Back in December or January Christian's dentist said he needed to see an Orthodontist for an underbite... But I completely forgot until we went to the dentist again in August. So I scheduled his Orthodontic appointment and we had the first evaluation visit yesterday.
We went to Dr J. Patrick Dunbar here in Folsom (referred to by our dentist). Nice guy who seems to work well with kids. He did an examine (no X-Rays or anything at this point, that comes next). It involved looking at what his jaw looks like open/closed, looking at his bite and teeth, etc... Pretty basic but enough for him to let me know where things are at...
So Christian does NOT have a class 3 occlusion (underbite) as his dentist thought. He has a crossbite... His Orthodontist said he'll need to have an expander in place for about 5-6 months, he may or may not need braces, if he does it would only be the front 2 teeth.
But that pallete expander does not look comfortable. Here's a pic from a website - there are different kinds and types, but this is the basics of it. It is cemented onto the teeth and after it is put into place then each day a key is turned to force an expansion (1/4mm per day). This is done for 3-4 weeks and then it just sits in the mouth for a couple of months holding everything in place while it heals.
So many websites say it does not hurt. Some say you just feel a pressure. Others say that when the key is turned it hurts a lot for 1-15 minutes. And the kicker is, I'm the one that turns the key!! If it causes him pain then I am not looking forward to this! There is a palette expander that does NOT require the turning of a key - I hope, but doubt, that's the one he needs.
Now I just need to decide when we'll do it all. I first figured I would wait until 2012 so I can plan the flexible spending account to save some money. But I'm a bit worried about the effect of the expansion on his speech and ability to do sports. Most reports say speech will be different, but it gets worked out after a week or two. I don't think it would cause any pain jumping into a pool, etc, but I don't want to risk it if there is any chance it would impact his swim season.
Ugh, this is when it sucks to be a parent!!
Teeth
- Steven Weise