I have some questions for you. At first you might think I am copying Black Sheeped‘s Friday questions (and by the way, have you noticed she’s moved to a new url?), but you see, HERS are fun questions about YOU, whereas MINE involve information I need to extract from your brains for my own personal benefit. If you know the answers to any of these, GIVE IT.
1) How much do braces cost these days? Rob has a significant overbite. I’m hoping some of you have kids in braces now and can give me an idea of financial planning here. I guess braces cost more for some situations than for others, but even a RANGE would be helpful. And also: I keep hearing that orthodontists are now doing “pre-braces” work for thousands of dollars in addition to the thousands of dollars braces already cost, but I don’t get it. I don’t need the 100% Most Excellent of Possible Excellence here, I just want his teeth straightened like I had mine straightened: wait for the 12-year molars to come in, then put braces on the teeth THE END. I don’t want to add years to the process, though I can certainly see why the orthodontists would.
2) What’s good for removing candle soot? My nice scented candles have turned on me; it seems like it was all of a sudden, but actually we’ve been noticing little smudgies for weeks and just hadn’t connected it to the candles. The soot is kind of greasy (or, duh, probably WAXY) and it’s in a fine layer on the plastic high chair, the white-painted cupboards, the plastic chairs and plastic toys, even the plastic cups that were in the cupboard. Candle smoke must be particularly attracted to plastic? Or maybe particularly visible on plastic?
3) Do those candle warmers really work? Do they use up the scent faster or slower than if you burn the candle the regular way? Do they spread out the scent as well as burning does? Are you then left with a scentless candle at the end? I have several huge boxes of scented candles that I bought to make myself feel happier, and now I am feeling LESS HAPPY IN RE THEM.
4) How do I make my blog post titles clickable? [Edit: I THINK Paul has fixed this for me. Let’s see, now, if it breaks something else on the site.] My Swistle: Baby Names site has this: you can click the title of any post and it takes you to that post’s own url, with the comments shown underneath it. My main Swistle site does not. WT? I’ve been through all the settings and can’t see where this would be.
I can help with #4… it’s the Post Pages option… Under Settings, Archiving, Enable Post Pages, Yes…
Barbara- Mine’s already on Yes. I changed it to No, saved it, and changed it back to Yes again, just in case—but it’s still not working.
#2, try a magic eraser.
#3, I’m not sure, but I accidentally left a candle on my dryer, and the laundry room smells so nice when the dryer is on, that I left it there! I’m not sure how long the candle lasts or what the deal is. I think I asked this in the comments of one of your other entries and forgot to check to see if anyone answered me. Whoops.
My next-to-oldest has an overbite, too, so I’ll be interested to see what folks have to say about the cost of braces.
Those magic erasers are great, certainly worth a try.
I really have no answers whatsoever here, don’t even know why I’m commenting, since it’s so blatantly obvious that I have nothing worthwhile to say on the topics. :)
My daughter had the pre-braces which cost $2500 for the year of braces and all retainers until she gets her next set of braces. The reason for the pre-braces? Her teeth were so bad that if we did nothing now, she would have had to have several permanent teeth removed in order to fix her teeth. We’ve had family members who had to do that so we decided it was worth it for her to keep all her teeth.
We didn’t do the pre-braces because, frankly I couldn’t afford it. My daughter is still in her braces after two years. The total cost was $4800.00. My insurance picked up $1500.00 which was very helpful
Another vote for the Magic Eraser. Illuminations used to sell a wax remover solvent that worked nicely for getting soot off walls, but I can’t find it anywhere online.
ok… the next part would be checking in the HTML… are you familiar with editing HTML? I can probably help you through it via email.
I am 30 years old and am supposed to get braces. The reasons why I have not yet are too much to list here. However, the quote I got for my braces was around $4500.
I have a candle warmer and I don’t think it’s that great. If you have a small candle it probably works okay, but with the larger candles it takes forever for it to melt, and I don’t think the smell is as good as when you actually burn the candle. And I’m always paranoid that I’m going to lose the wick somewhere in the melted candle and then I’ll be stuck using the candle warmer forever.
