brace for impact!

Jessica has started on a 24 month process with braces. She has endured all the spacers, molds, & photos to get to the real thing today. The orthodontist is dealing with jaw alignment issues, crossbite, and class II malocclusion. Amazing to see all the colors available for braces now. She chose blue for now, but is already planning for red & green when they are replaced before the Christmas holiday!

Notes from Jessica: Well, first I had spacers, but those are out now. In my mouth now, I have an expander and (obviously) top braces. The spacers were the little plastic bands that made space between my teeth so the expander could be seated. The expander is also called a quad-helix because it's like a spring, all wound up, to push my upper teeth apart. My upper jaw is so narrow that I can't properly eat with a spoon because a spoon will not fit. Hence, expander. The top set of braces is just normal braces, brackets cemented on with a wire that will pull teeth into the correct position. The bands are twisted differently because the teeth are twisted differently. There are only 2 bands on, out of 10, that could be put on simply. The others had to be put on all twisted around or not even fully put over the bracket to increase movement in a certain direction. I picked "mediterranean" and "light blue" bands 'cause blue felt patriotic on Election Day. I have to get new bands in December, so I'll probably go with Christmas-y colors.