Update on Braces

I took Megan to the orthodontist yesterday and had a nice chat with him about Megan and her metal allergy. We both thought it would be best if we didn't introduce everything at once, such as a full set of metal braces PLUS the completely metal palette expander. His first suggestion though was to go get her allergy tested for the specific metals. I really don't want to do that! I suggested that we just stay clear of metal braces and do the ceramic ones.  I told him that she tested negative for nickel and the allergy doctor said titanium was ok, so I asked if we could just go ahead with the ceramic brackets and nickel titanium for wires. He said he could do that!

In the end, we are going to go very slow with her braces. On Friday, we are going to put on the top row of ceramic brackets. He said there is just a little bit of metal on the back molars, so we are going to let those be for 1-2 months and see if she reacts. After that, we will put on the bottom. It sounds like most orthodontists don't usually put ceramic brackets on the bottom teeth, but he would see what we could do.

We also talked about the palette expander. He thought that he MIGHT be able to fix her cross bite with just the wires and brackets. I said that would be great! He said there is really no option beside the metal palette expander. :(  He also said he could put it in and if she starts reacting, we could pull it out. (But then do I have to pay for it??) Yesterday the hygienist had put separators in Megan's teeth to start moving them apart for the palette expander, but the orthodontist had her take them back out. We are going to do as much as we can with the braces first before we go to the pallete expander.

Last time she had her palette expander, she got it in April, and by June, she was broke out with eczema. I figure that it had taken about two months to build up in her system before she reacted. This is why we are going to wait 1-2 months for each step. This process may take a lot longer, but I think it will be better for her health in the end!

I am so glad he understood what I was talking about and was willing to work with me. Kudos to our new orthodontist!!