Appliances for the Mouth

For a while now, we've known that Marshall's teeth were going to be an issue. He had an underbite when he was a baby that slowly went away as he got older, but when his permanent teeth started coming in up front, we realized there were going to be other issues. The dentist commented on it every time we were in and said we should jump on it once all of his front baby teeth were gone. About a month and a half ago, Marshall and I went in and had tons of photographs taken, a panoramic x-ray done, a wax mold as well as a plaster mold done of his mouth. I then went in a week later and they talkd me through what should be done to correct what had turned into a cross-bite (apparently the worst type of bite you can have...Eek!). His mouth was like a puzzle and we knew something needed to be done.

The hope & goal is to push the front teeth out in front of his bottom teeth with the help of a retainer. Supposedly, if all goes as planned, he won't need braces later on, but if we did nothing, they think he would have needed oral surgery. Yikes! We bit the bullet and ordered his "orthodontic appliance" (makes it sounds like a fridge or dishwasher or something...and ya know...it is probably similarly priced).

We went in today to pick it up and get educated on the how's, why's, when's of his retainer. Marshall was really excited, actually. The dental hygenist was really, really awesome and put Marshall at ease immediately, but when it came time to put it in, Marshall got nervous and started to cry a little. He was afraid it would hurt. He took a deep breath, put on his brave face and opened up his mouth. It snapped right in.

He looks so cute! His homework was to talk and read out loud as much as possible so that he could adjust to it. It was all we could do to not laugh as he read the little pamphlet they gave him. He was slurring, slobbering, and spitting so much. Poor guy. Marshall needs to wear it 24/7 right now. Eventually he'll only need to wear it at night, but for now, we're in it for the long haul. He's had a great attitude however and is looking forward to having his teeth go where they need to go.