Venting

alexnicole452647

DH wants to get his teeth straightened which I fully support if this is something that he is insecure about.  After getting a few hefty estimates I cannot help but to be annoyed with my in laws because as usual they provided braces for both my SILs but not for DH.  I have figured out a game plan to make DH's dream of straight teeth come true but I cannot help being annoyed that once again he has gotten much less than his sisters.

vlagrl29

my DH is in the same situation but he did have braces when he was younger, before puberty.  He even wore his retainer but I guess when his wisdom teeth came in they all got crooked again.  He is frustrated about it and would love to get straight teeth, but honestly if it is 6k we won't be able to afford it.  Our insurance offers discounts if we go with an in network dentist but I don't think it is more than 30%.  We need to get him a quote too.

hoffse

Yeah, look on the bright side - at least he's old enough for the wisdom teeth question to be answered.

I wound up with 4 wisdom teeth, and they re-adjusted my previously-perfectly-straight teeth a bit before we got them pulled.  We caught it in time before the damage was really bad, but it still kind of sucked to have years of orthodontia and then wisdom teeth came in right before college to shift stuff around again.

It does suck he wasn't treated equally though.

vlagrl29

I don't understand why people don't pull out there wisdom teeth as soon as they are budding in the gums.  My dentist said once they saw them on X-rays I was to get them out.  I got all 3 of mine out when I was 19.  I just assumed everyone else would do the same if they had braces when they were younger.

hoffse

vlagrl29 said:

I don't understand why people don't pull out there wisdom teeth as soon as they are budding in the gums.  My dentist said once they saw them on X-rays I was to get them out.  I got all 3 of mine out when I was 19.  I just assumed everyone else would do the same if they had braces when they were younger.

vlagrl29 said:

Yeah that's when mine were pulled too - they saw them on an xray and said they had to go.  My teeth had already started shifting though because apparently my wisdom teeth were coming in sideways... I guess that's what I get for having naturally crooked teeth.

vlagrl29

mine didn't even have roots and my 4th never developed.

simplyelise

vlagrl29 said:

I don't understand why people don't pull out there wisdom teeth as soon as they are budding in the gums.  My dentist said once they saw them on X-rays I was to get them out.  I got all 3 of mine out when I was 19.  I just assumed everyone else would do the same if they had braces when they were younger.

For me it was really a matter of not being able to afford it until this past year (when I was 25, and they started coming in when I was 18). I've only had dental insurance since mid-2013, even including when I was a kid. I had 3 and they were all grown in, although cockeyed, when I finally got them out. If you can afford to get them out early, do it! 

AprilZ81

vlagrl29 said:

I don't understand why people don't pull out there wisdom teeth as soon as they are budding in the gums.  My dentist said once they saw them on X-rays I was to get them out.  I got all 3 of mine out when I was 19.  I just assumed everyone else would do the same if they had braces when they were younger.

Not everyone needs to have them out.  Mine came in without issue (I didn't even realize they had come in) and they didn't crowd my other teeth.

formerlyGDaisy09

vlagrl29 said:

I don't understand why people don't pull out there wisdom teeth as soon as they are budding in the gums.  My dentist said once they saw them on X-rays I was to get them out.  I got all 3 of mine out when I was 19.  I just assumed everyone else would do the same if they had braces when they were younger.

Mine were also done as soon as they saw them on the x-ray. They actually sent me in for an emergency surgery 3 days after I visited the dentist because they were all impacted. I was only 16, even though we acted early my teeth shifted.  My brother was the unfortunate one in our family who did not get braces, my sister's wisdom teeth came in in a similar timeline and by the time braces were recommended for my brother my parents didn't have room in their budget to pay for them.  

I think if we learn anything from this board it is that budgets have to be flexible and sometimes that may be at the cost of "fairness". When my H and I first got engaged (we had a long 2+year engagement) his parents told us they planned to give each of his siblings $5000 to be used to pay for the wedding, rehearsal dinner, or as a nest egg.  In the span of our engagement both his sisters got married, one had a baby and the other was pregnant at our wedding.  By the time we got married his parents didn't have the budget for their original gift, they chipped in $500 to our rehearsal dinner. Was it "fair" that H and his siblings weren't treated equally? maybe not, but I certainly wouldn't want H's parents to risk their financial stability to be "fair" in treating each sibling equally, when their financial picture changed. They did absolutely what they could at the time, while their original offer was generous, I certainly don't blame then for needing to reevaluate their own financial situation. 

look on the bright side, there are a lot more options for teeth straightening than there were 10 years ago, and as an adult your H will probably care for whatever orthadonture devices he has better than he would have as a teenager. 

jtmh2012

I don't understand why people don't pull out there wisdom teeth as soon as they are budding in the gums.  My dentist said once they saw them on X-rays I was to get them out.  I got all 3 of mine out when I was 19.  I just assumed everyone else would do the same if they had braces when they were younger.

Not everyone needs to have them out.  Mine came in without issue (I didn't even realize they had come in) and they didn't crowd my other teeth.

This.  Mine aren't causing any issues, why have them pulled?