Liam has been so good through all this orthodontic stuff. In December he got his "appliance" installed. It's a device attached to his palate to widen the top jaw. The day he got it installed he had this weird thing where he wouldn't swallow his saliva and he puffed his cheeks up like a puffer fish all day. Aside from all the drooling and spitting he wouldn't eat or drink all day. We kept explaining to him that he could just act like normal and reminded him to swallow and tried to get him to eat and drink all day. But he just wouldn't. The office had warned us that the device would probably make him produce extra saliva and I guess he was swallowing some of it since he woke up in the middle of the night and started vomiting straight saliva. Poor kid. The next day he went back to eating, drinking, and swallowing like normal. He uses a special device to scoop out any trapped food inside of it. He never once complained about anything.
In March, he had his top braces put on. Everyone kept saying things like "oh, just wait until they adjust them, it hurts". We have to use special little brushes to floss under the braces. He never once complained about anything.
In July, he had 4 bottom molars pulled. They never fully erupted and x-rays revealed they were fused to the bone and would most likely prevent his permanent teeth from coming out properly. I watched the oral surgeon pull out all 4 teeth and nearly fainted no less than 3 times. He was on gas and Novacaine and never felt a thing. On the car ride home he was all groggy coming off the gas. All of a sudden I just hear heaving coming from the back seat. I look back and Liam has vomited all the blood he had been swallowing all over himself. He was so groggy that he was just in a sitting position and had this bloody vomit dripping off his chin and down the front of his shirt. It was a pleasant visual as I'm trying to drive home. He could only eat soft foods and couldn't eat any candy or drink from a straw for 5 days. The tooth fairy brought him $10 for all his troubles. He never once complained about anything.
A few days ago, he got a spacer bar installed on the bottom row of teeth so that his teeth don't shift into the now empty areas where his molars used to be. So far, he hasn't complained.
In 5 weeks he gets his bottom braces put on. Literally every square inch of the kids mouth will have some sort of orthodontic device installed. I keep telling him that one day all of this will be worth it. I sure as heck hope so.
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