today i sat in the orthodontist office and wanted to cry. listening to sappy songs on the valley didn't help either.
today my beautiful boy got braces and an expander. here's why:
poor kid got a cross bite and an underbite. his upper front teeth are walleyed. i thought maybe they'd grow together as he got older and got more grown up teeth. apparently it's easier to correct teeth while he's little and is still growing, instead of when he's a teen like when i was growing up.
it took a while for hubby and me to accept that he needed braces. i deluded myself that if his jaw was in alignment, he wouldn't have TMJ and headache issues like i have. he wouldn't have bite issues like hubby (hubby has a crooked overbite and can't bite into foods like apples and corn on the cob normally). my parents were on board with this decision long before we were - dad has always hated his teeth (i tell him his "fangs" are in vogue now and that people get their teeth fixed that way on purpose!) and mom has always had trouble with her teeth. everyone says that when it's completed, he'll have a "beautiful smile".
i think what bothers me is that i've always thought the boy had a "beautiful smile". he had the most perfect set of baby teeth. last year they started falling out and i looked forward to his grown up teeth. i became accustomed to his jack-o-lantern grin. to have people say that his smile was "not perfect" - it saddens me. his smile, no matter how crooked, was perfect to me. i wonder, after his treatment is completed, if he'll ever resemble "the boy" as he was?
today i took one last picture to remember his smile as it was.
and this is what i'll see now (for the next 16 months, at least):
what is perfect anyway? would i be a bad parent if i didn't get him the treatment?
i am always bashing plastic surgery - unless it is for drastic health reasons, why can't we be happy with ourselves? why do others criticize how one looks? who decides what's perfect and what isn't? nobody ever died becos they had crooked teeth, saggy tits, or an elephant belly. would crooked teeth really cost the boy a job when he's older?
but - i've always said, that if someone gave me a million dollars, the first thing i'd do with it (after investing some of it, of course), is i'd get a tummy tuck. i suppose vanity is the main reason, but boy would it be easier to buy pants if i didn't have my damn elephant gut.
now the boy's dental journey begins. and now it adds more complications to our life. checkups! maintenance! schedules! the first of many.
whether the boy has walleyed teeth or a mouth full of metal, his smile will always be perfect to me.
today my beautiful boy got braces and an expander. here's why:
poor kid got a cross bite and an underbite. his upper front teeth are walleyed. i thought maybe they'd grow together as he got older and got more grown up teeth. apparently it's easier to correct teeth while he's little and is still growing, instead of when he's a teen like when i was growing up.
it took a while for hubby and me to accept that he needed braces. i deluded myself that if his jaw was in alignment, he wouldn't have TMJ and headache issues like i have. he wouldn't have bite issues like hubby (hubby has a crooked overbite and can't bite into foods like apples and corn on the cob normally). my parents were on board with this decision long before we were - dad has always hated his teeth (i tell him his "fangs" are in vogue now and that people get their teeth fixed that way on purpose!) and mom has always had trouble with her teeth. everyone says that when it's completed, he'll have a "beautiful smile".
i think what bothers me is that i've always thought the boy had a "beautiful smile". he had the most perfect set of baby teeth. last year they started falling out and i looked forward to his grown up teeth. i became accustomed to his jack-o-lantern grin. to have people say that his smile was "not perfect" - it saddens me. his smile, no matter how crooked, was perfect to me. i wonder, after his treatment is completed, if he'll ever resemble "the boy" as he was?
today i took one last picture to remember his smile as it was.
and this is what i'll see now (for the next 16 months, at least):
what is perfect anyway? would i be a bad parent if i didn't get him the treatment?
i am always bashing plastic surgery - unless it is for drastic health reasons, why can't we be happy with ourselves? why do others criticize how one looks? who decides what's perfect and what isn't? nobody ever died becos they had crooked teeth, saggy tits, or an elephant belly. would crooked teeth really cost the boy a job when he's older?
but - i've always said, that if someone gave me a million dollars, the first thing i'd do with it (after investing some of it, of course), is i'd get a tummy tuck. i suppose vanity is the main reason, but boy would it be easier to buy pants if i didn't have my damn elephant gut.
now the boy's dental journey begins. and now it adds more complications to our life. checkups! maintenance! schedules! the first of many.
whether the boy has walleyed teeth or a mouth full of metal, his smile will always be perfect to me.
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