Before and After Braces

Emma recently ended a 1-1/2 year relationship.....

with her metallic smile.

Emma was our third child to need a full work-up with braces...

a fact which no doubt brought their orthodontist a step closer to retirement.  

Little does he know that there are still two more kids to come...

We're just happy that we're more than half-way done with paying out arms and legs to our orthodontist now!  

Some notes:  

• Emma took meticulous care of her teeth while they were in braces and got compliments from both the dentist and orthodontist at what good condition her teeth and gums were in.   

• Emma's teeth were the best of the kids so far, requiring a few months less treatment than both Spence and Cam. 

• My other kids had forbidden foods they were excited to eat as soon as their braces came off (caramel, corn on the cob, etc), but Emma's biggest excitement was finally being able to floss normally! 

Sparkly Smile and a Flashback

This past summer Emma sat in the orthodontist office all prepped and ready to get braces.  She'd been wearing spacers for a week and she was very excited to get the teeth straightening process started before middle school began.  As the last minute prep was being done, I innocently mentioned to the finance person that we were changing  insurance companies  in a month, not thinking that it would matter to them as both companies had  partial orthodontic coverage.   Alas, I was naive in my belief and they literally stopped everything in its tracks and refused to put the braces on.  While I was relieved that they saved us from potentially having neither insurance company being willing to pay for part of her braces, we both left there a little disappointed.  

Fast forward six months later with our new insurance fully in gear, we decided it was time to get the  tinsel ball rolling again.  (Our flex spending account needing to be used up by the end of the year helped the inertia factor pretty significantly!)   Now I'm happy to report that her Crain-inherited crooked teeth are on their way to noncrowded bliss.

Now her gums hurt, her lips hurt, and she can barely eat...

but she can take heart in the fact that at least she is waaaaaaaaaaay cuter than I was back in the day! 

Lara--7th grade

Doggone Genetics!

Dear Mr. Orthodontist,
I don't like to brag too much (hehe), but I'd like to think that in most respects that Glen and I passed on a pretty good gene pool to our kids.

Seriously look at all those semi-attached earlobes, brown eyes, and good strong fingernails...I mean we've really given them such a head start in life with their good genetics.




Look at our smiles. Notice how my teeth are crowded and reminiscent of Bugs Bunny's smile and how Glen's teeth are perfectly aligned. You'd think that together our kids would have like a 50/50 chance of some good teeth or at least that combined our kids' teeth wouldn't be quite as bad as mine.

Spencer started us off well. His teeth were worse than Glen's, but much better than mine. Two and a half years in braces and his smile is dynamite!

Then there's Cami. Congenitally missing two permanent teeth and pretty much destined to be visiting orthodontist's for the next 7-8 years.

So what's the damage for Cami? $5900!! Plus the special crowns she'll wear ($2500 each side) until she's old enough to have the implants ($firstborn). Of course dental insurance only covers a small percentage of it.

To add insult to injury: The orthodontist has now informed us that Emma will need braces twice starting in six months. Once to do a quick preliminary fix, to supposedly help other teeth to grow in straighter, then again when she's older. $300 bifocal glasses (every year since she was 2) and braces x 2. (who needs $$$ anyway?)

We were a little more hopeful that Adam's teeth would take more after Glen's since he looks the most like Glen, but alas he's only got two permanent teeth and they're both crooked.

Can Ellie save the day? Nope. She sucks her thumb!!!!