Fiberotomy - please help!

[spring2]

Hi,

I put a post on the Dental Board but no one is responding. Since this is an issue for an older child, I thought I might get more of a response here.

My son is getting his braces off and the orthodondist wants him to have a fiberotomy. This is where they cut the fibers in the gum to prevent the gums from pulling the teeth back to where they were before braces. Apparently, with the braces on, the gums get stretched and as soon as the braces are off they tend to relax and pull the teeth back to the original position.

I would be interested in any and all input. We are not sure if this is necessary and if it could cause problems down the line.

Thanks!!!!!! Spring

[CincoDeMama]

i had braces twice, and my oldest ds had them twice as well & neither of us have had this procedure. a good rule of thumb is if your dental ins won't pay for it, it's most likely considered unnecessary.

[PikkuMyy]

Well, you have to consider the possible side effects - infections, etc. as well as the importance of this procedure - is the dental work cosmetic, or does your child have a serious problem with eating (or a real problem with looks) because of it?

My mother wore braces for years and then they just went back to the way they were before. What was the point? Lots of money for the Drs...:

For that reason, I opted as a child not to get them because I can eat just fine and I don't care about my "snaggle-tooth" as my DH calls it.

What does your child think about it all? I think you should really get his opinion on it.

Emily

[MommaCheesehead]

Never heard of it. My sister had the most crooked teeth I have ever seen. She had almost 2 rows on top She had braces over 20 years ago, wore a retainer for a short time after and her teeth are still perfectly straight.

[sylviamama]

I had one of those!

Your post caught my eye because I had one following braces removal. Never did any research on the possible side effects/future health risks cause I was a young teen and not thinking about those sorts of things. I remember the procedure was no biggie, in and of itself - not sure if it was covered by insurance or not. However, I do know that it didn't work - my teeth rotated back anyway.

[carmen veranda]

My 9 yr old just had one. I was convinced it was the right thing to do. I went about it the wrong way. It doesn't help that there is only one guy here that does them. She was sick with pain afterwards. They told us she would be able to go back to school and no problems. She NO WAY could go back to school. She was exhausted and traumatized and took a three hour nap and sipped some soup and went back to bed right after a bath.

A co-worker told me they used conscious sedation on her daughter and she went home with some mild pain pills for the first day. This sounds much more like it. I am not a fan of medicating kids if I can help it, but that was AWFUL afterwards. Where as my co-workers daughter, who got hers done elsewhere, has no bad memories of it.

I am convinced of the neccesity of the procedure. I looked into it and made the right choice for our family. I did not look into HOW he did the procedure as well as I should have. I believed what he said, and he sticks by it today, that he has had NO problems with anyone complaining about such pain afterwards. She was bruised and swollen. So I took her back in for him to look at, and he thought that looked "fairly normal" after having this done. And having bruised and swollen gums that look "fairly normal" is not painful!!!! grrrr... My poor darling. I dropped the ball on this one.

So. Look into it. I am convinced we did the right thing in the WRONG way. Ask the doctor about pain managment. If he says, "oh most people have no problems with pain afterward," don't neccessarily take his word for it.

About the decision to base your health care on what insurance pays for. I don't mean to be critical, but setting health care neccessity by what people who work for insurance companies(who are in the business of NOT paying for more than they have to) seems a little scary. I don't think I want an adjuster deciding what health care my family should or should not have. My insuranve paid for NOTHING of the orthodontia. Fiberotomy is frequently considered orthodontia.