Braces!

We are now into phase 3 of Abby's upper teeth "fixer-upper." Phase 1 involved braces on the back of her teeth to pull some of her teeth out of the way and allow room for her adult teeth to descend. Phase 2 was an expander at the roof of her mouth that had been in place for the last year or so. She just had the expander removed last Thursday and is now in phase 3, top braces to pull those teeth together to allow room for more teeth to descend. It's been quite the process with still several years to go! Fortunately we started early so we could make these changes slowly. Her orthodontist said if we had waited until she was 16 or so they would probably have had to break her jaw! Ouch!!

She likes showing off her braces but was quite distraught about all the foods that she has to avoid now (popcorn, chewy candies, gum, etc.) I told her I would refrain from those same foods to make it a bit easier on her!

She will have these braces on for about six months and then will get a retainer to hold things in place while her adult teeth come in and align themselves for a couple of years. Then she may need another full set of braces after that!

A lot of work for a beautiful smile!