Yesterday Analiese had a visit with her speech therapist and orthodontist at the Cranio-facial Clinic. They adjusted her obturator and it was (and is) amazing to hear her speech! They were able, with the help of the endoscope, to identify the gaps in the soft palate that the obturator was not covering (due to growth). They then added material to the appliance so that it covered the larger area.
Incredibly the amount of air that escapes is so minimal. Once again I am taken aback by the sweetness of Analiese's clear voice!
After the obturator was adjusted I expressed my concern that Analiese had a tooth emerging behind her baby teeth and not a single tooth was near loose. So, our awesome team leader, Dr. Riski, grabbed the dentist, Dr. Thomas, who then examined Analiese's mouth. The first thing he said was, "Analiese, only sharks can have two rows of teeth!" He ordered an x-ray and after conferring with the orthodontist he delivered the news.
"There is no soft way of saying this," Dr. Thomas said. "We need to remove 10, maybe 11 teeth."
"WHAT????" I croaked.
Dr. Thomas went on to explain that in all of his years of practicing he had NEVER seen a mouth quite like Analiese's. Seems that everything that is happening is just opposite of what normally occurs. Don't ask me what it is because it was so "dental talk" that the only thing I came away with was Analiese has a very crowded mouth and the only way to allow her adult teeth room to come in is to remove the baby teeth because they will never come out the normal way!
The plan is for 5 upper teeth and 5 lower teeth, all in the front, will be removed! Additionally, one of her molars, that we've had capped, is going to have to be "cut in half and recapped" to allow room for a new molar to come in. Right now it is coming in sideways because of the lack of space!
When Analiese heard the news she had two reactions, "WOW! I'm going to be rich" and "Can you pull them out quickly because I want to go home!" Oh, the innocence of my sweetheart!
The silver lining, and yes there always is one, is that they can wait until the summer to do the procedure. Of course it will have to be done under anesthesia in the OR but hopefully we won't have to spend the night. Though, Analiese did express excitement at the prospect of sleeping at the "hosibal" again!
Thank goodness, even after all of the surgical procedures she has had (close to a dozen), she still maintains a positive outlook on hospitals and doctors!
Analiese is just the most amazing child and the entire cranio-facial team at Scottish Rite concurs with me! I must have done SOMETHING right in my life for God to have chosen me to be her mother!!!
2 comments:
OH my goodness 10 teeth??! Well as you said it is a good thing she has such a sweet spirit about it. Happy to hear her speech is doing better and I certainly know how nice it is to hear clear speech :) Wishing her lots and lots of cash for all those teeth!
UGH! I'm happy that Analiese is happy, but poor mommy......
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