Melani- Do you know how pre-braces prevent tooth removal? I had two teeth removed before braces because there “wasn’t room in my jaw.” I only recently even HEARD of pre-braces, and I’m not sure what they DO.
Okay, candle soot: I know this is miserable to think about, but cleaner burning candles will solve the issue permanently. Some soy candles — and many more expensive ones — won’t spread any soot at all. I’m not sure it’s worth the extra cost, as many preach (usually those people work for PartyLite. I’ve heard it all, PartyLite people! I HAVE HEARD! But I still like my Trapp candles, so stuff it.)
As for the candle warmers, my mother SWEARS by them. Swears. Thinks they’re the greatest things ever. Personally, I do NOT think they diffuse the scent nearly as well.
1) If your dentist referrs you to an orthodontist, it usually means they get a kick-back from that orthodontist for doing it. Ask if you can get a part of that kick back, also if your dental care professional is anything like my dad, he will often work on “trade” so if there are services that can be provided to him/her that equal the cost of the dental/orthodonic care, sometimes it can end up being free. But that’s dentist to dentist
2)Goo-Gone I think would do the trick. It does leave a film of grease after it has cleaned the goo, so you have to go over it again with 409 or similar.
3)Yes they do work, in fact sometimes they work too well. If you can, find one with a low, med, high setting so that your house doesn’t become one big bloom of flowers. The part to remember is, of course, the candles will become unlightable as the wick gets mooshed with warmth. So if you have candles for “mood lighting” don’t use them on the warmer.
I don’t think they loose scent too much faster than if you burnt them down, they also move down the jar at the same rate that they would if burnt, but evenly for us OCD types. I refuse to get a warmer though, as I associate it with my step mother and her evil-ness. I light them in the middles of the room with plenty of ceiling clearance so there’s no ghosting. And I trim the wicks, and instead of blowing them out, I cover them. Usually the act of blowing them out causes the most damage to your home.
I talked about candles for a long time.
4) Yes, it works, and thank god because there have been times I have wanted to link a specific post of yours, and there was no URL to do so with. YAY PAUL
Parkingathome- Paul also says that all along I could have clicked the TIME STAMP at the bottom of the post to get the link, which, huh? Because, um, that’s SO INTUITIVE. I was even LOOKING for a way to get the url and didn’t think to click the TIME.
Barbara- A secret away-from-Paul’s-ears thank you to you for your email on changing the HTML. I’m saving those in case Paul’s fix doesn’t work out. Because it looked to me as if he did the equivalent of taking the red wire and welding it to the yellow wire and saying, “There! It works! Just don’t….touch it!”
Jonniker- The candles doin’ me wrong are my new Illuminations ones. They’re the most expensive candles I’ve ever bought, which is making me KINDA CHEESED OFF that I have…*counting*…MANY of them all tucked away in many scents, and now feel like I can’t, you know, BURN THEM. Well, at least I got them half off and then buy 2 get 1 free, so I didn’t pay the full price.
Just something to mention… my husband had braces as a child (don’t remember what age) and has them again now at 40, because his teeth moved back. So, I would recommend just making sure he is old enough when he gets them that they are going to stay. Not sure how one figures that out, but I doubt that the orthodonist cares if he needs new ones again in 20+ years.
Soy Candles are supposed to be clean burning and not leave the soot you describe.
One key reason for “pre-braces” is to get even up jaw growth if the upper (over bite) or lower jaw (under bite) is growing significant faster than the other. Once the jaw bones set, the orthodontist is more limited in what they can do to even up the bite (straightening the teeth is still possible, but they might not line up correctly) and then surgery might be required. A year of wearing a jaw positioner or expanding the upper palette before the bones fuse can make everything much easier and the results more stable later on.
And yes, if you pay for braces, MAKE him wear the retainer.
Ok, for some reason my email is malfunctioning and I cannot email you.
I need a name consultation!
