Advice needed: Braces keep falling off

[Cheburashka]

I spent a fortune (to me- about $10,000) for my son to get braces with a specialist orthodontist who will help coordinate care with an oral surgeon as my son will require oral surgery in a couple of years. My son's braces went on two and a half weeks ago. The same day we got home, within hours (and no food), one of the brackets fell off. That required a painful visit to the orthodontist the next day, for him to get the bracket replaced and his jaw rewired, while his mouth was very sore from just getting his braces on. Now, another bracket has come off while he was sleeping.

I'm fed up. At this point, part of me just wants my money back. Getting the brackets replaced is very hard on my son due to his ear disorder which makes the loud process painful for him even when his jaw isn't sore. Plus, this orthodontist is way way waaaaay across town, and every trip there is a mini-road trip. My son is struggling through his first year back in high school after medical leave, and the visit to replace the bracket will eat into time that is badly needed for his focus on academics (not to mention time taken from my job). He is now upset because he knows the pain that is coming, doesn't trust the braces to stay on like they should even after this is replaced, and wishes he had never agreed to this. I'm beginning to see it the same way.

Has anyone had so many problems with brackets coming off? I had braces growing up and never lost a bracket, and I wasn't even the careful type. My son is not eating the wrong types of foods and he unlike me is very careful. Has anyone ever gotten their money back from an orthodontist? Has anyone ever had so many problems in life, they feel they really can't take any more? That's where I am now. This is too much. So much else in life is hard- I can't keep taking more problems but it seems like more keep getting added each day.

 

[starry_solo]

It's been many many years since I've had braces, but they shouldn't be falling off willy-nilly.
Is the orthodontist using enough of the adhesive and the light to make sure the adhesive hardens?

 

[mjkacmom]

Four of my kids had braces, occasionally a wire would break, but i don’t remember brackets coming off, and they ate anything they wanted (I had braces and did the same). Our orthodontist is a half mile from our house so fixes were very easy. I don’t think you’d get your money back, at least not all, since I’m sure there were X-rays and the initial installation. I’d definitely ask what the heck was going on.

 

[cvjw]

Both my boys had braces twice. Never had a bracket pop off. Had a wire to break once. I would definitely address your concerns with the orthodontist.

 

[RF536]

30+ years ago when I had braces, I did have some brackets pop off. Found out it is because I naturally produce excess saliva. My orthodontist give me medicine to dry up my mouth before putting new brackets on. It worked and never left a bracket after.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

My oldest had braces for 2 years. In that time she had a bracket come off maybe 2-3 times. Once was definitely from eating skittles, but the other times it was just kind of random. The younger one should get them sometime in the next year, so we'll get to start that all over again!

 

[mumto3girls]

That sounds rough. I get that although in and of itself it’s not the end of the world, piled on top of a bunch of other crap it’s just too much right now.

I think I would call and explain that while you want to correct his teeth, neither of you have it in you right now to be having brackets put back on regularly and ask them if they have any ideas. Maybe it’s the saliva issue? Or something else that has a solution.

All three of my girls had braces, two of them in two separate waves so a total of 5 times here. Wire issues were fairly common, but the only time we had issues with a bracket was with oldest DD. She had one mounted behind her front teeth after her braces were off. I think it served as a permanent retainer, but it broke a bunch of times. She was frustrated and I think the orthodontist got tired of replacing it and finally told her to just faithfully wear her other retainers and she would be fine.

 

[tvguy]

My son has the opposite problem. He's 35 and his new dentist found remnants of the bracket adhesive on one of his teeth. He got his braces off 20 years ago.

 

[bcla]

Had them decades ago. But the one thing I remember was that a few fell off and the orthodontist decided that he'd use bands instead. But the smallest he could use was for a bicuspid. I do remember they were a huge pain to mount though. Normal brackets just glued on, but these things had to be hammered in along with a lot of glue.

 

[VandVsmama]

My YDD has had about 3-4 brackets fall off. Got them replaced and so far, so good.

 

[barkley]

30+ years ago when I had braces, I did have some brackets pop off. Found out it is because I naturally produce excess saliva. My orthodontist give me medicine to dry up my mouth before putting new brackets on. It worked and never left a bracket after.

had them years ago but my orthodontist made everyone take these before any work/adjustment. had some wires pop but nothing fell off.

op-did the orthodontist charge all that up front???? again years ago for me but my care had to be coordinated with a maxiofacial surgeon b/c it was a plan that entailed braces for a year followed by tmj surgery (jaw bone broken in two places with sections of jawbone/tooth on each side removed) wherein they used the braces to support me being wired shut, followed by about another 6 months of braces. orthodontist charged an initial down payment but then it was monthly charges (everyone i knew with orthodontics did similar payment structures).

