Friday, February 19, 2010

Braces, part deux

It's been slightly less than two years since The Boy got his braces off. But that first set was just for practice. Well, not really. They were because the 5 baby teeth in the top front refused to leave when the adult teeth were coming, so they grew in behind the baby teeth. This resulted in my calling him, 'Shark Boy'; and also in his having those 5 baby teeth pulled, and braces put on to bring the adult teeth front and center where they belong. That whole business took only eight months, and we always knew that he'd need braces again someday. Someday was yesterday.

So far he's only got the top ones on. The bottoms will be put on in three months. And these will be on for probably two years, much longer than last time. He has somehow decided that it is his belief that he should not alter the body that God gave him (piercings, tattoos, etc - ha ha, his mom has both!) and almost did not get the braces at all. I have switched my argument encouragement from, "Think of how nice your teeth will look!" to, "You are going to avoid all jaw problems and tooth decay that comes from very crooked teeth!"

He is in some pain today. So much so that he could not do a very good job at brushing his teeth. I really hope that goes away soon. He needs to eat and to brush those teeth!

3 comments:

Annika said...

Poor boy! I hope it stops hurting soon.

Annika said...

By the way, I really appreciate the updates on this. I have crooked bottom teeth and my top teeth should be wider apart (er, the molars), so I'm sure I will have to get braces someday. I wish I'd had them when I was 13!

Laurie said...

My teeth are a hot mess! I wish I'd had braces, too. I have meant to get them, and I thought it would be ideal to get them at the same time as Jake, but with my being out of work I don't think it's prudent to spend the money right now.