(43-303) The Wonderful World of Braces

I'm writing today's post while I sit in the cafe area of our Orthodontist's office.  Today is a big day for Lyndzi because after 16 months of wearing an expander in the roof of her mouth; it's being removed so that she can get her first four top braces.

Lyndzi is extremely excited about the removal of the expander; and I don't even have the words to describe how proud I am of her, for enduring the treatment for as long as she did.  If you're not familiar with modern day Orthodonture, lemme give ya a lil crash course.  A top expander is attached on a semi-permanent basis by adhering brackets to the top, back teeth and attaching a contraption that will be calibrated during regular appointments at the Orthodontist, for the purpose of expanding your jaw.  Sounds like fun, huh?  The bottom expander (which Lyndzi also had), looks more like a heavy duty retainer, except that it comes with a little key and twice a week I would have to turn the key (while the piece was out of her mouth), in order to tighten the appliance.  When Lyndzi first got the expanders she was told that she should have them for 9 to 12 months; but as I mentioned before, she's now had it for 16 and she is READY to get it out.  Since Lyndzi had to take the bottom expander out when she ate, there was a lot of opportunity for it to get lost; but she always acted very responsibly; and for this I am very proud and truly grateful.

I'm hoping that since Lyndzi's now had experience with the discomfort that Orthodonture can cause; that the transition to the braces will be a smoothe one.  Lyndzi was a little nervous about getting her braces on and Nicky privately, shared with me that he was nervous for her too.  I distracted Lyndzi a bit by taking her picture with my phone.  I had forgotten to get a before shot of Nicky and I didn't want to make the same mistake with Lyndzi.

Lyndzi's technician, Gina came by and she said that she too would take a few before pics for us, and she took Lyndzi outside. 

When Lyndzi returned she told me that Gina wanted to speak to me.  Gina showed me the pictures, and then said "so we're doing the plain silver braces; no stars or hearts or anything, right?"  I was thrown for a moment, and said "I thought she was getting the clear braces on top."  I then told her that we didn't know anything about the stars or hearts. Gina explained that if Lyndzi was going to choose to put colors on her braces, getting the clear was kind of pointless.  Now before I go further, I HAVE to share the color situation with you.  The colors are little, plastic rings that the patient can choose to put around the bands.  And if you haven't already seen them,  you would not believe how many colors there are to choose from.

Gina said that she thought that Lyndzi should have as much fun with her braces as possible; and I told Lyndzi that I would leave it up to her.  I asked about the stars and hearts and she told me that she'd show them to us.  She then brought over a mold of a mouth, with different shaped braces on the teeth.  There was a star, a heart, a flower, and a music note.

I told Lyndzi that she could choose whatever she liked; and she opted for the flower. 

It's just amazing how many choices there are in the wonderful world of braces now.
I remember getting my retainer after many LONG years of braces; and I thought it was so cool that I could choose a color other than the standard pink. I chose purple, OF COURSE; and I can honestly say that choosing the color did make me feel better about the retainer, and using it. I have a feeling that these flower braces will do the same for Lyndzi.

When all was said and done, Lyndzi chose Lilac and Aqua for her colors, and I think that you can tell form this picture, that she was very pleased with her choice. 

I absolutely love Affiliated Orthodontics and I can't sing their praises loud enough. Dr's Womack and Davis (as well as their staff) have all been incredible during our courses of treatment; and I highly recommend them if you live in the area.  If you decide to pay them a visit, please let them know that you heard about them from me.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING