Braces

Analiese got her braces on today!  She only has them on the 3 top teeth.  They are the cutest braces I've ever seen!  They are so, so tiny.

A few months ago we started with the orthodontics for Analiese.  Her mouth began shifting and she could no longer use her obturator.  So, it was decided to move forward with the orthdonotic treatment.

A year or so ago, Analiese had 11 teeth removed to make room in her mouth.  So, when her teeth came in there was all kind of movement.  Some teeth were coming in sideways, some not at all because another tooth was under it.  What a mess!

To begin this phase of her treatment they removed some more teeth in the back, put in a palate expander (thank goodness not the kind I have to turn) and inserted a placement wire behind her bottom teeth to keep those teeth from moving.

Once that was in place the orthodontist wanted one more of her front teeth to come to put on the braces.  That tooth poked through over the holidays.  So, today we were good to go to have the braces put on.

It didn't take too long as the braces and wire were only placed on the 3 front teeth.  When more teeth come in more brackets will be placed and then connected to back molars.

Analiese isn't feeling much pain but that could change as her teeth move.  Of course she has such a high pain tolerance she might not tell me until it is unbearable for her (which would be over the top for most of us!).

I'm so excited that we are moving forward on Analiese's teeth.  She has begun to comment about how she would like to have pretty teeth like so-and-so and question when will ALL of her teeth will come in.

Getting these braces on means so much more to my little girl--it's a step toward having a "normal" mouth. I've promised her that one day she is going to LOVE her teeth as much as we love her!!