" and "recommended for cosmetic reasons." As has been mentioned, there is a marketing aspect here.

Quote: MakingBook

Has anyone ever heard an orthodontist say the following....."Your child does NOT need braces."

Several years ago an orthodontist said my daughter needed braces. Otherwise she would have crooked teeth, gaps between teeth and occasional pain. My daughter did not get braces and she has perfectly straight teeth and is pain free.

Over the past couple years I have asked people if they took their kids to the orthodontist and what was the outcome. I log the responses in a spreadsheet on my computer. As of 10/3/12, the spreadsheet contains the names of 102 kids that were told they required braces, and precisely ZERO names that were told they do not require braces. ZERO!

After obtaining 102 responses, I have come to the conclusion that orthodontist's are 100% full of shit!

I guess asking an orthodontist if your child needs braces is like to asking your dog if it wants steak for dinner.

I don't know which is the bigger scam, Orthodontists or Chiropractors!

I had braces twice to fix my underbite. My ortho made his money off me losing retainers.

I had braces, one of my two brothers did, my son has them now, older daughter had them, and have a feeling the younger daughter is going to get them. None of us really needed them, but who wants to have crooked teeth? I've been to China five times, and seldom see braces, but see a lot of people who look like they could use them.

That's the same as asking a plastic surgeon "Does my wife need a boob job?"
Or a car salesman "Do I need a new car?"
They're in BUSINESS TO MAKE MONEY.
and on the subject...we can send a damn rocket to MARS...but we still can't find a better way to do dentistry OTHER than with a chisel/drill/pliers?!?

Quote: texasplumr

I don't know which is the bigger scam, Orthodontists or Chiropractors!

Chiropractors. Plenty of chiropractic stuff is nonsense on toast, with a side order of quackery fondue : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic_controversy_and_criticism

Upper neck manipulations have been shown in several cases to be harmful and in cases, fatal.

I have very straight teeth, but an overbite. I was told I did not need them and ten years later am doing fine.

My uncle is a dentist in the same area who referred me to said orthodontist, so I may have received special treatment.

Quote: Mahtab420

I think your orthodontist is not a specialised orthodontist . Yeah i know every orthodontist rcemmends braces to make his money . But i know an orthodontist who is totally different . and where you can take free advice for caring your teeth etc. here i am giving the link to his website that might be helpful for anyone

Welcome, Dr. Partovi. Your credentials are impressive. How on earth did you ever find this site? Are you a gambler?

Wait until the guys find out we have a new female on the forum!

Edit. I removed the spam link that was in the quote. I did not know I could do that.

Quote: MakingBook

Has anyone ever heard an orthodontist say the following....."Your child does NOT need braces."

Several years ago an orthodontist said my daughter needed braces. Otherwise she would have crooked teeth, gaps between teeth and occasional pain. My daughter did not get braces and she has perfectly straight teeth and is pain free.

Over the past couple years I have asked people if they took their kids to the orthodontist and what was the outcome. I log the responses in a spreadsheet on my computer. As of 10/3/12, the spreadsheet contains the names of 102 kids that were told they required braces, and precisely ZERO names that were told they do not require braces. ZERO!

After obtaining 102 responses, I have come to the conclusion that orthodontist's are 100% full of shit!

I guess asking an orthodontist if your child needs braces is like to asking your dog if it wants steak for dinner.

In my family there were 3 children. My oldest sister had very crooked teeth and she had braces and has very nice teeth now. My parents took my middle sister to the same orthodontist and they said she was fine. Straight teeth and no braces required. She also has nice teeth now.

When they took me in, they said I had very minimal crookedness and only needed braces on my top teeth, and only on the front 4 teeth. I had those one for less than a year and I have nice teeth to this day.

So, I understand your experiences but if you had asked my parents your spreadsheet would have at least 1 "not required" response.

Quote: AcesAndEights

In my family there were 3 children. My oldest sister had very crooked teeth and she had braces and has very nice teeth now. My parents took my middle sister to the same orthodontist and they said she was fine. Straight teeth and no braces required. She also has nice teeth now.

When they took me in, they said I had very minimal crookedness and only needed braces on my top teeth, and only on the front 4 teeth. I had those one for less than a year and I have nice teeth to this day.

So, I understand your experiences but if you had asked my parents your spreadsheet would have at least 1 "not required" response.

Wow, I should really check these old threads before I reply.

Wow, nice to have a new poster here -- what're the odds of that. She stumbles upon this thread, has great recommendations for some suspicious free dentist!!

As for the OP, I'd say a big factor is if you have straight teeth, you know you don't need braces. My mom tried taking my brother to the orthodontist, he was like "wtf? My teeth are straight." And she was like "oh yeah you're right".

I had gold braces for a year and a half. I was a total badass.

Other big factor is, if someone is at the orthodontist, they likely want braces and fix whatever they believe is wrong. It's not like the dentist or regular doctor where every single kid goes to his orthodontist once a year! You only go if you want to go.

And of course, they're trying to sell their product. But I don't necessarily see this as a problem.

Are you still here Dr Partovi or may I call you Mahtab? I'm happy to see that Forum Rule 3 wasn't applied to you. Can you tell me the deadline to enter your free teeth whitening contest?