Metal Mouth?

When I was a kid it was not very cool to have braces. I remember names like "metal mouth" and "brace face." Now days it seems like everyone has braces including little kids. Jared was born with an extra canine baby tooth and adult tooth right behind it. Having this extra tooth subsequently pushed the alignment of his teeth off and crowded things a bit. We have been waiting for the extra adult tooth to come in so we could see which of the 2 looked better so that it could be yanked out. The day finally came and I had spent the couple of days before the appointment and the day of the appointment assuring him that it was just a consultation and that he would leave with his tooth intact. OOOPS! We got there to the office of a friend who said "you're already here, let's just yank it out now" to which Jared's eyes got as big a saucers. It wasn't pleasant to watch and Jared did really well especially considering he was ambushed. I have never seen an adult tooth come out and was shocked at how long it was and what a nasty hole it left in his mouth. We had to go back to school to pick up his things and he got to show off his bloody mouth an big 'ole tooth to his class. A couple of weeks later and he got his braces on. He just has them on the top to move his front teeth over under his nose and get his canines in line instead of sticking out. He will get a full set on to finish the job in a couple of years after he looses the rest of his baby teeth. Lucky for him he doesn't have to suffer through his awkward "ugly duckling" stage with crooked teeth like I had to. Emma dodged the bullet and doesn't have to get them for a couple of years, but Ethan isn't going to be so lucky with what's going on in his mouth. I think my family alone is funding the remodel of our orthodontist's office. :)