Dillon's Invisalign

We finally got a consult for Dillon for braces. The deal was, cosmetic was his choice, function was required.  He ended up with multiple things for his bite the orthodontist was concerned about.  Some of which was an overbite and a cross bite. Combine it with the fact that he's a grinder we opted to have him get braces.  Invisalign was about $400 more, which isn't fun BUT Daddy and I kind of forced him that route.  He's responsible and there are so many restrictions and pain that come from braces that don't exist with Invisalign.  The only pitfall is having to brush your teeth after you eat and put it back in.  Which can be really annoying at school for lunch. 

The assistants there are much better with their scanner now.  It took about 10 minutes. When they first got the machine Kayda was one of the first patients, it took 20+ minutes.  Sad that we've been dealing with braces for so long.  He got scanned June 15th.

Time to get the trays!  July 7th.

 

Kayda is back in "braces"

We went in last summer and were told that we needed to get Kayda into braces again as quickly as possible to take advantage of her growth.  We froze, kind of shocked hearing it, we weren't seeing the same orthodontist so we immediately scheduled a consult with her to try to figure out why the rush.  She apparently was going to take a different approach that wouldn't be as urgent.  We scheduled to meet with her again in six months to figure out when to start again.  We contact Daddy's cousin, who is an orthodontist to see if he thought it was necessary for her to do the braces again.  After seeing the x-rays and such he confirmed that she definitely needed to do them again.  Well, six months came and that orthodontist had to retire due to some medical issues.  So we're back with the one in a hurry to get her started.  

She had to have her last baby tooth taken out first (she doesn't have a permanent tooth to replace it).  We went in, and did that, she was incredibly nervous and in tears about having to get it taken out.  Fortunately, they gave her laughing gas and numbed the lower half of her jaw.  She hated being numb but deeply appreciated the laughing gas! She now has this weird hole in her mouth, she got pieces of food stuck in there a few times that I had to pick out with a tooth pick.  It was really odd.  Now that it's healed it's not as much of a problem.  

Two weeks later it was time to get the braces. The day before we go in, we got an announcement that they had hired a new orthodontist for the office.  The man we had been arranging everything with was temporary.  We go to our scheduled appointment and he put in the appliance.  However, it took him much longer than it would have because apparently it's not an appliance he normally uses.  So we missed getting his preferred stuff by about a month.  After seeing her and reviewing her information, he decided that she didn't (and might not) need braces again.  The focus is jaw growth, not maneuvering teeth and they were lined up beautifully with the first round of braces.  

I didn't get a picture of it once it'd been put in because she can't open her mouth really wide.  It looks like the picture below. 

The idea is that it constantly puts pressure on the jaw, anytime she closes her mouth it forces her jaw forward to make the front teeth meet.  The pressure will force the bone to grow.  She has to wear it for about a year, it could be more, could be less.  We're hoping she doesn't need to do the actual braces again, but won't know for a while. 

As is expected, she absolutely hates it.  It makes it hard to eat because it prevents her molars from meeting and she can't open her jaw all the way without making the "arms" fall apart.  The bar across the roof of her mouth sits pretty low so she has a hard time speaking as smoothly now.  It's all getting better as time goes on. 

We'll keep our fingers crossed each month when we go in that this "Phase" will be over sooner than expected, unlike the last one. 

Kayda's braces are off!!!

Kayda's braces were estimated to take 16 to 18 months to fix her overbite.  18 months came and went, 2 years came and went.  Kayda kept getting more and more discouraged.  To try to help her we made a pact, when we found out they were going to come off we would keep it a secret and surprise everyone.  

Her October appointment came and they had me schedule the appointment for the moulds for the retainer, two weeks later they would come off.  Kayda was watching a movie and didn't hear.  I was nervous that they would change the plan, so I didn't tell her.  Two days before the retainer appointment she was having a REALLY hard day; so I told her that she was on the last step.  

Fortunately for her they didn't change plans and they had a new 3D scanner!  She didn't have to do the nasty tasting moulds!

After the moulds were taken she told me every night how many days were left until they came off.  I removed the appointment from the calendar so Daddy wouldn't get suspicious.  Her appointment was in the morning so we dropped off the boys and headed up.  

2 years and 4 months later, they're off!

Look at that grin!  She was practically vibrating!

She stayed home for the rest of the day so her family could be the first ones to see her new look!  Dillon and Carson took a while.  She giggled for a while until they figured it out.  When Daddy got home she grinned and stared at him until he noticed! 

She has to wear top and bottom retainers, day and night, for a few months.  She had a fun lisp for a few days while she adjusted to the retainers.

That night we had corn on the cob!  She also got to munch on the candy she's been saving (Starbursts and Skittles).  The next day she got to eat an apple without cutting it!  She was so excited!

Kayda's Braces

A year and a half ago the dentist told me that Kayda needed and orthodontist consult.  She has a skeletal overbite and her front teeth are angled way out front.   Since a skeletal overbite means her top jaw is growing faster than her bottom jaw she has to get braces as she is still growing.  If she doesn't it could lead to major jaw problems which would require surgery to correct. So we went in for consults after each dentist appointment until two weeks ago we were told that her front teeth had matured enough to be moved.  Kayda was nervous. We talked about what to expect,  what it would feel like, what it was like for mommy etc.  She understood why it was need so she didn't complain,  she just worried.   I wanted to be sure her braces were on before we left for our long trip.   That way she wouldn't be starting school while adjusting to braces.   

So last week she went in and took two different types of x-rays,  moulds, and many,  many pictures.  She also had four spacers put in to make room for the metal bands that would go around her molars. She was almost giddy!  She made faces,  cracked jokes, and laughed the entire time.   She thoroughly impressed the assistant! 

 This shows just how extreme get teeth are. Kayda was fascinated to see her skull!

 She kept rolling her eyes and mouthing "this is so crazy" and "it's still going".

 Top teeth.  She hated making the moulds.   The stuff tasted super gross and she made sour face the whole time!

 Bottom teeth.   She told me this one hurt under her tongue.

 She was awarded star patient because she is that awesome!

Today she had them put on.   The boys stayed with grandma and papa G.  I must say it was fascinating to watch.  I've had them put on but never seen it!   Putting the bands on hurt some,  which she expected.  They had to try several different sizes and then take them of again to glue them in place.   Having her mouth open for an hour and a half left her with a very sore jaw.   Fortunately she got to watch a movie the whole time. She said she didn't even feel it when they put the brackets on her 4 top permanent teeth.   Her poor mouth was so little her lips kept popping out of the retractor meant to keep them open.  

It sounds like this process is going to be fairly elaborate.   Next visit she be given head gear to wear at night.   Then later in the process she will wear a bite plate and then have braces put on her lower permanent teeth.   They can't put them on yet because the upper teeth stick out so much they would bite directly on the metal brackets.  She is missing a permanent molar so they are trying to preserve the baby tooth s long as possible.  If it comes out they'll probably have to put in an implant.   It isn't massive the gums as far as it should be so they don't know if it will make it.   They may be removing her upper cuspids in order to let the permanent ones move in more easily.  She has a very crowded little mouth.   This should take 16-18 months.

I was also told that as more permanent teeth come in she may need to go back into braces and possibly have permanent teeth removed in order to align her bite properly.  She has quite a while until all those come in though.

 How intimidating is this pile of tools?

 Her lips popped out of this so the assistant had to improvise with cotton!

Beautiful girl!  The bling suits her!   Her teeth have been achy and she was unable to eat well tonight so she got a smoothy.   I may be making quite a few of those!  Love my little trooper!