Steiner Ranch Orthodontics

James R. Waters, DDS, MSD, PA

Board Certified Treatment for Children, Teens and Adults

Does my child have to miss school for appointments?

Recently I read an editorial from the local Superintendent of my kids’ school district (the same district one of my offices services and pays taxes toward) where he criticized parents for taking kids out for regular doctor visits. It was not simply in passing or a mention of regret but a full out verbal assault blaming doctors for costing the district tax dollars and such.

There may be a few “company” offices that offer Saturday appointments but no private practice will do this long term and most of us in practice also have families and kids; weekends are somewhat sacred. And even if we treated patients regularly on weekends, not every child in treatment could be treated one day per week. It is an impossible complaint.

But logistics apart, remember that kids develop and grow during the ages they are in school; there is just no way around that. And every year further into school makes orthodontics more difficult with compliance to the point you can almost forget treatment in middle to late high school.

Teeth also have their own eruption pattern that does not always correlate with chronologic age; there is certainly a “window” of time that cases are best treated and treatment will almost always take 12 months or more. There is just no way to treat properly and not miss school.

On the other hand, most patients will only have a hand full of appointments per semester of school and the same class may be missed only once a year if planned correctly. Parents must ultimately trust that the Accredited Specialist knows best and has the interests of their kids as a primary factor. One would just as well have their chef at their favorite restaurant tell them when to get their vaccines or their local mechanic take their blood pressure. Waiting on some cases can lead to extraction of permanent teeth, loss of impacted teeth, damage to the occlusion, future TMD and a generally poor outcome for kids for the rest of their lives. The benefits will nearly always outweigh the 20 to 30 minutes loss of time from school.

And for my own situation, I regularly give $15K to $20K to the local schools for their programs (band, sports, clubs, events, fundraisers) so don’t feel too badly if your school loses a few hours’ worth of your child’s presence!

If you have questions or comments concerning this or any orthodontic question, please feel free to make a complimentary new-patient appointment at either my Steiner Ranch location or my North-central Austin location on West 35^th street and MoPac.

Dr. James R. Waters is a 1996 graduate from UTHSC Dental School in San Antonio, 1997 graduate of Advanced Dentistry from the UNMC in Nebraska and the 2001 Valedictorian graduate from the prestigious Saint Louis University Orthodontic Program receiving the J.P. Marshall award for clinical excellence in 2001. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Doctorate in Dental Surgery, a post-doctorate certificate in Advanced Dentistry, post-doctorate Degree in Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics and a Master of Science Degree in Orthodontics. Dr. Waters and his wife of 19 years live in Austin, TX with their 4 children where he has a thriving, multi-faceted Specialist practice with locations in Steiner Ranch and North-Central Austin.

You can learn more about Dr. Waters at www.BracesAustin.com.

Central Austin

1814 W. 35^th Street