adventures in orthodonture, the semi-conclusion
The fact of the matter is: Youngest only had his top braces taken off earlier this month. It took a couple of weeks for the dentist to have a 9am (what is up with that?) appointment open to remove the bottom braces....and, here's the kicker: install a permanent retainer.
I am told he will wear this small wire until he is at least 20 years old. And, even though I realize that this time will flash by, I just cannot imagine him with this thin wire in his mouth for seven years.
Anyway.
On a day I ended up going to the school six times, I drove Youngest to the school and fetched him 90 minutes later and took him to the dentist.
I've mentioned this dentist before - he's great at his job, truly, but he's just not the most sympathetic doctor in the world. As Youngest tends to be somewhat sensitive and removing braces is not painless, I knew I'd have to strike up a conversation with Doctor Not-so-touchy-feely to distract all three of us. (Youngest tends to wince or moan, he tends to tell Youngest it's NOTHING! and I tend to get anxious.)
What do you like best and least about your job, I asked him.
The people and the people, he told me.
He told me he had just read an article in the paper about how much money dentists make and how unfair he thought it was. He is in practice alone and it cost nearly half a million dollars to finish dental school and set up his business.
Still, he explained, he sees 50 to 60 people a day. That's a lot of braces.
And when I was a teen only one or two classmates wore them. Now every kid has them.
He told me about the two schools of treatment in orthodonture and described what he liked about his version of treatment.
He was much chattier than he usually is - I guess because he had no other patients waiting.
It took about half an hour -
There is a thread of a wire along the inside of his bottom teeth.
He isn't supposed to bite into anything hard. Like an apple. For SEVEN YEARS.
Neither of us were terribly happy when that little piece of news was sprung upon us.
(hard to believe this was in his mouth for two years)
I need to talk to a friend of ours whose daughter has the same retainer.
Has she really not bitten into an apple for the past three years?
His smile is beautiful. And it should be.
I am told he will wear this small wire until he is at least 20 years old. And, even though I realize that this time will flash by, I just cannot imagine him with this thin wire in his mouth for seven years.
Anyway.
On a day I ended up going to the school six times, I drove Youngest to the school and fetched him 90 minutes later and took him to the dentist.
I've mentioned this dentist before - he's great at his job, truly, but he's just not the most sympathetic doctor in the world. As Youngest tends to be somewhat sensitive and removing braces is not painless, I knew I'd have to strike up a conversation with Doctor Not-so-touchy-feely to distract all three of us. (Youngest tends to wince or moan, he tends to tell Youngest it's NOTHING! and I tend to get anxious.)
What do you like best and least about your job, I asked him.
The people and the people, he told me.
He told me he had just read an article in the paper about how much money dentists make and how unfair he thought it was. He is in practice alone and it cost nearly half a million dollars to finish dental school and set up his business.
Still, he explained, he sees 50 to 60 people a day. That's a lot of braces.
And when I was a teen only one or two classmates wore them. Now every kid has them.
He told me about the two schools of treatment in orthodonture and described what he liked about his version of treatment.
He was much chattier than he usually is - I guess because he had no other patients waiting.
It took about half an hour -
There is a thread of a wire along the inside of his bottom teeth.
He isn't supposed to bite into anything hard. Like an apple. For SEVEN YEARS.
Neither of us were terribly happy when that little piece of news was sprung upon us.
(hard to believe this was in his mouth for two years)
I need to talk to a friend of ours whose daughter has the same retainer.
Has she really not bitten into an apple for the past three years?
His smile is beautiful. And it should be.
Comments
Their braces were glued on and had no bands (like your son's). Mine were bands and were pure silver... but that was a hundred years ago.
SMILE...
My two don't have braces yet, but we already have an orthodontist. We are told the boy will eventually need IMPLANTS. Which they screw directly into your jawbone, apparently. Yeah, he doesn't know about that yet. I think I'll tell him WHEN HE'S THIRTY.
So there's that.
-J.
You are so clever the way you can handle the orthodontist to help out your son. My daughter would need help with that kind of doctor, too.
Needless to say, he declined to have the upper braces that would have eliminated his overbite, which is pronounced although likewise somehow not visible to the world.
When we got married, my husband still had a permanent retainer. I can assure you that he ate chips and candy and other hard things. But never apples. That would have been too healthy.
Now you get to worry about a wire in the mouth all the time. I swear I think someone stays up late at night trying to figure out crap like that to drive mothers crazy.
Congrats to youngest, though. His teeth are beeyootiful.
Only good thing is there's never another adjustment and when they do finally take it off, no pain at all!
MissM has a transparent retainer which looks like a mouthguard and wears it at night. She will have to wear it for 2-3 years but it is only for the upper jaw. Maybe the teeth on the lower jaw spread more easily.
What I'm still waiting for is a pediatrician/children's orthodontist/dentist, etc. who specializes in after school/weekend appointments for children so they don't have to miss so much school. (Although I'm sure there are parents who don't mind the during-school visits, I personally find them annoying.)
It was supposed to last a few years, a temporary fix.
I was told to not eat apples too.
I had it bonded when I was 18.
I'm now 33. Still got it. And I eat apples with gusto.
sorry, I just dropped off the chair.
I'm OK.
nice smile....
I thought it was archaic when I had braces from Years 7 to 10 or some such and then had to wear a 'plate' at night.
I have never ever even heard of this permanent metal thingymegigit. Ridiculous.
I'm with whoever it was who reckons someone just sits up all night thinking this kind of shit up just to make a mother's life a misery.
I now have a mouthguard to wear at night because I clench and grind my teeth and the transferred pain is agony.
Well, I did until I bit it into bits.
I hate the dentist.
Did I spell all that right? Oh well if I didn't.
I know what you mean about every kid having braces now. It was like that when my daughter was in middle school, and that was 20 ? years ago.
It wasn't something embarrassing, wearing braces, for her (it was for me).
It was normal.
Those kids had more metal in their mouths than does any Toyota manufacturing plant.
But as I said, it was worth it.
As for the permanent retainer thing, my neice has it, as does one of her two brothers (the other brother was born with perfect teeth, needed only a take out retainer for a couple of years)
The other two, well, they've both worn the permanent wire for the acceptable amount of years.
Last year was the last, and it was taken off and they were wire free.
And I have to say, it was worth it.
I'm a big fan of orthodontia. (And no, my husband isn't a dentist or orthodontist). It makes a huge difference in a child's appearance, a "natural" difference, and the kids need all the self confidence they can muster.
In my humble op, as it were.
paula