<p>How do kids with braces handle the 6-8 week visit to the orthodontist when they are at boarding school? You can't always wait until the next vacation to go see the orthodontist.</p>
<p>My child has braces. Modern braces are amazingly sturdy. We haven’t had to make an emergency appointment (yet). </p>
<p>I know that the boarding school can arrange for transportation to doctor’s appointments, if needed. Some of the drivers are parent volunteers. This question must come up at every boarding school. You could ask the school how they handle orthodontics. Perhaps they know of a neighboring orthodontist who covers emergencies.</p>
<p>mom-</p>
<p>I asked my d’s orthodontist about this issue, and he said they handle it like college kids and braces. They see them when they are at home. Sometimes they just leave them on a little longer or adjust not so often. </p>
<p>We we be close to the end when my d begins in the fall. He will check at thanksgiving and decided if we should remove them at christmas break or wait until spring break.</p>
<p>He said most bs have a ortho person who they id for special issues if they arise. </p>
<p>Does my d want them off ASAP yep, but i rather wait a little while longer–I am concerned with the entire retainer thing on top of all the other new bs stuff to do.</p>
<p>I’ve found it very handy to enter the school year schedule into my calendar as soon as it is available. Boarding school schedules differ from public school schedules enough that it’s easy to make appointments.</p>
<p>I would make certain, while packing, that your child has enough wax, orthodontic threaders, rubber bands, and whatnot to get by.</p>
<p>My son got his braces on about 6 weeks before the start of boarding school last year. He has only visited the orthodontist on his major breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring). Everything is progressing nicely. However, I did get a couple of names of local orthodontists from the BS. But he has not had to use them for anything.</p>
<p>Wow, my daughter has popped off brackets at least 4 times since getting them.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>Luckily, son gets his off in June. Anyone know who the patron saint of retainers is?</p>
<p>Neato…lol</p>
<p>I will admit that the whole retainer thing is not something I am looking forward too.</p>
<p>Yes, I am fine with her being away, fine with a few phone calls a week, but I promise, after the first one lost, left on the tray in the meal hall, the cost is coming out of her very limited allowance.</p>
<p>Girls scout honor!!!</p>
<p>They really have a lot of time off! Long weekends every marking period, a week off at Thanksgiving, 2 at Christmas, 2 in March. We’ve always laughed at how little our S has actually been away!</p>
<p>At a TSAO meeting the admissions person at Choate said</p>
<p>“In reality, the kids are only away 30 weeks a year.”</p>
<p>That is just 58% of the year—lol</p>
<p>You won’t even notice they’re gone! :)</p>
<p>baseballmom, my electricity and food bill will go down–lol, also the gas to my car wow…a tank for 2 weeks–go figure.</p>
<p>so can we bring this back to braces… does anyone have an issue with the reality that you really dont need to visit the dentist so often when your kids have braces, and the fact that dentists love to push the frequent visits?</p>
<p>same thing here. my son is going to bs in canada. ortho sez he will take care of when he comes home the couple of times during the year</p>
<p>mhmm, our orthodontist encourages visits to the dentist for professional cleanings with a system of small rewards. If kids don’t brush well, braces can leave stains on teeth due to neglect.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone is having this issue but my son will be starting at a boarding school this coming fall. He needs braces. I’m trying to decide whether to get him started on the braces this summer or wait until he starts boarding school and go to the orthodontist there. He will be totally in another state and will only come home during long breaks. Any advise from anyone who has gone through the same issue?</p>
<p>Pinktennisball - my son got his braces on the summer before he started boarding school (also out of state). He had them on for two years. His orthodontist was in our home town. However, the school provided names of two local orthodontists. He only needed to see the local orthodontist one time in the two years that he wore them (he had a band or bracket replaced). I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Modern orthodonticts are much more advanced than the equipment used when we were in school. My kids had appointments every 6 to 8 weeks, which could be scheduled around the long breaks. In about 5 years of cumulative orthodontic treatment, (different children), I think we had to do one emergency visit at short notice. (They were very good about avoiding food which causes trouble, such as gum, small hard food, and chewy candy.) </p>
<p>I think you’d rather be able to talk with the orthodontist in person, rather than doing it long distance. </p>
<p>For medical appointments and such, schools can often arrange for adults to drive students to appointments, if there’s enough notice. Some parents volunteer to help, and some adults at school help as well. There can be a fee. Some schools have doctors on campus, but specialty care will usually require the student to leave campus.</p>
<p>pinktennisball - we were in the same situation as you. Our DS needed significant orthodontic work, and our local orthodontist had been screening him for over a year, waiting until all his permanent teeth were in to begin the work. He was ready to start his braces just about the time we were expecting to hear admissions decisions, and let his orthodontist know that it was possible he might be boarding far away. With that info, the orthodontist decided to wait to proceed until we knew for sure where DS would be attending school.</p>
<p>He was accepted at Thacher (in CA) and our local orthodontist (in CO) decided he did not want the responsibility of being the primary doctor since our son was going to be away more than he was going to be home. He was willing, however, to provide any “emergency treatment” while he was home on breaks, or to do any required summer adjustments, under the direction of another, “primary” orthodontist. We negotiated a flat price for those visits in advance.</p>
<p>We worked with the school to find an orthodontist that the Thacher students regularly visited, and set up an initial appointment with the CA orthodontist for the day before he started at Thacher last August. The orthodontist emailed us his recommended treatment plan and fee schedule, and we consulted via phone to work out the specifics of his treatment. We then scheduled an appointment for the braces to be put on in October, the day before Family Weekend activities started. I flew out a day early to be there for that appointment, since it was a 90+ min appointment at the “main” office in Ventura (about 40 minutes away from school) instead of the local, Ojai office.</p>
<p>Since then, everything has gone like clockwork. The health office gets him to the orthodontist office in Ojai for his regular adjustments (every 6-8) weeks, and for the occasional broken bracket or other issue. (The health office has a great relationship with the orthodontist’s office, and they work together to schedule all the kids who need an appointment on the same day when possible, so they all go together, which reduces the transportation cost for each parent.) He just had his last adjustment this week before coming home for the summer, and our local orthodontist will see him once this summer for an adjustment. (The two orthodontists are in contact with each other via email to coordinate treatment details.)</p>
<p>Hope this perspective helps - seems that most kids have their local orthodontist provide the primary treatment, but for us, this system has worked well.</p>
<p>Our D had braces put on last summer before her freshman year. I had the school calendar and at the first appointment I booked out her ortho visits for the rest of the year (fall family weekend, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc). She had to have oral surgery and that was arranged over March break.</p>
<p>We live 6 hours away from the BS and it worked out fine. If you are going to do it at home I would try to get them on as early as possible this summer as there are often adjustments after the initial visit.</p>
<p>I think it can work either way- at home or at school.</p>