Braces vs No Brace Centre Method

[ubba82]

Hi All!
I have done some research for DD who has slight overcrowding with her teeth. When she went for her last checkup her dentist said she will need braces when she is 12. DD is 7 and has lost the top and bottom 4 teeth.
I was interested in the No Brace Centre. Has anyones kids had treatment there? Pros and cons please.

[Lulu]

Get a second opinion if that makes you feel better about it. My DD just had a full set put on by Dr Tony Collet in Ferntree Gully. He is very, very good.

Half the time you cant see the braces anyway.

ETA - I mean she just got proper braces, not no brace braces! I have no idea how they would be able to work without the support.

[Lulu]

ok, I just went and had a look.
The only thing that gets me is sometimes its worth waiting for the teeth to sort themselves out. A friends boy had over crowding and crooked teeth, but they did straighten themselves out. I also remember there being a study on braces being OVERused and causing face/jaw problems.
Hard to say really...

[jan7423]

hi ladies, I've been giving serious consideration to the no braces method for my ds who has been a long term thumbsucker. After talking about it with my dentist however, he told me that no braces is under investigation by the victorian dental board .. I checked there website and couldn't see what the dentist was on about, then i realized that the no braces doctor (Ari masters) is indeed listed on the dental board site under 'decisions'

this has obviously changed things, so i'll have another chat to my dentist when I go back there in april.

for anyone who wants to read the dental board info, its here at this link

Dental Practice Board of Victoria

[jessk1976]

hi there,
just thought i would share my experiences with both the No Brace Centre and Tony Collet in Ferntree Gully, as i have had some experience with both.
I have 2 children, and noticed even when they were at a young age that there was quite obvious crowding, and would need braces - i went to see Tony Collet, and he kindly explained to me what his treatment entailed, removing several teeth to make space, then using braces to move teeth into alignment! as i myself had extractions and braces in my youth and found it a very painful experience, i did not want the same for my children!
On a referral from a friend i visited the NoBrace Centre in the city, i had heard of their non extraction treatment, and decided i would explore this option to avoid extractions for my children
Dr Masters has a non extraction policy, instead he uses expansion plates to grow the dental arch and make room for adult teeth, then using a non invasive appliance called the myobrace to straighten and align teeth.
I now have 2 children in treatment, my eldest is 13, and has been in treatment for 3 years, now in fulltime myobrace wear, and my youngest is 9 and just starting with her plates.
Considering the huge results i have witnessed with my own children i am amazed that anyone would consider pulling teeth out to make space when alternative treatment such as that which The NoBrace Centre offers is available.

[Peter Driffill]

Hi l was at the no brace centre today with my 12 yo son who has overcrowding in his lower jaw, after waiting 8 months for an appointment we got there at 8:15 and had X Rays done wich was bulk billed (3 D image), we then proceeded into a room where we were greeted by a lady hwo was at her computer clicking through the xrays, there was another lady sitting on the other side of the room with a note pad who did not say much at all, it started with idle general dicussion and then progressed to how the proccess works, this is where it gets interesting, the lady produced a set of (what l would percieve to be authodontic) plates and started to tell us that they are made and fitted into the mouth and are adjusted every day or two by the user and new ones are supplied every 6 to 8 weeks for a period of about 2 years (in my sons case) and then after using the plates he would then use the MYOBRACE mouth piece for a further 18 months, during this conversation Dr Ari Masters appeared and very briefly had a look at my sons mouth and said there was a hygien problem that had to be addressed by a dentist and fillings done before he could be fitted with the plates as they do not have the facility to do hygien dentistry, by this stage my son was in tears as the manner in wich Dr Masters entered the room had his say and exited was rather abrupt, then the figures came out for my sons treatment was $8,500 dollars and was told that after all the treatment we could be faced with a further $1,500 for braces (hang on l thougt yhis was a NO BRACE CLINIC), the woman also stated to my wife and l that a 15 yo was in next door who was at the end of the treatment and was having her braces removed.

The payment option were $3,000 up front and a further $300 every 6 to eight weeks for the remainder of the treatment, after reading a blog on this website tonight in regards to court proceedings about Dr Ari Masters l did some investigating and it all made sense to me, l had another look at the website NOBRACE and discovered that they only refere to a silicone mouthpiece to correct teeth and not a mention of adjustable plates, but as l found out today it is a completely diferent ballgame to what l was led to believe after waitng 9 months to see the clinic l was lucky to look at the whole picture or it could have been a very expensive lesson to learn.

[Lulu]

The thing to remember is that you can't just choose the treatment you want for your child. It depends on what is causing the problems. My DD was referred by a maxillofacial surgeon (sp?) when she was only 9 after breaking her jaw. Although the break didn't cause the problem the surgeon could see by the jaw growth at the time there could be a problem as she grew later.

We had to wait until she had gone through puberty and see what needed to be done.

