A Bracing Journey

Earlier this year, I had read up on forums about orthodontists. Coco had told me, some time late last year, that her school dental nurse had commented that she had a 'huge over jaw'. I am no expert in dentistry but I could guess what she had meant. It made me worry when the well-intentioned nurse repeated her concern before Coco left the dental room,"Your over jaw is huge."

I was worried that her upper jaw might become more protruding as she grows into adulthood and a check on the internet told me that she would need a jaw surgery instead of braces if it continues to protrude right into her twenties.

I read up the forums for recommendations and reviews. In the end, I decided on Dr Alfred Cheng, an orthodontist with a clinic at Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

The first consultation was free. Dr Cheng was patient and would answer any questions we had.

He confirmed that Coco has a protruding upper jaw and that braces would help to push her upper teeth back while bringing forward the lower teeth, thereby better-align the teeth. But when he said two teeth had to be extracted, it scared us and we could not make a decision there and then. He said that there would be very little difference made if no extraction was made and he would rather not do.

He advised us to think about it first and we could always return to him if we really wanted braces done.

Upon stepping out of the clinic, Coco asked me if she could have braces for just the upper teeth. So we went back and asked Dr Cheng. But he said no. In fact, he said the lower teeth has to be treated first, for what, I did not ask.

We stepped out of the clinic again. And Coco said,"Let's do it."

So we went back to the clinic, the third time, and told Dr Cheng that we would have it done.

A nurse did the x-ray for Coco. And after a more detailed examination and some photo-taking, Dr Cheng issued a letter for Coco's teeth to be extracted at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre.

A friend asked me a question,"Is it too early for Coco to get her braces done? I mean, she is still growing. Would her jaw continue to grow and protrude after the braces period is over?"

I was worried, again. This time - over two issues:

1) Is it too early for Coco to do braces?
2) Is there a need to pull out good teeth?
I went in search of a second opinion to enquire if it was too early for Coco to do braces.

My friend recommended A-line.

Dr Tan at A-line said that his daughter was in Primary Five this year. He got her to do it very early this year, and he would have done it for Coco one year earlier, when she was in Primary Five, if she were his daughter.

He confirmed that it was not too early to do it. In fact, he implied that the treatment was even a little delayed.

Then he said that he would try not to extract her good teeth as there was a good chance of the 'bone moving in' since she was still growing. I am not sure which 'bone' he was referring to but I had assumed it was the jaw bone.

However, he mentioned that he would extract the teeth if there was no sign of improvement after eight months.

Coco did not want to wear braces for eight months just to be informed that there was no improvement.

So we went to the third orthodontist, Dr Tan of Embrace Dental.

His advice was very straightforward:

1) It is not too early to do braces.
2) Extraction is necessary as there is overlapping of teeth in the upper row as well as to make space for the teeth to move in.

It happened that Dr Tan was Coco's classmate's father and he did not charge us the usual fifty-dollar consultation fee out of goodwill!

If not for the $535 deposit that I had paid at Dr Cheng's clinic, I most probably would have got Coco done her braces at Embrace Dental as Dr Tan was equally, if not more, patient in explaining which teeth ought to be extracted and why. He also told us that on top of an overjet, the condition of Coco's upper teeth, Coco also has a crossbite, meaning one of her upper teeth at the side is protruding so much it prevents the movement of her lower jaw. That was one thing that Dr Cheng did not alert us to, but I would not rule out the possibility of him knowing it but not telling us, given us that we already had too much on our plate to worry and think about at that point.

Addresses and charges:

1) Dr Alfred Cheng

    Alfred Cheng Orthodontic Clinic

    Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre

    3 Mount Elizabeth #03-03

    Tel: 67355635

    Nearest MRT: Orchard

    Metal braces: $4066

2) Dr Tan Lam Seng

    A Line Dental Braces Clinic Pte Ltd

    1 Coleman Street

    #03-01 The Adelphi
    Tel: (65) 6837 2722
    Email: drtan@alinedental.com.sg
    Nearest MRT: Cityhall
    Consultation charges: $21
    Metal braces: $3852

3) Dr Tan Kok Liang
    Embrace Dental
    360 Orchard Road #01-14
    International Building
    Tel: (65) 6235 6325
    Fax: (65) 6735 1505
    Email: embrace@pacific.net.sg
    Nearest MRT: Orchard
    Metal braces: $4200 - $4700