Braces

Back when Chloe was about 3, she got a bad cavity and had to have a tooth pulled.  The stupid dentist told us she didn't need a spacer so we didn't push for one.  Needless to say, over time the tooth next to it moved and is now completely blocking the adult tooth which is trying to come in.  So we had to put her in braces to fix the problem before it gets substantially worse.  Yesterday was the big day.  Here she is before her appointment.

They cleaned her teeth thoroughly and then "etched" them; a process I'm assuming helps the glue on the brackets to adhere better.  And before you get concerned, I asked the orthodontic staff if I could put their pictures on my blog and they said "yes".

Thumbs up.  She was still feeling pretty good at this point.

This first device they put in her mouth was way too big - I was a little irritated that they didn't start with something smaller because she has quite a small mouth.  I believe this was the cause of her problems later in the day.

This device is a little smaller but it was still difficult to watch.

I was fascinated by the process they used to actually put the brackets on.  They had a pre-made rubbery mold that had all the brackets embedded in it.  They stuck that in her mouth and did the blue light thingy to cure the glue.  Then they pulled out the rubbery stuff and voila! instant braces!

And the brackets they use don't need elastics so they told Chloe she could have some if she wants, but they're not necessary.  She chose green, of course.

She did great through the whole thing.  After she was done they gave her a nice hoodie sweatshirt and a bag of tooth care stuff.  I took her to lunch and then back to school.  After school I think it all caught up with her.  She was in a tremendous amount of pain.  It kind of scared me because she went all pale and couldn't even finish her homework (a first for Chloe!)  She's a little better today and even went to the full day of school even though we offered to let her stay home.  What a trooper!