Wednesday, May 26, 2010

No Baby Food For This Kid

I just got back from my favorite orthodontist's office for Spencer's first consult. Can I start by how saying how crazy that is, that my sweet little babe is rounding the corner of puberty and all that goes with it? Next thing I know I'll be urging Brad to have a "grooming" talk with him and hiding bottles of Axe from his eager hands.

It freaks me out.

But back to Dr. A who is a genius. Genius! I tell you. The entire staff directed the appointment at Spencer instead of me which I thought was brilliant. Spence asked all sorts of questions and is very excited about what's to come. Which is a miracle, because what's to come, well, it's not so fun.

Sweet little Spence has inherited my mouth which is chock full of all kinds of issues. First up is his major overbite which Dr. A quietly described as "severe." Yeah, it's severe all right. I swear to you there is an inch gap between his upper and lower jaws, so much so that his bottom teeth are hitting the roof of his mouth. I had a similar issue as a teen and had to have my jaw broken. Jaw. Broken. In tenth grade. After just starting a new school. Which caused me to carry a small cooler for lunch because I could only eat yogurt and pudding. In a new school. In tenth grade. Where I didn't have any friends. And because I didn't want to be gone too long, I returned to school 5 days later. Looking like a severely jaundiced walrus. In tenth grade. In a new school. Without any friends.

Suffice it to say, I didn't want the same experience for my Spence.

Luckily, my date with the oral surgeon was 20 years ago and things have certainly changed. There's this doctor, a magical Dr. Herbst who invented the most magical appliance in all of orthodontia! (I don't actually know that to be true but this thing is sa-weet.) It fits inside the mouth and is attached to the teeth like braces but it forces the jaw to move forward, thus closing the gap and eliminating the need for surgery! And because Spence is still young, his body will actually grow more jaw. Grow more jaw!

Isn't that unbelievable?

Because of the huge overbite, Spence's top teeth don't meet up against anything and so they haven't stopped growing which is why it looks like he has Chicklets coming out of his gums. But he doesn't! He just has very efficient teeth that are doing what they do. So to the kids at school who have taken to calling him gopher? You. can. hose. off. His gopher teeth are on their way to being mighty fine.

So, back to Dr. A, who is a genius and Dr. Herbst who is an equal genius. Because of their brilliance, my son will only undergo two years of orthodontia instead of the 5 that I went through. He will skip head gear and surgeries, heartache and embarrassment. He will have a million dollar smile for a whole lot less than a million bucks.

But I swear, if I had a million bucks, I would split it equally between Dr. A and Dr. Herbst. Those two rock the house.


Post Edit: I just Googled Dr. Herbst and there apparently is no such person. I don't know who invented the Herbst Appliance and why whoever did decided to call it that in the first place, but if you know who it is, tell them job well done for me.

9 comments:

Heather said...

That is great news. Crazy overbites are no fun, and Spence deserves nothing but the best.

Cajsa said...

Wasn't I just telling you about Herbst the other day and Wyatt's experience? Isn't it wonderful? Wyatt had the same problem and I, like you, refused to let him go through Middle school like that...so.not.okay...'cause I REMEMBER every bit of torture I had as well. (my nickname was prince-you know-artist formerly known as-because along with buck teeth I had a moustache! Not good for a girl) Anyhoo, so glad you love Dr. A...so do we!!!!! Good for Spence. It will be amazing when he is finished.

Sarah said...

This might sound silly, but I think Spence's smile is adorable! That stinks that kids are making fun of it. We will be in the same boat with Kendle here in a few months most likely. Her middle top and bottom teeth aren't even aligned, there is some serious issues needing to be taken care of. We like to refer to them as hill billy teeth. Glad there are such awesome solutions for these type of things these days!

Ashley Calaway said...

Oh braces. Oh puberty. Oh pre-teen and teenage years. :) That is so crazy that little spence (who isn't so little anymore) is getting braces! I hope it is a wonderful experience for him. Knowing him, he'll MAKE it a great experience. It was so good to see you guys at Quentin's farewell and we need to get together when we're in town for June. I'll give you a jingle. :)

Melanie said...

Bitter sweet. As for the kids at school, we can rearrange their teeth for them? Mean kids suck. I am glad he doesn't have to go through the jaw breaking experience. Spencer's teeth will be perfect, Dr. A is pretty fantabulous. I hope he has a fast and wonderful orthodontia experience.

maile said...

So smart of you to do this now. I was a freshman in high school. Ugh. I had a headgear but refused to wear it during the day- and rightly so :) Good luck to Spencer- he is lucky to have such a good mom.

Ortho Girl said...

So many of my students have the Herbst Appliance! It looks like an ancient torture device used for the witches of Edinburgh... But, if that device means he doesn't have to go throw the torture of headgear and pre-teen bullying, then it's a miraculous invention indeed!

p.s. I remember your jaundiced-walrus face.

Lisa Christine said...

Well done Dr. Herbst, even if you don't exist :)

almond nuthouse said...

Love this post, obviously because I, personally, LOVE "Dr. A" and think he is AMAZING! I will have to tell him to read this one, it will make him feel good. It's always nice to hear that you are doing a good job and making people happy. Glad that your son will get this taken care of early!