Aaron's Journey With Braces

Aaron just passed the one year anniversary of getting braces. Time really does fly. In addition to watching his teeth shifting beautifully into alignment, I've noticed Aaron has been picking up some important life skills during the course of his treatment. Mainly, he really thinks carefully about when we schedule his next appointment.  He's learned that occasionally there is some minor discomfort the day after an adjustment, so it's probably best not to schedule his next appointment for the day before the big soccer tournament - when he'll want to be feeling 100% on top of his game. As a parent,...

Spring Break is over! We had a blast in Florida, playing "foot-golf" and enjoying the sunshine. Back to school and work for everyone.  Aaron has now entered the elastics phase of his treatment. Because his bite needs a little more correction on his left side than his right, he was given instructions to wear the left elastics 24 hours per day, and the right side elastics only at night. The ElasticCard will sure come in handy to help us remember the specifics.  Of course, keeping track of the actual elastics (in the handy little packet) and removing them before eating, then remembering...

Aaron's Week 40 checkup was a long one! He got brackets placed on his molars and that took a while. We were warned this would take a while in the chair, and that it could be more painful for a few days after. Good thing we scheduled this visit for after his 13th birthday party weekend too.  On the positive side, he was able to cash in his "good check up points" and spin the prize wheel. He won a nice pass to our local movie theater. As a parent, I must say that these kind of incentive programs really do motivate...

Wow! This year is just zooming by.  Aaron had another excellent check up this morning. I couldn't talk him into red and green, he chose a more subtle gold and white O-rings for the holiday season. This time of year elves may try to stick to their four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup, but that's not generally recommended for orthodontic patients.  It helps to keep visual reminders like Preventing Problems With Braces™ on the bathroom mirror, where kids can be reminded daily of what foods to avoid.  It's not going to be easy. There will likely...

Week 25: Aaron's good oral hygiene pays off in sweet rewards of frozen yogurt! Thanks Dr. Wendell. Along with providing excellent braces hygiene education materials - like On-The-Mirror Guides™ - to young patients, good brushing incentive programs can be a big hit with youngsters. You can tell by that smile, Aaron is looking forward to cashing in his certificate for a nice frozen treat. The hard part will be steering him away from the gummy worm toppings.