Braces!!

Another right of passage for our darling Ashley....BRACES!

We have known this was coming for a while as she has been having developmental check-ups with an orthodontist for a few years now.  When the last of her baby teeth fell out this spring it was time to get serious about moving forward with braces. 

We had a check-up in July and the braces were on by August 2nd!

Ashley was pretty worried about it, nervous if they would hurt, what she would look like, what color rubber bands she should choose, but it has been a week and everything is A-Okay.  It didn't hurt at all to have them put on, the soreness lasted for about 5 days but wasn't nearly as bad as she anticipated.  Also, everyone has been so nice to her about them, she's not worried about it anymore.  I encouraged her to get them on before school started, so it didn't give her much time to prepare, but I think she is glad about the timing now.  (By the way, she chose pink and green bands.)

I think the hardest part is and will be sticking to the approved and banned food list.  Honestly, I find it pretty restrictive and know for sure that when I wore braces I ate Doritos, pizza crust, and Skittles.  Of course, I don't want to encourage Ashley to disregard the rules so I'm just going to let her find the right balance on her own.

Right  now, she only has the top on, but she will get braces on the bottom as well.  We have to wait about 6 months for her bite to give a little more space for the braces.  Her total treatment time will be about 2 years...ahh the joys of being an adolescent.