Alex's teeth.

My children are late teethers. Their first teeth arrived around their first birthday and they are still growing in teeth for a long time. Then they don't lose their teeth when all their friends do. They don't get to be in the "loose tooth club" in kindergarten like everyone else. Jaxon and Tanner both lost their first teeth the week that 2nd grade started. So my kids will start braces and all that stuff later.

Or so I thought. 

Remember this sweet smile? This is last fall when Alex had just lost his perfectly straight baby teeth and his yet unknown adult teeth were just growing in.

 See those trouble makers? Who knew they would be so lame.

One day I was helping Alex with him homework and I all of a sudden realized that one of his front teeth was completely behind his bottom teeth. I knew that. I had watched it grow in. But all of a sudden it hit me that I needed to take him to the orthodontist. Like now.

Jaxon started with braces when he was 13 and Tanner has yet to start.  But Alex- yeeaah, he will start at eight years old. He has only lost 6 teeth and those are a problem.

So- this is what Alex has to do: He has a palette expander that we crank every night for two weeks. This makes his tiny mouth slightly bigger and gets rid of the overlap between the top two teeth.

(the flash makes everything turn green)

And he has a bite plate that fits in his mouth so that his upper teeth can not go behind the lower teeth. Right now he is only wearing the bite plate at night to get used to it.

This is his mouth when his teeth are closed.

 Here you can see how it is like a retainer that fits on his teeth.

When he gets his braces to straighten those front teeth, he will have to wear the bite plate all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. Because if he ever bites down when he has a brace on that top tooth, the bottom tooth will knock the brace off. Hopefully it will only be for 6 weeks or so.

So the only time he can take the bite plate off is when he brushes his teeth and bite plate. It is going to be a challenge. He is so excited. He really is. It is a good thing he is eight. If I had to get my 14 year old to do this- it would not happen. Alex has had a countdown for weeks of when he gets his braces. Eight year old's have good attitudes. (at least my current eight year old does)

Also. Those really cute baby teeth that are right next to the crooked front teeth? They have a secret. The adult teeth that are coming in to replace them are a problem. The x-rays are not clear. They are either really small teeth, or they are completely sideways. Either way, it will be a problem.

So, we have had a countdown for weeks now for his braces. Today was the day!!!

Before

After

Braces Man!

It is so cute!

This is going to be hard to wear that bite plate all the time. But he has a good attitude.

I am going to have a hard time because he is a slow eater anyway. 

Now it is going to take forever for him to eat!