Just found out D will need braces, not really something her dentist thinks can be put off for the four years of college. I’m figuring we should find an orthodontist close to her college (Skidmore)? I had adult braces about ten years ago due to a change in my jaw line and remember I was there very frequently. I certainly cannot provide transportation back and forth (5 hours away) a few times each month to see the doctor. Anyone else have experience with this? Suggestions?
Ask the orthodontist. If you start now, your kiddo might not need to see the orthodontist quite so often. Find out the schedule…then ask what they think should be done since the kid is going to college.
My daughter did Invisiline long distance. We moved shortly after she started, and it would have cost a lot to switch orthos (even though I was originally told it wouldn’t!! grr), so he gave her the trays and she changed them out every two weeks. She went back to california a few times and saw the original ortho, he gave her the rest of the trays, and that was it. I’m not totally thrilled with the outcome, but daughter looks natural. She did get a retainer from our new dentist.
Ok, I thought we’d just wait and use an orthodontist local to the college? I’d rather drive up and help her out every so often as needed rather than pick her up and bring her back…maybe we should see the referral dr now…that gives us three months to get started?
Just started at home for DD last month. Visits are once a month. Missing a couple of months just extends the duration of the treatment, it doesn’t seem to have any negative effects. For us, it is boarding school, and consensus advice was that between the transportation logistics and how busy she would be in boarding school, it would be better to start immediately and do it at home. Thanksgiving, year-end, and spring break will have ortho visits built in. Hopefully, she will be in retainers by September or Dec 2016.
I started in HS, myself, and continued in college. Major headache in transportation for appointments. Cost more since we switched orthodontists. Not fun!
There could still be transportation logistics to consider if the orthodontic equipment ever breaks – which is not unusual. A general dentist can remove a broken wire or band so that it doesn’t injure the patient, but the kid would have to see an orthodontist to get it replaced, and it may not be a good idea to wait until the next vacation (if it breaks at school and the kid’s ortho is at home) or the next semester (if it breaks at home and the kid’s ortho is at school).
Wow, I was wondering about this too. My son just started in April and we were told he will have to come in for adjustment every four to six weeks. He will be either 3 hour train ride away (makes it easy!), or 8 hour drive in good traffic. (He’s still trying to decide). Assuming he ends up far away, even if all goes well, there may still be some extended time between adjustments. Instead of six weeks, it could be eight. I guess that may draw out the time but didn’t consider that there might be breaks and so forth. Now that the subject of emergency fixes is raised, I am wondering if it wouldn’t be possible to find someone on-site to make emergency repairs if needed.
Younger son was a bad boy who didn’t wear his retainer faithfully so he needed braces again in college. We found him an ortho that was about a block away from his school. It worked out fine. I just sent checks. (I know, I should have made HIM pay for Round 2).
I paid for a subscription to Angie’s List in my kids’ college city. I got the recommendation from there. Angie’s List subscriptions have gotten to be quite inexpensive, and it really was a great source for a variety of needs.
This subject came up on the boarding school parents thread. As someone with first hand experience, my suggestion is to speak with the orthodontist about the plan, but I would start immediately. The immense pain she will have for the first couple of weeks is something she would rather experience under the care of her mother than away at college.
Adjustments can be performed over breaks. Make appointments in advance to accommodate. For emergencies, find an orthodontist close to Skidmore - student health services may have some recommendations. Treatment may take a little longer, but I think it is worth it. FWIW, I only had to use the orthodontist near school once, and that was to cement on a bracket.
Our ortho appts have been only every 6-7 weeks. Treatment duration about 2 years. But their issues were simpler than some I’ve seen, eg. no extractions necessary. I don’t know what determines the frequency of visits. Mine had traditional metal braces, no invisalign. I walked to the ortho office from my high school. Working parents were not available to drive me.
It may also be advisable to check with your insurance carrier, as coverage levels for ortho treatment for in-network may be significantly better than non-network providers.
Getting 50% coverage up to $3000 max is way better than 40% coverage up to $1200.
Chances are that if there are ortho providers near the school, they will be well versed in continuing treatment that started closer to home.
