Damon Braces vs Traditional

I'm not sure what damon braces are, but our kids both had two rounds of braces, one starting in 3rd/4th grade, and the other in high school. With our son, it was very clear that his mouth was not big enough. By starting the braces as early as we did, we were able to actually enlarge his jaw. If we had waited to do traditional braces in high school, he would have needed to have permanent teeth pulled to make room in his mouth. Ask the orthodontist exactly why they are recommending this procedure, ask your own dentist what his opinion is, and get a second opinion.
Good luck!

I'm not sure what "damon" braces are, but my 9 year old just had phase one of braces removed from her teeth, and it was the best thing we could have done for her. I think it depends on the kid, and what the problem is. I have an 12 yr old that had all of her adult teeth at 9, and they put the one and only set on then, which has been perfect for her. My 9 yr old is a different story. When she was 7 and her top adult teeth started coming in, she had a huge overbite, and her adult teeth were/are very large. When the next 2 top teeth (to the side of the front 2 top teeth) started to come in, they were coming in really high, almost at the top of the gums. The ortho thought it was important to #1 - correct the overbite so that there wouldn't be any damage to those front teet (he read me a startling statistic of kids who lose their front teeth from falls, etc... if they have an overbite) and #2 - bring the other 2 teeth down and into alignment with the rest of her teeth. It was understood that they would be on for a year or so, and then removed, and then she would probably need teeth pulled, and braces put on again when all of her adult teeth came in. To make a long story a little shorter, after about 18 months in braces, she had them off a couple of weeks ago. She has a beautiful smile. Her teeth were so bad before, she was embarrassed about them. So, my opinion is to first and foremost, get an orthodontist that you completely trust. In my daughter's case, the 1st phase was necessary not only for cosmetic reasons, but to make the next phase a lot easier and smoother. I know my ortho wouldn't have recommended it if it weren't necessary, in fact I know he is usually against doing 2 phases of braces, so really figure out if it is necessary!!! Also, I think $8,000 is a bit steep. We paid $1500 for phase 1, and will probably pay around $4000-$4500 for phase 2. You may want to shop around.

Hi, My son is 8 1/2. Went to ortho appt. I dont know if they are called 'damon braces' but he suggusted same thing from what I gather from your posting. He wants to wait until my son is 9 but wants to do some braces now to bring his front teeth back in and help correct his overbite and then said in middle school he would need full braces. I have been stuggling with what to do. I am interested in what other
responses you receive.

My son had braces. Worst horror story you can imagine. Suffice it to say he now needs jaw surgery and gets headaches. When we finally found a good dentist Dr. Cyrus Oster of Santa Cruz and he said he spends a lot of time fixing the bad brace job that the orthodontists do around town. He says they are in the dark ages when it comes to dentistry. He recommends that a child let his baby teeth fall out naturally and let his adult teeth come in naturally. Then he looks to see if they really still need braces, because most things correct themselves painlessly. If they do still need a little help he uses a system that comes off and cleans the kids teeth regularly. We were told my sons mouth was too small and would not grow (COMPLETE LIE) and when we tried to sue him after his mouth was traumatized and he lost bone density and his jaw stated jutting forward, he begged off with "but this is what the industry does, I did not do anything abnormal and he missed some appointments" and was an arrogant a-hole. (If you want to know his name, e-mail me privately so you don't fall prey to him.) It is still a very sore point with me. Jaw Surgery is $25,000 or more and nerve damage is a possibility. Get a lot of opinions and then go visit kids who have finished the braces three years later and see what problems they have now. AND 8 is way too young. My suspicion is the doctor has to pay for some expensive equipment and is fishing for patients.
Good Luck.

Hi A., I've had damon braces and they worked great. I dont know about putting them on so early at age 8. His bones are still growing and your child will just have braces again during teenage years. If you dont mind paying twice . . .

I would wait. You would really want to wait until their baby teeth are out. My son is 11 and is doing the two phase but not braces yet. What they did and they started at 10 was pull some teeth and then they put in spacers for about 6 months, then he had a head gear he wore for about 8 months. Then they put in a permanent retainer to hold hold some his other teeth in place so it would allow his 12 year molars to come in properly. He is still losing teeth but his teeth are much straighter and his ortho said he may not even need bottom braces at all, just a retainer. So for now he goes for 6 month check ups and we wait until all of his teeth have come out and then they will access him to see, what if any braces he will need. So far it has only cost me $2500. My nephew had braces when he was 8 and they are going to have to put them on again when he is 12. It seems just a waste of money to put them on twice. You might want to find an ortho that does preventative maintenance which is like the one we go to.

I dont know what those are but my daughter just got her braces off the traditional ones after almost two years. It seems that 8 is a bit young because he hasn't yet lost his teeth and that could change any progress or plan of action. I would wait until at least 10.

Hi A.,

My dentist will not recommend any child to an ortho until all of their baby teeth have fallen out and he is able to determine what bracing is necessary. He thinks the "phase" braces are a ploy and waste of money. Unless you have money to throw away, you may be better off just waiting awhile until your child is older. So many things shift and move around when baby teeth fall out and adult teeth grow in. My son's gap closed on its own completely!

Take care,
M.

We were told that at the age of 8 our daughter would need 2 rounds of braces as well. It really didn't make sense to me since she had not lost all of her baby teeth yet. I had worked for a dentist before and she was very conservative with this sort of thing, and usually told her patients to wait until all their baby teeth were out. There were certain instances where she would recommend to set up an ortho appointment, but only on necessary cases. Well I am glad that I waited, against the advice of the orthodontist. My daughter is now almost 12 and has an absolutly beautiful smile. The problems have corrected themselves and she is so happy with her smile. Her teeth aren't "perfectly" straight, but she says that nothing is perfect. Hope this will help.

I just finished with the damon braces. I don't know about the whole age thing but the damon braces were nice. I had less appointments that I had to go to, the braces didn't hurt as much when tightened and I didn't have to wear them as long. I had regular braces before (when I was younger) and I found the damon braces much nice. The only things I would say about them is that I did have some issues with the brackets breaking off when the orthodontist was tightening them but I didn't have to pay because it happened in office because of trying to pull my teeth out straight. The other thing I would say is to be sure of the orthodontist that you want to use. Go to a couple of consualtations and tell the orthodontists what the other ones said. I wish I had done this. I ended up with an orthodontist that I did not like at all but I couldn't switch because I would owe money to both the old one and the new one. Now that I'm done with paying my orthodontist I'm looking for a new one to care for my retainer and fix a slight problem left over from the other orthodontist.