Expanding

(Day two of two posts a day, tomorrow is back down to one!)

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I took Natalie in yesterday to get the rest of her braces put on. They put the ring around the back teeth, the palate expander, a new wire, and "springs" on the wire between the back teeth and the bracket on the lateral incisor. The springs give the wire support because there is a large distance between the brackets it is hooked into. Natalie did really well until it was time to turn the palate expander. They did it once to show me how, then I was supposed to do it so they knew I would be doing it correctly (I have to turn it once a day for 14 days). Before the assistant did it the first time, she told Natalie that she might feel some pressure and it might make her nose tingly, like when you need to sneeze. Natalie flipped. She thought pressure = pain. We tried to explain it to her, finally Dr. Igel had to come over and talk to her. She then let us do it. She wasn't thrilled, and I can't imagine the pressure from that is a normal sensation. Before we left, Dr. Igel came back over and was talking to her about how it's going to feel weird until she gets used to it, swallowing is going to be weird, and how bones don't have nerves so she wouldn't feel pain, just pressure. I think that last part helped a bit. Her next appointment for an adjustment isn't for another two months.

I can't help the pictures, she looks adorable with them!

Showing me the palate expander. Crazy contraption, huh?!

She sounded so cute after they put the palate expander in, I had to try to take some video. I was trying to get her to talk, hopefully you can hear the lisp (and its not a because I'm around her all the time thing). The almost snort at the end cracks me up!

They gave her a shirt for getting her braces put on and for being so good!

Showing me the model of her teeth.

She asked if she could take the model to school to share, this is what she was planning on telling her class if her teacher lets her.

The rest of the day was interesting. I went back at lunch time to take her some Tylenol and eat with her. She said her teeth hurt, but was able to eat her egg-salad sandwich, a few grapes, and a couple animal cookies. By the time I saw her after school (we walked), she was almost crying because she said it hurt so much. When we got home I gave her her second dose of Tylenol, had her drink some cool water, and I told her I didn't know what else I could do for her. I made pasta for dinner thinking it would be easy for her to chew. She couldn't do it. On her third bite she almost spit her food out because it was hurting so much. She ended up having applesauce, milk, and some grated cheese for dinner. Awesome, not to mention extremely nutritious! We took a trip to a couple stores to find a thermos type container to put mac and cheese, Spaghetti O's, or something else warm and soft in, as well as Go-Gurt, pears, and a few other really soft things. I'm hoping this amount of soreness is short, and only happens with a new wire (not the whole two weeks I have to turn the dial on the expander!). Ethan didn't seem to have this problem when he had his braces.


All evening Nat has been slurping and choking on her spit. At one point I asked her if she was doing ok. Her response:

Yeah, my mouth thinks there is something in it, so its making lots of saliva to try to break it up. Its not working and I can't help making these noises.

She actually does listen when people talk to her, and she understands it! haha


On the up side of all this, her orthodontist called to see how she was doing! I don't know if this is what he does for all his patients, or just the ones that seem to be having a harder time. Either way, it was really cool. I told him how she couldn't eat dinner, and he confirmed the soft/liquidy food theory. He also said that after about a day of eating like that she will be so hungry she will eat harder food just to eat. I was cracking up. I'm glad we are taking her to this guy instead of someone who doesn't like their job!