Metal Mouth, Brace Face, Tinsle Teeth etc

Say cheese!

They're going to what?

Ok this isn't so bad, I think!

Caleb, ever the stylin' one.

Metal mouth 1-without the bands.

Metal mouth 2 with the bands. Blue and Gold-pirate colors (Moapa Valley High School)

A close up!
Very very very early this morning we took Caleb to St. George to have his braces put on. Our appointment was at 7:30 our time so we had to leave at 6:15 because we weren't exactly sure where the office was. We had to get up at 5:30-well I did so that I could shower. This orthodontist is very good. He and his staff come to Logandale every 3 weeks to the dentist office that we go to. It makes it so much easier then having to go to St. George once a month for everyone and this service that he offers guarantees him a huge number of clients. Everyone that we know uses him for braces. Anyway, Caleb was a little nervous and did not know what to expect. He has been talking about this for weeks now and kept asking when we were going for the appt. He had asked around to the neighborhood kids and a bunch of kids in his class what it was like and heard plenty of information-some not all correct. He came home from school last week and started naming all the kids in his class that have braces-there were quite alot. When we go to the office he was called back and they took a bunch of pictures and did some Xrays and then made 2 bite molds-Cream Soda flavored plaster stuff. Then he went to another room where he had another mold made (Root Beer flavored this time) but this time they put the bands on the back top teeth because he had to have an appliance made. That molding was not fun as the first set. He had a hard time not gagging. Poor guy. They of course have lots of tricks because they do this all the time. To help him not think about what was happening in his mouth with all that goo the nurse had him cross and uncross his legs, wiggle his thumbs and then wiggle his feet. Good trick! It worked. After the molds were made then came the fun part of gluing on the little brackets. He was excited to pick out the colors of the bands and he has already chosen his colors for next time. They glued everything on and then ran the wires through. The last thing that we had to do was get his "expander" put into place. It is a metal piece that runs acorss the top of his mouth and is attached to the bands on the back teeth on the top of his mouth. It has a little cylinder kind of thing in the middle that has to be turned about a millimeter turn every day. This will expand the top of his mouth so that he has more room for all his teeth to come in. He has to wear that for 4-6 months I think she said and I have to turn it for him with a little key thing once a day. He talks a little differently with that in his mouth but he was still smiling when we got done. They give the kids coins called Brace Bucks for various things like brushing well and being on time and things like that and for today he got 5 Brace Bucks for all that he had done. They can save up those Brace Bucks for gift cards and little toys or if they save them all up then they can get a Nintendo DS (for 300) of an Ipod nano (for (350). It is neat though because most of his friends all go to this guy so they are all talking about it. The office is very kid friendly and has 3 Nintendo or X box consoles on the wall-like they have at Walmart or Target-that the kids can play. They also had tons of paper easter eggs stuck all over the office and all the kids get to wander around and count them to see who gets the right number of them-then they get Brace Bucks or something. The staff is all very nice and work hard to make the kids feel at ease. That was good for Caleb even though he was squeezing my hand through most of the gluing part. We don't have to see the orthodontist again until April 11 and that is when they are coming down here-one less trip to St. George. Yippee! One of the best parts about this whole thing is that our insurance is paying for half of this and Connor won't have to have his done until about the time that Caleb is done with his! Caleb has lost a lot more teeth then Connor has at this point and Connor's mouth is not quite ready to have braces yet. Oh well soon enough. Caleb was really excited about all this but I am betting that by tonight he will be rethinking how cool it really is! :) We were home by 1:00 this afternoon. even after stopping to get Caleb a haircut. Cody stayed home with Connor and Cayden. Thank goodness it has been a beautiful day outside-Caleb, Connor and Cayden have been playing outside all afternoon with the neighborhood kids.