Tuesday, October 28th--Still mourning over the passing of my beloved hairbrush, I took Elise to the orthodontist for a scheduled appointment. Earlier this month, her dentist recommended she see an ortho since it didn't appear she had a whole lot of space for all the new teeth coming in. He was right.........so blasted right! We spent over an hour there getting x-rays and photos taken. Elise was a good sport as some of it looked very uncomfortable. The news was not good, not good at all. The bottom line: her jaw, upper and lower, is too small to accommodate all the permanent teeth coming in. She's in for a long, uncomfortable process and my heart just hurts for her right now. Even as the ortho explained it and showed us models of the kind of things needed to be done, I don't think Elise could grasp it all. For starters, next week, she'll get imprints done and then spacers put in on the back of her molers. When the molers are spaced out enough then she'll have metal expanders put on both the top and bottom of her mouth. They will "weld" them on so they don't come off. For 3-4 months we have to "wind" the expander, every night, to widen her jaw. If I heard right, the expanders will be in for up to 12 months. Because of this, her front teeth will seperate from each other, leaving large gaps in between so the next phase is braces on the 4 teeth in front, top and bottom, to bring them back together, hoping enough space has been made to make room for the other teeth coming in. I heard the ortho mention "head gear" but I couldn't bare to have him expound upon that. He said she may have to wear a face piece when she sleeps to help align as well. Once the expanders are off she will have to wear a retainer for another year. And, finally, braces on all of the teeth, in a few years, when all her permanent teeth are in. This is the final comments I played out in my head, coming from the ortho, before we went into his office today: "Yes, there's not enough space in her mouth for her teeth to come in straight so we'll do braces in a few years." I was way off! The cost of this all? Well, we won't even go there yet.
I write this not for sympathy but just out of overwhelming frustration and sorrow. Now I have to hurt both of my children, everyday, for the sake of their health and well-being. Brady gets finger pokes and shots, now Elise will have painful orthodontic work for the next, who-knows-what, years. If it doesn't get taken care of now, the measures to fix the problem later on will be far worse. There is a guilt associated with these things that only another mother or father can understand: "This is my genetic flaw," "my DNA," "I passed it on to my child" "Why not me instead of them?," "If I could take it on myself, saving them from the misery and pain, I would," etc. I've heard, many times over, "It's not your fault.", "There's nothing you could do.", "It's nothing you knew would ever happen." As much as those saying are meant to comfort, they don't.
So, after stopping for a very-fattening shake at Artic Circle ("comfort food"), I took my kids home. I know Elise will be okay, she's stronger than she lets on sometimes. Just like Brady, she'll amaze us with her strength and ability to endure. When she cries, we'll be there to comfort her and help her feel better---probably even spoil her a bit! When we cry, we'll do it in private so she doesn't get worried. And this time, I vow not to gain a bunch of weight by wallowing in every fattening food my heart desires.
What lessons we have to learn from this all, only our Father in Heaven knows. I apologize for depressing anyone that reads this, that's not my intent. Just pray for miracles, pray for Elise's mouth to just straighten itself out---without all this hardware! Pray for cures, not just for Type 1 Diabetes, pray for all cures (I'm so optimistic the "cure-all" to just about everything is stem-cells, there just needs to be that special researcher that figures the magic combination).
So now, it's night time and I'm really wanting that peppermint ice cream in the freezer..........hmmmm, maybe I should see if there are any peppermint flavored carrots instead.
Jane 23
5 months ago
4 comments:
The top of my mouth had to be widened with one of those things. Don't worry...it's not that bad. Because you widen it so slowly, there really isn't a whole lot of pain. There are times when you feel a lot of pressure & it's not exactly comfy, but I really didn't have a whole lot of pain. Just remind Elise, and yourself, that a beautiful smile will be the end result!
Just so you know, this is Dad's fault. Our Bishop is an orthodontist and he said that dad has the same mouth that I do and so does Keven, which has limited space in there. Keven was supposed to get the expander 2 years ago, but we sure didn't have no $1500 to cover it and insurance doesn't pay for that! We were also told that when Keven reached about 12, he'd have to get braces, which is another several THOUSAND dollars. So, you're lucky that you guys can at least pay for her to get help. Keven just has to deal with tight, uneven teeth.
Hey Audra you cute thing. My neighbor, Angie Johnson, her daughter has a spacer in her mouth too. I asked her daughter if it hurts and she said not really. The first few days it seems like she was in some discomfort, but for the most part, she has been great and she's only 7. I think they make it sound a lot worse than it is. She'll be okay. Just buy lots of ice cream and I'll come over to share! yay!
I hope this doesn't post twice. I had an error occur while posting the last one.
Minus a few exceptions this sounds quite similar to what I had to have done. I didn't have night gear, but certain attatchments put in at night. They put all my braces on. The front 6 teeth were a seperate set and then they still had to pull the teeth that there hadn't been room for down with wires. I wasn't little, bit I was *gasp* in that awkward jr. high stage.
I promise it's not as bad as it sounds right now and Elise will trouper through.
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