Today, Rachel got braces. It's the beginning of a new smile for her. And while she's excited about the end results, she was nervous for this mornings appointment.
Overall, it went well. There were some tears, both from Rachel and from Mommy. This journey is tough at times. It's hard to see your child upset.
Her mouth was pretty sore after the appointment. I gave her a dose of Motrin before we even left the parking lot, next time I'll give her a dose before we leave home so it'll be working by the time all the adjusting takes place. Here's hoping the Motrin, and a chocolate chip frappacino from Starbucks kicks in quick!
After the Motrin and Frappacino kicked in, she was all smiles! For now, she has brackets on her front two teeth connected with a wire. She also had bands put on her back teeth that will anchor the additional brackets that will be placed later. The immediate goal is to straighten those two teeth, and then in a few months, additional brackets will be added to the rest of the top teeth and some more straightening and room made for teeth that need to come down.
In regards to Rachel's braces, as opposed to Hannah's braces, the progress is going to be noticeable! There's a lot of moving those two teeth have to do. We've learned through Rachel's surgeries that she has a very high tolerance for pain, so we told her if her mouth hurts, she needs to tell us so we can give her something for the pain and discomfort.
We return to the Orthodontist in 8 weeks.
