How can a dentist say a child needs teeth braces when there are still baby teeth in her mouth?

Its all about $$$$

How can a dentist say a child needs teeth braces when there are still baby teeth in her mouth?
I think you should ignore it, you shouldn't be taking your kid to the dentist either if she still has baby teeth, you're just wasting your money because you never know what her teeth will look like once her adult ones comes out, she may not need braces....but that's just me.
Reply:you should forget about what your dentist is saying hes trying to rip you off. wait till her adult teeth come out then you can get braces for her.
Reply:The three people who have answered seem like bitter, angry, and very ignorant people.





When the adult teeth begin to come in, there could be evidence of crowding. It could be your dentist is advising you to look forward to braces at a later time.





Of course you haven't given enough information about your child to know if this is good advice or not. If you don't think your dentist is correct, seek a second or third opinion.





You are NOT wasting time by taking a child to the dentist while they still have primary teeth. Even though they eventually fall out, decay in primary teeth is a disease and can affect the entire body, not to mention HURT!!





Not taking a child to the dentist can be viewed as willful neglect.
Reply:you can tell when a girl is about 5 and when a boy is about 7 if they are going to need braces when they are older. It depends on the size of their jaw, positioning of teeth, size of teeth etc. It really would not hurt to have a consultation with an orthodontist at this age to get his opinion.
Reply:There are landmarks that we look for and use to judge jaw development. Jaw length as well as constricted arches or crossbites can be evaluated as early as age 2 on some patients. It is NOT age- or sex-dependent. Every child is different.





I send a child for orthodontic evaluation as soon as I have any indication that they are not going to grow properly. It is FAR better - not to mention, usually cheaper - to intercept a problem and guide growth than wait for it to all go to heck and then try to push and shove the teeth around where they should have come in in the first place.





My response to the people who say it's all about the money is simply that you are wrong. If it was all about the money, we'd wait until the child's teeth were really screwed up so we could keep them in braces fro 4 or 5 years. Besides that, most dentists do not make one penny from orthodontic treatment, because we send the child to another dentist - the orthodontist - and we don't get a penny from that treatment. "Kickback" is illegal in every state in the country, so nobody is stupid enough to try that. Don't even think it.
Reply:I agree 100% with Dr. Sam. Crowding, spacing and the upper and lower jaws not aligning with each other can be recognized at a very early age. Some of these orthodontic problems can and should be corrected early, while others can wait. There are currently methods available which help to correct skeletal or jaw relationships which need to be performed while the child is growing. After growth is complete, the teeth can be moved but the result might not be as good. An early orthodontic consultation can evaluate the teeth and jaws do determine when treatment should be performed. I am a dentist who referred both of my daughters to an orthodontist at an early age because I could tell that they would require treatment.
Reply:Braces aren't all about teeth being crowded. My 5 year old will need braces. I can see it already. She has an overbite. Her bite is also a bit sideways. Braces can help those problems.