 

[PollyannaMom]

That is a lot all at once.

My DS lost maybe three brackets over the course of having braces, but not so quickly at the beginning like that. I wonder if maybe they got a weak batch of the adhesive or something?

 

[fla4fun]

Had them decades ago. But the one thing I remember was that a few fell off and the orthodontist decided that he'd use bands instead. But the smallest he could use was for a bicuspid. I do remember they were a huge pain to mount though. Normal brackets just glued on, but these things had to be hammered in along with a lot of glue.

I remember these! Mine were adhered so well they almost pulled my teeth out getting them off.

 

[disneychrista]

My daughter had this issue when he first got her braces on too. It is almost like they forgot to put something in the "cement" they used to put them on. She FINALLY got it resolved after months of having them replace the brackets one by one as they fell off. It was never the same bracket that fell off. Once they replaced it, that one stayed stuck.

 

[fly girl]

Oh no, that sounds awful for your son. I'm sorry.

I wore braces and never had that happen. IDK if I am lucky.

A few years back, my daughter was pushing for Invisalign instead of braces. I was skeptical because I didn't know if she would religiously wear them, and if they did as good of a job as traditional braces. After a long consultation with our orthodontist, we went with Invisalign and have been very happy with the results. And, because you are given the box supply, office visits are not as frequent as traditional braces.

Obviously, I don't know if your son is a candidate for Invisalign, but it may be something to possibly look into. Especially with the bracket issues and the travel time to the orthodontist office. Just a suggestion to think about. (BTW, the cost was exactly the same at our office.)

 

[DisneyHardin]

That's very strange that they are just falling off. I wonder if the Ortho had a bad batch of adhesive. When I had braces over 30 years ago, I think I only had one come off the entire 4 years I had them on and that was because I tried to open something with my teeth and popped it off.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My daughter started her braces in California. Not many orthodontists to choose from (and within network). But thought we lucked out when highly rated orthodontist was in network. Never had experience with a bracket coming off but did have the bridge(s) loose a couple of times. One thing that bothered me also was that my daughter kept complaining that she felt like something with cutting into her mouth and they kept dismissing, turns out at some point a wire or something was cut and wasn't supposed to be. Also, the orthodontist said she would need to have some teeth taken out. But when we got to the point of discussing oral surgery, we moved across country. Found a new orthodontist quickly (interviewed 2 or 3) and they all pretty much said the same thing: the braces (the actual type of hardware) the orthodontist was using on my daughter is so old and outdated, no one uses that anymore. Also, that it was time to remove those. All the orthodontists said there was no need to remove any teeth. She had those braces removed a month after we moved and later had phase 2 braces put on which were much more easier to put on and not as much hardware. It was just all around a much better experience. I very much considered changing orthodontists in California and probably would have. I would definitely seek a second or third opinion if I were you.

 

[Christine]

Had them decades ago. But the one thing I remember was that a few fell off and the orthodontist decided that he'd use bands instead. But the smallest he could use was for a bicuspid. I do remember they were a huge pain to mount though. Normal brackets just glued on, but these things had to be hammered in along with a lot of glue.

I had braces in the 70s and these were standard. They were tough to get on and off!

 

[Cheburashka]

We tried Invisalign with a different orthodontist for over a year and it was a total waste of time.

We had a few prior consultations with mainstream orthodontists when he was younger telling us they'd have to pull teeth and he would need an expander. His father wasn't willing to do all of that so it was a no go.

The bottom line is that we've had several consultations over the years, and have already contracted with and paid this orthodontist, who is highly respected and works with the city's children's hospital on the hard cases. I doubt we'd find better anywhere in this city. I'm just frustrated with this process that isn't going well, my son's pain, the waste of time, the huge investment I made and now I fear it might not work. That's why I partly wish I could just get a refund, take the braces off and forget the whole thing.

 

[design_mom]

My daughter had this issue, too. Two brackets in the first week or so while following "all the rules." After the second one, they said "hmmm, something isn't working right here," and ended up changing to a different kind of adhesive. After that, no issues. (My daughter also required an expander, etc.)