Last Summer we went for, what I thought was, a consultation with the orthodontist. I thought we'd hear about what they wanted to do down the road. Much to my surprise, they were ready to start treatment right away.
So we did. After lots of x-rays and scans they gave laid out a plan of action. We were told of three different appliances that Jenna would use over the next two years.
The first was a pallette expander with a cage to hold her tongue back. She wore this for a few weeks before some problems began and it fell out. Thankfully, it did what it needed to do. I no longer had to turn the key to help expand her mouth. She did still need to have the cage to hold her tongue back. She wore that for about 6 months. She did awesome! Her friends were always supportive and interested. Jenna just has a great outlook on life and is laid back about the entire process.
Next came a temporary retainer that she wore at night. No big deal.
Now we're on to our next appliance....the bionator. This is a retainer with a cage. It's going to help her tongue thrust, but more importantly, it'll shift her bottom jaw out and her top jaw back. She has a significant overbite that needs to be fixed.
I was worried about this one. It takes up her whole mouth. It affects her speech. She has to wear it all the time for an entire year. I just wish her teeth weren't like mine. But, once again, Jenna has amazed me. She was excited to get it. She picked the color. She's been extremely responsible about wearing it. She's easy to understand. And her friends have been great. She was able to wear it gradually....a couple of hours a day the first week, a few more the next etc. Now she wears it all the time. She knows that in a year she'll look completely different.
Way to go Jenna!!
