Sarah's Retainers

After three long years, Sarah is finally braces-free.  She got them off yesterday and now has two retainers, one on top, and one below.  They aren't like the retainers I remember, they are clear trays, like those invisiline braces.  Sarah has to wear them now for the next month, round the clock unless she is eating or brushing her teeth.  Then she goes back and the orthodontist will tell her when she needs to wear them.  Kris says she'll have to wear them (the retainers) for the rest of her life now, it's just a matter of how often.  I don't remember that being the way braces were supposed to go, but hopefully it'll be something like only having to wear them at night when she is sleeping. 

She had to go to the dentist to get her teeth cleaned later in the day.  Kris told me that the dentist gave Sarah a lecture about making sure she wears them, and emphasized the fact that we spent a lot of money to make sure her teeth were straight and she now has a beautiful smile and she better make sure she doesn't wreck them.  Good job Dr. Stark!  I hope that'll sink in because I told her the same thing and I got pooh-poohed.

Keeping Our Fingers Crossed

Sarah has her appointment tomorrow morning with the orthodontist to get her upper braces off.  Hopefully this time he'll have found that last gap has closed enough for them to come off.  Sarah was very excited last time when she went in and then disappointed when he told her they'd have to stay on for three more weeks.  If all goes as planned, she'll get them off at 8:40 and then she will go back a little after 3:00 to get her upper retainer.  So keep your fingers crossed for her.

Good News and Bad News

Today we got some good news and some bad news.  Or should I say Sarah got some good news and some bad news.  Today was supposed to be the day that Sarah got her braces off.  She went to the orthodontist and he told her that there was still a gap that needed to be closed on her upper teeth, so the bands on top are staying on for another 3-4 weeks.  But she did get the bottom braces off and is going in on Wednesday to get her lower retainer.

I even took a picture of her this morning before school with the intent of posting a before and after picture of her teeth with and without braces.  Something for her to remember...  the last picture of her with wires on her teeth, but I guess we'll be waiting for at least another three weeks, so check back mid-May and hopefully we'll have better news.

Almost Done

Sarah had an orthodontist appointment after school today. He asked Sarah if she wanted her braces off. Of course she said yes. It was only supposed to take two years, so Sarah is really ready to get them off! But after a little over three years, she will finally be done with molar bands, and wires, and rubber bands. So it looks like in a month they'll finally be off, then she'll have to make sure she wears her retainer.

Sarah's Braces

Sarah didn't like the picture I took of her the day she got her braces on, so here is a better one:

T-Minus 730 days

Or somewhere thereabouts. Sarah got her braces put on on Wednesday morning.



As you can see (or maybe not depending on how good your eyes are) Sarah decided to go with pink and blue rubberbands. Notice also the chocolate pudding she has on her nose. Maybe I'll try and get a better close up. It went pretty good until the motrin wore off. It wasn't too bad though; by today (Friday) Sarah didn't need any pain killers. Updates to her treatment as it comes. Next appointment is toward the end of March.

Trip to the Orthodontist

Sarah is all scheduled to get her braces on next week, the 18th. She had an appointment on Tuesday night to get prepped. She got spacers put in (whatever those are) to get her mouth ready for the braces. More next week after they're on and she is whining and complaining about how bad they hurt.

Time For Braces

We had our treatment consultation yesterday with Sarah’s orthodontist. We got good news, and bad news. The good news is that proportionally, Sarah’s profile and facial structure is great (but then again we already knew that she is a beautiful little girl didn’t we?). Also, her arc structure of her teeth is VERY good. The bad news is that her upper teeth are shifted slightly forward, and is going to need braces to correct the alignment. Not the worst thing in the world. The orthodontist said that he has had children with much worse teeth.

So within the next couple of months we’ll be trying to figure out when to start her on her “treatment”. Te overall total time she’ll have to have braces (braces and retainer) looks like about 4 years (2 years with braces and 2 years with a retainer). The faster we can start her on them, the faster she can be done with them. We were also told that getting started now is the best way to assure that her teeth will be stabilized by the time she is done growing. Sarah is gradually warming up to the idea. A couple of her friends already have them, so that helps too.