There are so many breaks, she may be able to make it work with an orthodontist at home. Have a visit a few days before she leaves for Skidmore. Her next appt. will be on Fall break, in October. Then Thanksgiving, then winter break. If Skidmore has a long winter break, she may even be able to squeeze in two appts – one at the beginning and one at the end. Next appt. is during spring break, then when she comes home in May. Maybe she;ll have to arrange a long weekend or two during some of the longer intervals. The schedule might not be perfect, but it’s good enough. and, yeah, get an ortho local to the college for emergencies.
All good ideas, hadn’t thought about how she could do appts here at home over breaks, etc., I thought I remembered from my own experience going every two weeks for the first two months and that is what I was worried about. We’ll have to do a consult locally and go from there I guess.
Doesn’t invisilign have to be changed every two weeks? I am pretty sure that they make all the trays at once, though, and give them to you as your progress (they do have to shave them down, though, right?
For my girls with metal braces, they went once a month, every month, for a year and a half.
Invisiline does change trays every two weeks, but the ortho can give you 4 or 5 at a time. Even when we lived near the ortho (first 2 months) she only went in a few times. If things don’t go as well as expected, they can remake a week, or have you wear the trays for 3-4 weeks before going to the next step. I think she started in December, we moved in Feb. and he gave her trays through June, she went back in June and July when on vacation, he gave her a bunch more trays, and then she may (or may not) have gone again at Christmas. Our new dentist finished her off with a traditional retainer. She preferred the Invisiline.
My other daughter had traditional braces and they were fine too. She went to the dental school, so it was a bit of a haul out to the school, but she only went once every 4-6 weeks. It was supposed to take 18-24 months, but she was a perfect patient and it only took 10 months. She never broke a bracket, never needed emergency care. She wore the night brace, she brushed, flossed, she used the water pic, she never ate chips or gum or sticky candy. It does pay to do as you are told.
If you are getting traditional braces, better to find an orthodontist near the college. It is really a pain to change orthodontists during treatment, and it will make it cost more–sometimes A LOT more. (They will charge a monthly fee to take on your kid after treatment is started. Not cheap.) I have 4 kids who have been through braces and we moved, sometimes more than once, while 3 of them were in treatment. One kid started college with braces after already living in 3 different places during high school. Another kid who was in college did Invisilign. Just took trays with him to OOS college and changed every 2 weeks, saw dentist during breaks. I have done invisilign myself recently. I would definitely look into Invisilign for a college kid. Also, most of my kids, though they brushed, etc. and took good care of teeth when they had braces, still had multiple cavities when the braces came off. Another pain/expense. With Invisilign it is easy to brush/floss thoroughly and keep your teeth in good shape during treatment.
Not sure what type of braces yet, we haven’t even gone for the consult but it will require the removal of three teeth and it sounds as though its going to be a long difficult process. Apparently D had not lost all her baby teeth but there are adult teeth just now breaking through behind them…don’t know how this got past us, she goes to the dentist every 6 months min and always has.
So sorry to hear that intervention didn’t come sooner. 
This will be difficult to deal with in college away from home. Our experience with traditional braces was a visit to the orthodontist ever 8 - 12 weeks. If she’s having teeth pulled, then there may be some spacing issues and/or additional appliance. So, the visits may be closer together from time to time. Your local Ortho may have a plan… the plan may be stretched out since visits will be longer apart. The other option is for a referral to a ortho close to school. However, she’ll need transportation to the ortho every 8 - 12 weeks. Parents don’t really need to be involved. It’s a pretty organized process. Good luck! The complicates things. (Be sure they are looking at her wisdom teeth while you’re at it.)
Thanks phoenixmom2 for your input, yes it definately complicates things a bit but I’ll have to get more information before we can even start the discussions.
As a student who had braces in college, if you can swing it with insurance coverage or what not to get an orthodontist close to the school - that can be extremely helpful when there is a broken wire, popped bracket, etc. I remember a few times of discomfort where I had to schedule emergency visit to get something adjusted (however this didn’t happen too often). If your daughter needs any sort of jaw alignment/bite alignment, Invisiline might be out of the question. My orthodontist explained that that treatment is typically used for crooked teeth/cosmetic purposes, but if one needs more extensive work done, it is likely that the aligners might not do the trick.