I had braces at a young age for different reasons and they did a great job - pity my wisdom teeth came through at 22 at knocked my perfect bottom teeth out of alignment

[mrsmac]

Same here Lu!! No-one believes I had braces cause my bottom teeth are crooked.

Just been to an orthodontist this week with DD2, she has at least 2 teeth which need to grow up but there is absolutely no room for them. The ortho is sending her for x-rays then deciding what to do after that. I have heard that removing teeth can cause problems with the jaw later and that its not ideal, has anyone else heard of this???

[modmommy]

I'm actually getting some orthodontics done now, decided to do it before TTC next year.

Firstly, I am booked in to get surgery to remove all 4 wisdom teeth on the 2nd of September
but before that I am seeing an orthodontist about any extra teeth that may need to be removed from my bottom jaw because I have severe crowding.

My thoughts have been all this time- I'm getting 4 teeth removed, 2 of these are fully grown wisdom teeth down the bottom. Wont that free up enough space without having to remove any extra teeth for Invisalign?

If the ortho suggests any extra teeth need to be pulled I am going to get a 2nd opinion. Like many of you, I would rather go the no extractions way... I'm fine with having my Wisdom teeth out because they actually cause me quite a bit of pain but I don't see why normal teeth should be taken out.

My sister had worse crowding than I, and she recently had normal braces put on. No extractions were required!!! She saw her dentist and within 2 weeks had braces on. Her teeth are already looking GREAT.

[Taurean]

I sucked my thumb until I was ten and totally stuffed my teeth. I had a severe overbite (I could fit my little finger in the overbite gap!) and overcrowding from large teeth. I had 6 teeth removed when I was 13 then braces put on for 2 years. The braces did a fabulous job but I still had to wear plates fulltime for 12 months after that (and I apparently was meant to keep wearing my plates at night for the rest of my life but we can't recall my orthodontist giving us those instructions!).

My teeth looked amazing and still do to be honest (16 years later). I still get comments on my smile and my dentist in Perth (I'm from the east coast) is amazed how good my teeth still look.

I highly recommend braces. They were worth every penny, especially as they only left my parents out of pocket a few hundred dollars thanks to private health insurance. As others have mentioned, wisdom teeth can often undo all the hard work so a good orthodontist should have this in the back of their mind. Mine did and had my wisdom teeth removed before they caused any problems.

[Trillian]

We are really torn as to what option we should take with our kids. At this stage 3 out of 4 of them will need orthodontics because they just do not have enough room in their mouths for all their teeth - especially now they are losing baby teeth and getting adult teeth. At this stage she is starting with a plate in Oct when she turns 8, DS1 will start in February when he turns 10 as the dentist wants to see if he has a growth spurt between now and then. DD1 can't wait as hers are very bad and DD2 is just starting to lose her teeth, but already there are signs that the ones erupting don't have enough room. Our dentist is hoping that by starting now the plates will be enough on their own as well as a few extractions. Now I was a dental nurse for a few years and have seen the results of extractions vs no extractions/braces and DH himself has had braces and he reckons that the same result would have been achieved with a few extractions as well. Lucky for me the kids take after him But the more I read the less I know what the best plan of attack is. Now I'm not sure if what my dentist was getting at was using this no brace method or not? DS2 has an appointment on Tuesday so I will ask him more about it then but I am so glad we have PHI!

[Taurean]

I have a fabulous smile, bite and functioning mouth after the removal of 6 teeth prior to getting my braces then a further 4 (my wisdom teeth) after their removal at just 15 years of age. I'm 32 now and STILL get regular comments on my beautiful teeth and smile. I don't think traditional orthodontics including several extractions resembled 'taking to a piece of glass with a hammer' in anyway at all.

[Taurean]

If Taurean has had 6 permanent teeth removed and she has great teeth then I congratulate her, she's very lucky to have such a good result (personally I can spot a 'dished' facial profile pretty easily).

10 teeth actually if you include my wisdom teeth. I have no idea where 10 more teeth would have fit in my mouth! I literally did not have enough room which resulted in a SEVERE overbite! I am so lucky to be blessed with such a fabulous smile and there are people on this site that know me and have seen me and will happily vouch for my 'non-dished out facial profile'.

Please share your thoughts but don't be criticising treatment that worked for many children of the 70's, 80's and 90's. I have so many friends who had the standard braces treatment, including 'necessary' extractions and I can honestly report only positive results and certainly no 'dished-out' facial profiles

[deandrade]

My husband had teeth removed because of overcrowding, then his jaw growth caught up and he has gaps.My family's Dental Implants dentist claims that crowding teeth can just be teeth out of kilter with jaw growth, and that you never really know until the jaw has stopped growing - something that only specialist xrays and specialists can determine. By that I mean that only an expert can say whether crowded teeth are likely to fit their future adult jaw, or whether some need to be removed.