Day 272

Today was the big day….GothGirl got her braces.  She was so nervous this morning since she didn’t know what to expect.  Our neighbor Diane works at the office and she was the one to assist the orthodontist with putting on the braces.  I think that really helped GothGirl feel a little more comfortable with the process.  I’m really enjoying the atmosphere at this office.  They try to make it as fun for the kids as possible.  Even the little things make a difference.  For instance, they give the kids wooden tokens, which can be redeemed for small prizes.  Tokens are earned by being on time to appointments, having good brushing habits, and such.  When we were there today, a kid came in to get his braces off.  They played the song “Celebrate” loudly on a little boom box and gave him a balloon tied to a box of candy. 

Anyway between Diane and Dr. Tom, GothGirl’s braces went on just fine.  She opted for alternating black and seafoam green bands around the brackets this round.  The bands are strictly for fun as they don’t do anything structurally.  I think GothGirl looks pretty cute with her new tin grin!!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

And now for a close-up so you can see the colored bands around the brackets.  This photo also illustrates why GothGirl is getting braces.  You can see that her jaw lines are not in alignment.  Her front bottom and top teeth should align so the spaces between them are on top of one another.  Instead, one of her bottom front teeth falls directly under the space between the 2 top front teeth.  She also has some spacing issues and a few of her teeth, including her 2 top front teeth, kick out a bit. 

Paying for braces is like buying a used car, but we are fortunate that insurance covers about 40% of it.  Between that and the money we save by using my employee Flex Spending Program, it was manageable.  Not fun…but manageable.