The New "Appliance"

 Beth Marie has a new "appliance" in her mouth. 

(She's going to thank me for this attractive picture someday.)

 It's actually an expander that is placed on the roof of her mouth to make more room for her permanent teeth to come in.  But somewhere along the line, the dentist referred to the device as an "appliance", and that is the name that has stuck. The conversation goes something like this. Beth Marie:  "My appliance is..." Mom: "It's an expander." Beth: "I want to call it an appliance" Mom: "Appliance is the generic term, and expander is the specific term.  The refrigerator, stove and microwave are 'appliances'.  Your mouth piece is an 'expander'." Beth: "Well, I call it my appliance." Mom: "Fine.  Would you please go to the kitchen and get me a Diet Mountain Dew out of the appliance?  Thanks."  She got the mouth piece early last week, and she's been relearning how to talk with it. At the Orthodontist's office, they told her to "practice" talking as much as possible, and she took them very seriously.  We drove from Orthodontic Health Center (OHC) on north broadway all the way to South Noodles on south broadway, and she read every sign, billboard and store front all the way there.  With a lisp.  But I couldn't stop giggling because not only did she speak with a lisp (which we expected) but she also had to slirp her extra spit after every phrase. Her attitude has been great about it...even allowing us to laugh with her along the way.  (Those of you who know Beth Marie know that is a MAJOR accomplishment in itself.) I can't help but be amused as this little person with her "grown up" vocabulary lisps and slirps her way through without skipping a beat. We were walking through the park at IBM the other day when she was pondering some doomsday scenario she had heard about on global warming.  She looks at me in all seriousness and says: "In twenty-twenty when I'm theventeen, we thall thee if thircumthances are as difficult as they predict." (slirp, slirp) She brings a little pink pouch with her everywhere. we. go. (She has been so good about remembering it!) 

This contains her travel toothpaste, a toothbrush and the container for her mouth piece.

 

She turns a screw with a little key every 3 days to tighten it a notch.

(...although Mommy threatens that if she's sassy, we might have to crank it an extra turn or two)

She'll wear her "appliance" day and night for the next 9 months or so...  Hopefully it's productive!

Phase I set to go...

Our little person was in the Orthodontist's chair again today: 

We got to see the results of all of the x-rays, pictures, measurements and molds that they took at the last appointment.

This is the plaster mold that they made of her teeth to represent her bite "before treatment":



Here are the computer-generated measurements of her jaws superimposed over her profile image:

The funny looking rainbow-colored plastic pieces are expanders like the one Beth will soon have.  She got to choose her color today.  She chose clear with sparkles.  I think she has good taste.  :-)

So, her expander has been ordered, and she will have another appointment on May 3rd to have it put in.  They've explained to her that it will take a little time to learn to talk without a lisp, and she was quite concerned whether she'd be able to talk normally by May 5th because that is Bethany's wedding.  They thought she'd probably do fine as long as she made a point to "practice talking" as much as possible.  Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem... 

Orthodontist visit

 We kicked off spring break at the Orthodontist again today where Beth was fitted for her new expander. 

After a series of pictures and x-rays in the room next door, they proceeded to place this device on her face:

You should have seen her Daddy's expression when he came home and she told him all about this strange thing that went in her ears and on her nose and in her mouth...  He looked at me and was like, "They really had to measure her nose?"  Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what this contraption was doing, but it looked just as strange in person as I'm sure it did in Mike's imagination... It looked like a chemistry lab in the room: 

They made impressions of her teeth with this strange pink goop that solidified in like 28 seconds...

And made a suction noise when they took it out.  :-) 

 This whole process is new to us.  Beth had a great time.  She has another appointment in a couple weeks when she'll come home with an expander which she'll wear for the next 9 months or so.  She's actually looking forward to it.   We'll see if her enthusiasm continues once she's worn it for a few weeks...

Phase I

 Beth Marie had her first visit to the Orthodontist this morning. In a few weeks, she'll begin what they call Phase I of her orthodontic treatment. Sigh... We chose an orthodontist that comes very highly recommended... ...and he's a very nice man. But it doesn't matter how nice you are... ...I'm not going to like it when you criticise my little girl's smile.  

 I have mixed emotions about braces. On the one hand, I don't want her to have to go through having teeth pulled at every dental visit like I did... And I certainly don't want her to grow up and have jaw problems... But when she laid down in that chair and he started to point at her chin and say that it shouldn't crease like it does... ...and that her lower lip shouldn't curl like it does... ...and that her upper lip shouldn't protrude like it does... While I know that he means well... Inside I'm rolling my eyes and thinking--anybody can get a perfect clinic smile these days for $6000... ...but this little person's impish grin was especially designed by her Creator... It's all her own. And nobody else in the world has a smile just like hers. So while I realize that it's probably best to create more room for her new teeth to grow and her jaw to develop... I can't help but be a little sad about changing her smile.