B is for Braces
About nine months ago my daughter had her first orthodontic consultation. The dentist was concerned that as her grown up teeth started coming in it became apparent that she did not have enough room in her mouth for some of her adult teeth and she was developing an under bite. The first orthodontist recommended a rather drawn out approach and one that seemed really old fashioned in my opinion.
I spent a few months asking every kid I saw with braces who their orthodontist was and if they liked him/her. The more I talked to kids, the more one name just kept coming up. I called Dr. A’s office and set up a second opinion visit. From the time we walked in, I knew that we had made a good choice.
Dr. A’s office is high tech, kid friendly and very common sense!! One of the coolest things they do is take images of the kids’ thumbprints and then let the kids check themselves in at each visit using a thumbprint reader. They took a dozen before photos of her face and teeth and then printed them all out on a composite sheet for me to take for our records.
She recommended that we start with doing braces on Miss M’s top and bottom four teeth so we can get those top teeth to jump over the bottom ones. Once her last baby molars come out they can reevaluate and see what else will need to be done.
Yesterday was the big day where she got her braces on. She was so excited. At the office they took a last set of x-rays, did molds of her teeth, put on the bands in the back, and then installed the brackets on the front teeth. Of course, her favorite part was picking the color of her rubberbands - pink and green this time.
Once they had everything installed, the orthodontist took about 15 minutes to go over the care and keeping of her braces and to give her the list of all the foods she cannot eat anymore - there went about 90% of her favorite snacks!
I’ll post progress reports over the next year as those teeth line up better. And I’m sure we’ll have some braces drama along the way, too. Do your kids have braces? Do you have any good drama tales to tell? If so, we’d love to hear them.
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POSTED IN: Health
1 opinion for B is for Braces
Dr. David DiBenedetto
Apr 4, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I just wrote a book called,”Insider’s guide to gum disease, orthodontics and dentistry. What is not taught in dental school.”
Part of the book is devoted to what a good result from braces is. It talks about what a functioning bite is.
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