I absolutely LOVE the name Molly. However, my last name is Perry. Is Molly Perry just too much? I’m fearing it is.
Could we switch her middle and first name and still call her Molly? Or would that just defeat the purpose? WHAT to do Swistle, save me! Please!
– Sophie
I can only help with the candle warmer. They are great and distribute the scent as if the candle were lit. I used to use them in my classroom all the time, but one day, I left the warmer on overnight. When I came in the next morning, the glass surrounding the candle had popped and there was wax EVERYWHERE. Don’t leave it on too long, and keep it away from your kids just like a flaming candle…which you would do anyway.
I am a dental hygienist and I work in an orthodontic office so let me see if I can explain.
In the olden days orthodontists did not put braces on kids until they were twelve and had all their permanent teeth. Braces make your teeth straight but sometimes in order to make your bite ‘fit together’ they had to remove teeth or sometimes patients needed oral surgery to make the upper/lower jaw fit together.
Now that orthodontics have progressed, we have figured out that if you capitalize on kids growth spurts you can harness their jaw growth in their favour to eliminate the need for tooth removal or surgery. So, they wear braces with some sort of appliance ie. expander/ head gear/ bionater etc. while they are 7-11 (whatever the appropriate age for your child) then they take the braces off for a while while the child finishes permanent tooth eruption- then put the braces back on to finish up the details of esthetics and proper fit of the teeth. Thereby saving the child surgery and possible permanent tooth removal.
You would have to bring him in for an assessment and the orthodontist could tell you what the problem is and give you an estimate, without you commiting to treatment.
If the overbite is severe, he may suggest a headgear plus removal of two upper adult teeth. But you are definately wiser to start this sooner rather than later.
Hope this helps, email me if you have any other questions.
I can’t really help on anything bu the candles. I would be careful of the magic eraser, it might mess up the finish on your cabinets, try on an invisible area first-should be fine for the plastics though. I am a fan of Goo Gone, however!
Also, on the warmers-not worth it IMHO. We use one at my workplace and they do cause the wick to fall into the candle and the scent definitely isn’t as strong after a while.
2) Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? Maybe pre-treat the area with grease cutting dish soapy water?
3) yes. I love candle warmers.
My experience with the candle warmer is great. At my old work place, we had a smell problem, so a few of us went to wal mart, bought the cheap warmers and the wal mart candles. They lasted forever and took care of the smell problem.
I can answer the orthodontist questions since I just took my 11 yr old w/ overbite and crooked teeth for a consultation on Wednesday.
First off, ALL of the orthodontists here offer FREE consultations, so call around and see if you can get one (or more) consulations set up so you can see what your options are.
The plan they proposed for my son is to wait 6 more months (waiting because he hasn’t shown that huge prepubescent growth spurt yet and they want to capitalize on that), then in 6 months put in a Herbst appliance to move his lower jaw forward into the proper place under his lower jaw. That will remain on for a year, and then they expect a year of braces after that. Obviously, those are guestimates, but the guy sounded pretty confident and he came very highly recommended.
The estimate cost – $5150. Our insurance will cover $1200, so we’re looking at about $4K I guess. They offer a few different payment plans – which I think is also typical for orthodontists.
The lady in the office commented that the cost of orthodontic treatment really hasn’t gone up like many other things. I asked my mom, and she believes that my braces in 1986-88 cost about $3600, so if you compare that to $5 today, I don’t think it’s too bad.
No problem. You have my email now, just let me know if you need any help. :)
i like to think of it this way, braces are going to cost that new canon rebel i want, all new skinny clothes i wanted, that fancy new kitchen knife i wanted.
you know, they are about that much
The only one I know the answer to is #4, and you’ve already fixed that. Although before you could permalink to the posts, you had to go through the archives or the “recent posts” list to do so. And now it’s much easier.
But will you post other people’s responses and how well they worked for you at some future point? It seems like information that I should have too.
