My daughter is happy. Your fixed braces are a thing of the past. About a lack of understanding and insight, torment and consequence – and the decision not to hang on for another eight months.
Healthy gums and white teeth, without defects or misalignments, are more than just ideals of beauty. The teeth affect the health of our entire body – and self-confidence. All this has long been recognized, the enlightenment is great. The dentist comes to the day care center to examine the teeth of all the children.
Despite being educated, some parents are not so particular about their children’s oral hygiene – according to the motto: “The milk teeth are not important, they fall out anyway.” In Lara’s kindergarten group, a boy had to have numerous crowns installed because most of his milk teeth was badly decayed and destroyed. The educator worked emphatically to ensure that the boy was treated.
Children initially have no control over their dental care. This is the responsibility of the parents from the moment the first milk tooth arrives, and it usually breaks through in babies between the fourth and seventh month. I still remember how cute I thought it was when Maja (15 today) sat on my lap, suckled on my finger and I felt the tip of her first lower incisor.
Brushing a few tiny front teeth means no effort. It only becomes more difficult when the mouth fills up. Overtired toddlers often don’t feel like doing the daily procedure and don’t like having their mouths fidgeted with.
We were strict and did everything we could to make dental care palatable, explained and made easier for our daughters. A few books helped us: “My First Toothbrush Book”; “Jacob and his toothbrush”; “Carius and Bactus”. My daughters especially liked the latter story, no matter how old it was.
We went to the children’s dentist regularly, had fissures sealed, used dental floss, hung funny mirrors in the bathroom at child height, bought small hourglasses and electric toothbrushes with their favorite Disney motifs. We keep cleaning until the children’s motor skills are good enough. Today there are a number of apps to make brushing time for children entertaining and effective.
We have invested quite a bit in healthy children’s teeth. The statutory health insurance, for example, only covers the sealing of the last two permanent molars. If there are other deep fissures on the front teeth, many dentists recommend sealing them as a precaution. The costs of about twenty euros per tooth were affordable for us for prophylaxis. But the really big cost factor was still to come! I’m not talking about the tooth fairy, she was humble and settled for a euro or two, which she put under the pillow on our behalf. I’m talking about the orthodontic treatment.
Lara (18) got fixed braces when she was fourteen. She went to her check-up appointments every six weeks, wore the prescribed elastics sometimes more, sometimes less diligently, but then enough to complete the treatment successfully. Once or twice a bracket had to be repaired. After a good two years, the braces came out. The result was noteworthy.
Now she wears a wire, a retainer, behind her teeth and also wears loose braces at night so as not to jeopardize the success of the treatment. Since Lara’s treatment was necessary according to the table of the orthodontic indication group (KIG), the statutory health insurance initially bore 80 percent of the costs. The other 20 percent must generally be advanced by the insured person. You will be reimbursed upon successful completion.
Some positions were private performance. What went beyond the range of services offered by the health insurance companies still amounted to a four-digit amount. So we decided on ceramic brackets instead of metal in the front tooth area. Of course, we could have done without this purely optical luxury. Other things were definitely recommended by the orthodontist, such as a functional analysis (examination of the anatomical structures of the temporomandibular joint).
As a parent you want the best for your child, you google, read up and try to navigate through the orthopedic jungle. But despite all efforts, it is hardly possible to build up expert knowledge. And so you have no choice but to trust the doctor you have chosen and his good reputation. However, one should keep in mind that every practice must be economical and profitable and that most doctors know how to sell.
With my younger daughter Maya, it became clear early on that she would not be able to avoid a tooth correction. In her case, supplementary private insurance stepped in, which meant more leeway and better benefits. The treatment turned out to be much more difficult than with Lara right from the start. In the first concept that the orthodontist presented to us, he suggested an Herbst hinge. “After a few weeks, the kids don’t mind anymore,” he said conversationally, noticing my wince at the word “hinge.”
It actually looks exactly how you imagine it. Maya sat silently next to her and anyway only understood train station. I too had trouble processing all the information and technical terms. I decided for my daughter to go the alternative, longer route, without a hinge. Maya got a loose brace and then the fixed one.
Unfortunately, the fixed patient couldn’t do without additional appliances and a thick block behind the front teeth in the upper jaw. A metal construction covered her palate and initially severely restricted her speaking. She got the lisp under control with practice, but overall it was quite full in her mouth.
Maya often complained of pain. Sometimes the part behind the front teeth came loose, then the brace wire bored into the gums or cheeks. We visited the practice several times in an emergency, almost with an announcement whenever a new bow had been drawn in a few days before. For a while she was supposed to wear several rubber bands per side and felt overwhelmed with the fiddling.
Maya gave up eating breakfast and only drank in the morning. “Do you think I have the time and inclination to spend hours laboriously pulling everything out of all the parts before school? Also, my teeth hurt from the rubbers,” was the response I received when I scolded about it. Eating was starting to become a nuisance. She was uncomfortable eating in front of friends or strangers because the leftovers got stuck everywhere.
Since she’s naturally very slim, I found that to be a huge stigma. I felt sorry for her and was annoyed by the emergency appointments that regularly threw us into everyday life at the most inconvenient times. Maya eventually tried to accept the defects and pain. “It’s okay,” she said to me on a Friday morning as she drove to the school internship. After two hours, she called crying that she could not eat and was in severe pain. I just caught someone at the office before the weekend, picked Maya up and drove her to the doctor.
Before vacations we were nervous. Would we get two weeks without a braces incident? I had them show me how I could unscrew the construction in the upper jaw in an emergency. When the thing finally came out, things got a little better. The reluctance to eat in company remained, as did the picking out wires and defects. “It’s difficult with her,” the doctor apologized. For photos, my daughter closed her mouth, she felt uncomfortable.
My daughter was all the more excited about the next appointment a few weeks ago, to which I was supposed to accompany her. Impressions had been taken for new models. She had been told that the braces were coming out. My daughter fidgety took a seat in the treatment chair. Then the cold shower: The orthodontist suggested wearing the braces for another eight months: “See this? I would like to correct that. But it’s your decision, we can also remove the braces.”
Using the last plaster model, he demonstrated the “misalignment” to me. I didn’t see anything. Not because I didn’t believe the doctor, but because I saw through the eyes of a layman and, above all, through the eyes of a mother. And they primarily saw a heartbroken youth. We were overwhelmed and taken by surprise with the decision. First of all we agreed. As soon as that happened, something was glued behind the front teeth again and Maya was supposed to wear new gums.
“Now I’m lisping that thing again,” she muttered in frustration as we stepped out of the office. I had enough! After a few weeks, Maya and I decided to have the braces removed after all. Also because she now refused the rubber bands. We’re happy with the result, I don’t know if it could have been any better. First and foremost, Maya is happy that she can eat without thinking again and that the wound in her cheek is healing, because at the end something on the brace broke again.
Healthy, beautiful and straight teeth come at a price in many respects, but it must remain reasonable and bearable – for parents and children alike.
#difficult #daughter #orthodontist #sleepless