We went to the orthodontist yesterday to visit the offic eand see how we liked it. We ended up agreeing that Char needs braces and they said they had an appointment RIGHT THEN to put them on. Phase One will be 12 months with the braces/expander, then retainers until she's 12/13--then we'll re-evaluate the need for more braces or treatment at that time for Phase Two.

It wasn't as costly as we were expecting. After the insurance kick-in, our out-of-pocket is only $2650 for 5-6 years of treatment. So we had Char's braces put on yesterday and she chose blue/yellow bands.

We were surprised to learn that the latest thing in orthodontia is to start the braces around age 7.5 (Char turned 7 in March). DH had his braces from 6th-8th grade. Char just finished 1st grade. But this method has been found to take less time and cost less so it's the way they do it now.

Here she is with her new smile.

Rachel had braces in 2nd grade and it was only for a little over a year. Problem is she won't now wear her retainers so she will need to have them again on the bottom. I wish I'd insisted on permanent retainers.

I brought Leanna (11 yrs) in recently for an evaluation and they say they are needed but no rush. She won't need a palate expander and still has a few babyteeth that should come out before braces.

I think needing an expander or not is the decision sometimes for getting them so early. The expander works much faster when they are young.

Yeah, she definitely needed the expander. That sucker is a MAJOR PIECE OF METAL! I was kind of freaked out watching him "install" it.

She's still having some difficulty eating because she says that it hurts. I tired explaining that it is going to hurt for a while because her mouth is changing shape and her teeth aren't used to having all that sutff on them. She did manage to eat an entire bowl of pasta tonight so that was her first full meal. Since Tuesday night. I feel badly for her so hopefully tomorrow she'll be even stronger.

Thanks for the tip about the retainers. We'll be diligent about it next year. I'm crossing my fingers that this next year flies by and that she'll be able to have them off around the 12-month mark. Some kids have to to closer to 24 months so I'm praying that she's not one of those unfortunate ones.

We are getting used to seeing her with braces but not hearing her speak with that big expander on the roof of her mouth. It makes her sound cute but I'm worried about when she goes back to school--she's a great reader and is often chosen to do readings at Mass. I hope that doesn't diminish because of the new "impediment" in her speech.

Rachel did ok talking after a while and her expander took less time than expected. I don't remember what the expected time was, but it came out 2 or 3 wks early.

I think the deal with the permanent retainers is they work well for bottom teeth but not top, and orthos don't like to use them because you can't floss normally with them. I'm still going to insist on them if we put braces back on Rachel. Its her bottom teeth that shifted back.

I wish I had the option of permanent retainers when I had them - I need braces again!

Char's had her braces on for 5 days now and is still struggling to eat. I'm wondering if something is "off" with something. ??? She has gotten better with some things but she still can't eat anything harder than well-cooked pasta. I'll probably call tomorrow and make sure that's normal.