Orthodonture

Madi has begun the long odyssey towards straight teeth. She has a crossbite (the top tooth is hitting the tooth on the bottom and rubbing) that has to be corrected before either of the teeth is ruined from all the grinding. So, we had many, many mouth molds made and lots of X-rays taken. Last week she was fit with a custom-made palette expander. It will gradually pull her upper palette apart, thus widening it. Because she is still young the tissues in-between will fill in as if there never was a space. This added space will make room for the tooth that is sideways (the one in crossbite) to be turned and straightened. She'll most likely be getting the 4 top teeth braces around Christmas and will wear them until the end of the year...maybe into the summer. We've been told that after all her baby teeth are out, she'll need a full set of top and bottom braces to correct a bite issue. So, lucky her...she gets to do the braces-thing twice.

Right now it's a novelty and b/c so few kids have anything orthodontic related...it's "cool". She is being very brave and accepting each new thing with courage and grace.

Here is a pic of the palette expander.