Re: Son gets braces on Tuesday.- The update.

[Guest guest]

Just to let you know that the orthodontic ordeal is over and wasn't so bad,

after all. I did dose him up with Aleve and Benadryl an hour beforehand. That

took the edge off. He was pretty anxious about it, but he toughed it out.

I did get him a squeezable toy to occupy his hands, a bit like a stress ball.

That seemed to really help him get through the more painful bits of fitting the

bands.

Now for the hard part, making sure he cleans his teeth thoroughly!

Kylie in CA.

> >

> > My 13 y.o. gets braces on next Tuesday. His sister has been thru it, as have

I (decades ago).

> >

> > Was hoping for any tips or advice to help him get thru the 2 hr appt and to

adjust to having them on. He was at the dentist's this a.m., getting his teeth

cleaned and he HATED it. He doesn't clean his teeth well, despite lots of

education and some supervision( my bad). I realise that it is a sensory issue

for him, the sounds, the feel of the tools scraping his teeth, the sound of the

machines, how have you all coped?

> >

> > Kylie in CA

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Jan,

I was reading your post and just thought that I would pass on to you what the

ortho denist told me as to why they are starting so much earlier with kids now

than they use to.

My sons mouth is way smaller than the size of the permanent teeth coming in. It

use to be that they would pull permanent teeth to make room and to straighten

the rest of the teeth. The new theory is to widen the jaw to make more room.

My dentist told me that he will not pull permanent teeth because of the long

term consequenses. Anyway, apparently the jaw stops growing and fuses sometime

around age 12 so if they want to widen it they need to do it before then. So

anyway, my son had his jaw widened over a 2 - 3 month period. It went very fast

with very little problems. My son had no pain from the appliance but he is a

" picker " and managed to pull out the appliance a couple of times.

The braces are also going really well so far. He has had very few problems.

He'll be 11 in a few months. I dont know how much longer they will keep the

braces on. His teeth are amazingly straight now. He had two baby teeth that

they pulled to make some room to move the really crooked front teeth. The

permanent teeth have not come in yet but I expect that now that there room they

will start popping up soon.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience because it isn't always as bad as

you think it is going to be.

Vickie

> > >

> > > My 13 y.o. gets braces on next Tuesday. His sister has been thru it, as

have I (decades ago).

> > >

> > > Was hoping for any tips or advice to help him get thru the 2 hr appt and

to adjust to having them on. He was at the dentist's this a.m., getting his

teeth cleaned and he HATED it. He doesn't clean his teeth well, despite lots of

education and some supervision( my bad). I realise that it is a sensory issue

for him, the sounds, the feel of the tools scraping his teeth, the sound of the

machines, how have you all coped?

> > >

> > > Kylie in CA

> > >

> >

>