Connor's Myobrace

Ever since Connor's permanent teeth started coming in, I've noticed how crowded and crooked they are inside his mouth. Even trying to floss his teeth is difficult because the teeth are so close together. A few months ago, I was commenting to a good friend about how perfect her kids' teeth were. Ages 11 and 8, both of her kids had the most beautiful teeth, perfectly aligned and straight. I assumed the kids just had some good genes, but then she told me how her kids had started using an orthodontic device at a young age to train their teeth to grow in the right way. After some research and talking with the dentist, we decided to have Connor try the device to see if it made any improvements in his own teeth.

This device is called the Myobrace, and as it turns out, you have to go to a certified dentist to get one. That became problematic when I realized there is only ONE certified dentist in the Houston area, and it takes about 45 minutes to drive to his office. No big deal, I guess, but then we learned that orthodontic treatments aren't covered by most dental insurance until the kids reach a certain age. So we had to drive a LONG way to the office and then pay much more than we expected to get this Myobrace. Jeff was highly skeptical and we were both wondering if it would be worth it, but we decided to give it a try since Connor had some major spacing issues as well as very crooked permanent teeth.

The Myobrace "trainer" is basically a night guard for your mouth similar to the one I wear to prevent me from ruining my teeth from grinding. It looks simple enough, but it comes with additional instructions for how kids need to learn to breathe and swallow correctly. That along with wearing the trainer every night will theoretically train the permanent teeth to come in correctly with the right spacing, making room for all future permanent teeth and in most cases, preventing the need for major orthodontic work (braces) in the future.

I have been hopeful about the trainer working for Connor, but I've also not wanted to get my hopes up. Especially since Connor often forgets to wear his trainer overnight without constant reminders. But I made sure to take Before photos so I could track his progress, and we were told that we should see some progress in 6-8 months.

Here are pics I took before we got the Myobrace.

Before: his front teeth had some separation and his lower teeth were all growing in crooked.

 

At the dentist being fitted for the Myobrace.

 

While on summer vacation, my Mom made a comment about how Connor's teeth seem to be spacing out well and growing in nicely. It caught me off guard because I'd always thought his teeth were in such bad shape spatially. Then I remembered that it had been about 6 months since he's been using the Myobrace, so maybe it was a good time to check his results. (Ordinarily I would just visit the dentist, but I'm trying to avoid unnecessary trips and ortho fees.) I took some updated pictures and then compared the Before/After pics.

 

Before

After

  

I was pretty happy with the results after only 6 months of use, especially since he keeps forgetting to wear the thing. Based on these pics, we'll definitely continue using the Myobrace and keep watching the progress. I'd say it seems worth it for now.