One more braces comment – One other reason that the hygienist didn’t mention for the pre-braces…My middle son’s top front teeth were so bad that they actually stuck out from his lip even when his mouth was closed, so cosmetically not pleasant, BUT ALSO…if he were to fall face first from like a skateboard, bike, or playing a sport they would be the first thing to hit the ground and therefore break. I don’t think this is money generating fear mongering because I know a little guy down the street this happened to (actually witnessed it!). And, breaking those permanenet front teeth is a real problem. All kinds of crowns, veneers, and expensive cosmetic dentistry. So, it was a boost to my son’s self esteem (he KNEW he looked awful – refused to be in pictures to the point of tears and would never ever smile.)and it was kind of like insurance against the breakage factor.
That treatment was somewhwere in the neighborhood of $800 and the real deal is in the $4500-$5500 range for each of my boys. (differences due to slight differences in nature and severity of problems) Be sure to shop around for an ortho you like. Ours is a dream ( I might possibly have a little crush on him!), and honestly tries to get the biggest bang for our buck, and every single person in his office is the. nicest. person. you. have. ever. met. Find a place like this, cuz you’ll see them pretty often!
Scentsy wickless candles work well. They have a small, decorative base, that allows the wax to melt quicker, which disttributes the scent faster. They are run on a 25 watt light bulb..so they’re never hot. So they’re safer for you’re home. Also, anytime you are melting wax vs. burning a wick–you are not releasong toxins into your home ;)
A $5 scentsy bar has been tested to outlast a 16oz (up to $22) Salt City candle..by 3 times!!
Only thing you have to do is remember to change the scents frequently because when its constantly in your home, you adapt to it and can no longer smell it
;)
H
ask me if you have any more questions!!!
#2: I usually use a washcloth or papertowel and wipe the inside of the glass jars. To cut down on soot (just in case its not due to a cheap candle), douse your wicks in the wax instead of blowing them out (this will keep them from smoking and keep the wick nice and waxy and easy to relight)(use scissors or a knife or something pointy for dousing) and then keep your wick trimmed to a 1/4 inch before burning.
#3 — Candle warmers are nice. They take a bit longer to give off scent because they heat from the bottom up, but my candles lasted a long time on that. Use smaller candles for it, not your HUMONGOUS yankee candles… it takes too long.. .and you won’t be able to burn them again because you will lose the wick in the wax.
re: #1 all I can say is make sure to wire a permanent retainer into his teeth (usually goes behind the front teeth either upper or lower depending on what’s needed). I went through pre-braces from age 5-9 and then braces from 9-11 and retainers until I was 18, but for some unknown reason my mother opted not to have a permanent retainer put in behind my lower teeth and now, 10 years later, I look as though I never had any ortho at all. She says the reason I don’t have a permanent retainer is “because I didn’t want one” but I fail to see how that is a valid reason since I had braces for 3498739468709 years and DIDN’T WANT THOSE EITHER.
Rob will thank you for your diligence, I am positive. :)
I can only chime in on the candle warmers – they definitely work! I have one that was originally a cup watmer (I got it back when that was the hot Christmas gadget, and then the interest fizzled and the next year, they were repackaged as candle warmers).
Anyway, they work – the candles smell exactly the same, only without the fire hazard (though still the hot wax hazard), and when you turn them off, no smoke.
I use mine with a large jar candle and you get the scent within a few minutes.
Can you stand one more comment on braces?
Braces in central Il run between 4-5K. Ask your dentist (if you like & trust him) if it were HIS kids, which ortho he would send them to. Also ask the hygenists and front office gals, too. Ask friends with kids with braces. Find out if they are happy with the office and how the ortho handled their case. Each mouth and family’s situation is different.
Set up consultations with more than one ortho. If they want to slap braces on Rob tomorrow–RUN!
Also, if you know someone who works in a dental office, ask them who is good–my mom is a hygenist, so I had an inside track on orthos. Good Luck!
Hmmm… I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. Although it seems you already have many great answers. I’ve alread added magic eraser to my shopping list for next week.
I think that candle warmers work pretty well, although I usually don’t use them until after I have burned the candle down 1/2 – 3/4 way. Then I feel like I can get a few extra uses out of them. But with kiddos that have a penchant for pulling over things, candle warmers are a good thing – they don’t get too hot, and they do provide a nice scent.
