We have been to two consultations over the past 6 years, but each time there was a gut instinct that told me it wasn't the right time. We had been told and had expected that both of our children would have extensive orthodontic procedures and additional oral surgery to correct their bites. This always broke my heart, who wants to put their kids through that crap? I went through oral surgery the summer of my 9th grade year and let me tell you, it was no picnic...I had my jaw broken, moved forward and wired shut for 6 weeks if I remember correctly. I'm sure that things are different today...but still! The previous orthodontist had always been "extraction" happy as well and wanted to pull teeth as their first step.
Imagine my surprise when I found out about "Damon" braces from a local web group that I frequent. I researched and was pleasantly surprised with my findings. I immediately contacted our local teeth straightening dude...Dr. Keith Harvey. We left his office in awe of what he told us. Not only does he not expect to perform oral surgery, but he'd never dream of extracting permanent teeth that he can use to get a better smile! Yeah!
The cost of Orthodontics will not be cheap...as expected. But I know for a fact that correcting their teeth now will not only help with keeping them clean, but offer a huge boost of self confidence when they can flash a beautiful smile, instead of hiding it. There will come a day when both my kiddos will care about personal hygiene and looks (it's just not now...lol).
Andrew will have a "Herbst Appliance" http://library.thinkquest.org/5029/herbst.htm, this will slowly move the bottom jaw forward...using this while they are younger and still growing instead of waiting until the jaw quite growing (after puberty) is a huge advantage with this particular procedure.
Kaitlyn will have a little different treatment naturally as her teeth are a whole different challenge. We will probably start a very minimal procedure in about a year with her. We "might" need to pull a baby tooth or two due to some very significant lower crowding...but we'll deal with that when we get there.
Today was step 1 of Andrew's treatment...impressions. He said it was like putting silly putty in his mouth and the worse part was the metal plate which held the goo scraped his gums and hurt the roof of his mouth. Glad it wasn't bad because I totally remember and had prepared him for a different experience, yuck!
March 5th...step 2, Andrew received spacers. Little blue o-rings...but only 2. He actually got lucky as 4-6 is the norm. He likes them because they're chewy, lol...only Andrew would find pleasure in that! Only mild discomfort was experienced, very mild :~)
Ughhhh...your making me cringe. I too, had to have the dreaded permanent teeth pulling braces thing...back when I had braces they were the bands they hammered on. Luckily, I never had to have my jaw broke! Good luck to Andrew on his "dental" journey. :-)
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