She said she's been waiting her ENTIRE life..

Sarah was all smiles the morning of her orthodontist appointment.  She said she was nervous and excited.  She wasn't real happy that Dad was going to have to take her out of school early.   I pulled out the camera and reminded her that I wanted to document the experience.  

 The first picture Dave was able to take.  I wanted him to take a photo of Sarah standing next to the sign in the office that said, "Braces On--Sarah"  I thought she'd love to have that but she refused to stand in front of the sign. 

 Sarah said it felt so weird having her mouth held open so wide.  Her face hurt her for days and now she is fighting a migraine.  I'm sure it has lots to do with the contraption they used.

 Bottom braces are on!!  The entire procedure took about 90 minutes.  These brackets are the newest technology from 3M called "self-litigating".  The brackets are clips that hold the arch-wire in place so rubber bands are no longer needed.  Sarah got some bands on the front teeth--kind of a decoration!

 Sarah still looks so beautiful! She'll have to wear the braces for about 18 months.  Because of her overbite (10 years of thumb sucking!!) she has to be careful that her top teeth do not push down on the bottom braces.  Right now she has something behind her front teeth that prohibits her from closing her mouth completely.   It is a great challenge to eat!

Finding the silver lining in wearing braces--attaching a magnet to her mouth.  I told Sarah that she truly can now attach to the refrigerator.  That is something she wanted to do when she was about 2 years old.  She told me she swallowed some magnets so she could attach to the fridge.  I was horrified but luckily found the magnets under a chair right before we left to go to the emergency room!!