Am I obligated to get orthodontics for kids

essie14

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 1:43 am

I believe braces are part of medical care. It's not just cosmetic. Braces are put on at a certain age because of how children develop.
Orthodontists will work with you on a payment plan.
Please do it now.

Iymnok

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 2:29 am

Not everyone needs braces.
If your child does, don’t push it off. It goes faster at a younger age. Have an orthodontist give you an assessment. I got mine at 16 and removed them early so I wouldn’t have to worry about them in seminary.
If your child is self conscious about their teeth, their teeth hurt due to crowding ir crookedness, if they sucked a thumb, finger or pacifier till an older age, then I wouldn’t hesitate.
A slightly crooked incisor I may leave.

chayamiriam

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 5:46 am

Your asking if you're obligated to take care of your child's medical needs including fixing his teeth so he can grow up with healthy teeth and self esteem yes thats the job of a parent not pushing your responsibility to take care of your child's health until adulthood when it will become far harder and more expensive to do the work.

sky

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 7:21 am

If purely for looks - and the bite is ok and the looks isn’t so bad - then it may be a waste. Teeth move.

I had braces for years to treat my bite and ended up with perfect teeth. My front teeth on top and bottom have shifted.

I showed it to my kids orthodontist and he said who cares if teeth shift. Most important is my bite. Which is perfect. He said many women have their teeth shift with multiple pregnancies if not wearing retainers.
(Btw my rav holds braces are chatzitza and cannot have unless not going to Mikva - like pregnant - so not do good to push off until married)

You may want to go for a free consultation to be sure it isn’t the bite (a bad bite can cost a person thousands of dollars later on). My kids orthodontist told me I must get for kid with bad bite. And said it was optional for child with slightly crooked teeth.

Btw certain bad bites cannot be fixed later in life. For example Pallets extenders in some cases can only be used to a certain age to fix some issues.

amother

Denim

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 8:00 am

I really believe that you should do everything you can to have it done. The first issue is that in many cases there will be a better result if done early on. My mother a"h was always upset that her own parents did not correct her teeth. It bothered her always. She told me how it impacted shidduchim for her. She dated someone she really liked, and liked her very much. He felt bad, but he just couldn't get beyond it. My own daughter had a slight issue with her teeth. We had orthodontia done. Her now husband said, that the first thing that attracted him to her, was her incredible smile. Most orthodontists have payment plans, and comparison shop. Perhaps you can go to a dental clinic of a dental school. Good luck.

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 8:14 am

My parents didn't. It worsened and caused TMJ. As an adult it's more complicated and expensive to get them also harder to cope with the pain and get time off from work, etc. I really wish my parents had paid to have it fixed when it was a smaller issue.

Chayalle

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 9:18 am

sky wrote:

(Btw my rav holds braces are chatzitza and cannot have unless not going to Mikva - like pregnant - so not do good to push off until married)

Wow I didn't know that. I'm glad I got my girls braces.

I'm pushing off my youngests (with dentist's agreement) because I don't think she's ready (emotionally and physically) but I plan to do it for her in upper elementary/early high school.

As others have noted, most orthodontists will work with you in terms of a payment plan. I also highly recommend that you buy a waterpik system for brushing - it pays for itself. I use it too (!) even though I don't have braces, and the clean feeling is like nothing else. I think I've gotten less cavities since.

Aylat

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 11:47 am

Btw for everyone saying you can do a payment plan - not so simple if you have a series of children relatively close together who all need orthodontics one after the other.

I have heard good recommendations for going through dental schools. If they are under good supervision by excellent orthodontists the results should be the same and it's much cheaper. Unless maybe it's a complex case.

pesek zman

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 11:50 am

I once heard that you can tell someone is impoverished by their teeth and their shoes. That stuck with me. Crooked teeth, missing teeth and shoes with holes in them will set a person back in life. Yes, you are obligated to get orthodontics for your kids if they need it

agreer

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 12:28 pm

My mom didn't get me braces. I have a 2-3 mm space in my front 2 teeth. I absolutely hate it. I really wish mom had taken care of me in that way. I am super-self-conscious, but the dentist told her it's "just cosmetic" so she didn't go for it.

ShishKabob

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 12:43 pm

I don't think you are obligated to get your child braces.
If your child really has a need for it, meaning it's affecting a lot of emotional health, or if it really looks terrible, or it will affect the jaw, I would think that you should want to pay for it.

amother

Ginger

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 6:11 pm

Thank you everyone for the replies. Wow-I don't consider myself a neglectful mother at all. I just don't have a single penny at the end of the month and no savings. No one to help us either so if I choose braces we will go into debt. That was my question - should I actually go into debt to get braces for 6 kids (they are all around the same age 9-14) so this will be a huge expense to start with.

amother

Brown

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 7:01 pm

If you can't afford it, you can't afford it.

There are degrees of misaligned teeth - some are purely cosmetic and some impact long term health of the teeth.

If you are in NY, you can check NYU dental school as they are less expensive and deliver high quality dental care under the supervision of the professors. My brother had his braces done through them at significant savings.

As others have posted, beautiful straight teeth are truly the indicia of class and depending on what the future brings and what your childrens' teeth are like, could be a source of personal embarrassment as well as possible prejudice at work.

Rightly or wrongly, people see bad teeth - missing teeth -teeth that obviously needed orthodontia - as evidence that the person is low class.

gold21

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 8:02 pm

amother wrote:

How bad are the teeth?

amother

White

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 8:09 pm

pesek zman wrote:

I wear cheap shoes regardless of my financial status. That is a bit of a myth....

We were told that DD could get braces but it wasn’t essential. She is not bothered by her teeth. We can afford to get them done but without her desire to have them on her body, I am not going to force her into wearing them.

In a nutshell, no we don’t have an obligation.

salamanca

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 10:44 pm

Parents take out loans to marry off their kids. To me it is much much much more important to have children treated by an orthodontist. There is much more to it than just having straight teeth. They can prevent teeth from being pulled, bring down teeth that are sitting in the wrong direction in the gum line, fix speech impediments and a host of other things. Give your kid a $5,000 wedding if you need to; just make sure they have orthodontics.

amother

Ivory

Wed, Feb 27 2019, 10:53 pm

It depends how bad the teeth are. I have a cousin who got married with terrible teeth and until today did not take care of her teeth it affects her self-esteem since she cannot smile right and has to have her mouth closed usually. On the other hand all my siblings who needed braces got. I was going to get braces because I have a couple baby teeth that did not come out but it was such a small chance that it would actually help so I did not get them but my parents did tell me that when I do need help in my mouth because of these teeth they will be there to help me.

causemommysaid

Thu, Feb 28 2019, 2:18 am

amother wrote:

Personally I would go in to debt for this. It's really important.

pesek zman

Thu, Feb 28 2019, 6:54 am

amother wrote:

It’s not referring to cheap shoes vs expensive shoes. It doesn’t matter if your shoes are from Payless or target or wherever. But if the shoes have holes in them, or are so worn down with scuffs and scratches and missing laces, it signifies that a person can not afford new shoes (or a shoemaker) In fact, you can always tell that a person is homeless from his shoes. Similarly, when a person has missing teeth or teeth that are very crooked, it shows the world they couldn’t afford dental/orthodontia. You may not agree with these assessments but you should know they are being made