That candle soot thing used to happen in our (primarily white) bathroom all the time. I started being really careful about keeping the wicks trimmed down low at all times, which helped a lot. And if I did notice any soot, I would just Lysol Wipe it off.
We just got a quote for $5500 for my daughter. Insurance picks up 20% of that.
Good luck – they’re expensive pretty much everywhere!
Okay, I read all the comments to see if this has happened to anyone else, and so far it appears I’m the only one.
My candle warmer smelled great and worked well until I left it on a long time. I don’t remember how long, but it was a large jar and it melts from bottom up, since that’s the part on the warmer. When the melty part got up to the top, it EXPLODED like a volcano. I still can’t get all the wax off the ceiling and the bottoms of my cabinets. Beware.
1 daughter, 1 set of braces, 5 years of checkups (sigh, lateness sucks), 2 teeth removed because the spacers didn’t work, $5200, and a beautiful smile later…it was worth it. I will warn that braces costs will vary. Nik’s were expensive for the reason that her mouth was uncommonly small (hahaha, right), she had an overbite, and something else was messed up that I can’t quite remember right now. The one thing I will say is—get A LOT of second opinions due to the cost factor. We had quotes anywhere from $2800 (and “she’ll look perfect in a year!!”) to $7,500 (and “man are your kid’s teeth messed up”) in our hunt for the perfect orthodontist. I loved the one we settled on but didn’t really like his office staff. They always made me wonder what they were saying about me behind my back (probably,”Why the hell can’t that woman ever show up on time…after 3 years???”) when I left. They had a habit of doing that about the people who left before me. It gets to be a rather drawn out affair, the braces thing, and I always felt a bit uncomfortable with them. Good luck!
It sounds like you got all your othodontic questions answered. Big thank you’s to Linda who explained what I was going to say much better than I could have.
I had braces as a kid and had to have many teeth pulled. I still wear my retainer a couple nights a week while I sleep. The alignment of my bite gets off if I don’t wear it for a couple months.
Thing1 has braces on now. He had some pre-work done. He had a spacer put in and some head gear. Now we’re on to the real deal. The total cost for his, including all the work that happens BEFORE the contract (including pulling 2 teeth at an oral surgeon) will be $5600.
The consultation was FREE. In fact, we had consultations every 3-6 months for almost 2 years and they were all free. That really helped me understand the process and costs. There are many payment plans that your orthodontist can work out with you. Many even do financing. Remember that if the hubby has a flexible spending account through work you MUST use that. It will save you a ton of money!
Good luck!
I had pre-braces as a kid – a bionator (it’s this big plastic retainer thing that corrects an overbite) and then a palate expander (plastic thing on roof of mouth with wires/bands to back molars, HOLY CRAP THAT THING HURT SO BAD). At that point, I was at the end of 8th grade. They wanted to put me in braces. I decided my teeth really weren’t all that crooked (they’re not) and told my parents and the orthodontist that there would be no braces in my head, kthxbai. I did have to have my wisdom teeth pulled because of too little mouth space and the fact that they were impacted, but I didn’t do that till college.
I have no idea how much it costs.
My point was that maybe after the “pre braces” he won’t need the actual braces.
As to the candle issues, I don’t know….I usually just get the jar ones, and the jars get kinda black, and then I toss them when they’re dead. When I’ve used actual candleholders, dish soap (Dawn) and water took the sludge off when I cleaned them.
this was in my newspaper today
Get wise about candles. Throw out paraffin candles, which are petroleum based and emit soot. avoid incense and scented candles, both of which emit ultra fine particles that can penetrate the lungs, reports richard corsi, professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at the university of Texas.
pollutants from candles and incense can irritate the skin and eyes, and toxins from some of them can get into the blood
what does this mean for my salt city candles agggg
misguided mommy, I was waiting for someone to tell poor swistle about the dangers of candles. They’re not good. So sad.