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Thursday, September 07, 2006

Phase One - Done

J-man got his braces off today. We can all consider "Phase One" over. Yep. Stick a fork in it... it is DONE.

He has come such a long way. Before the first bit of metal went in his mouth, the poor kid had 11 teeth pulled. Not one. Not two... ELEVEN. He was so brave. They pulled two on his first two visits, then another three, then one a week for four weeks. (This was over the course of about three months.) On the next to last one, he was OVER it. I felt so sorry for him, but he just kept on going. No complaints. I was so proud of him.

This is his "lip curl"look - we were at the Atlanta Motor Speedway

He had some MAJOR buck teeth once his adult teeth grew in. We lovingly called him Bucky. He was proud of those suckers, though. When he smiled, he would curl his top lip under and show those bad boys off. His fourth grade picture is awful! His head is tilted so far back you can see straight up his nostrils and two HUGE rabbit teeth! Gotta love a kid that is that confident. :)

Now look at him! Isn't he handsome?

Here he is today

His teeth are straight and look normal! In three weeks we go back to the orthodontist for a permanent retainer on top and a removable one on the bottom. We aren't sure how long he has to wear these; at least until "Phase Two" starts. Who knows when that will be!

I only hope I can pay off Phase One before we start over.

7 comments:

Coffeypot said...

That's my little man! In some ways he is one of the bravest little guys I have ever met. He stood up to the big guys during football, even though he was getting push around all over the field. He would shake it off and go right back to the line. He did not give up. And, with this orthodontics stuff, he is ever so much braver than I was at his age. When mom tried to get me to wear braces I cried, threw a fit and refused to do it. So I grew up being able to eat corn through a picket fence. In this picture he is rolling his lip to show off his new teeth. But when he smiles naturally, he can melt your heart. I guess he gets it from his paw paw.

Marni said...

Yeah, he's doing it in the post-braces picture, but that is OK... he is just too cute!

Cup said...

He is VERY cute. I love both photos.

ccw said...

So cute!

I had 10 teeth pulled before I got my braces. Fortunately, Kid L's teeth are in much better shape and she has only had two pulled. Of course, we are still in Phase 1 and have yet to enter the world of actual braces.

SkippyMom said...

What a gorgeous little man! congrats on getting the braces off! Love the blog....we are dachshie owners (whom we LOVE..but) waiting to add a pug!
Thanks!

Ann said...

Wow, what a difference. Congrats to Jarrett for getting the braces off. You're lucky at lest one of the retainers is permanent. My darling boy lost both of his retainers at camp and I just made him an appointment to see the orthodontist and get new ones. I can't wait to see how much they're going to cost. UGH!!

Marni said...

Happened to us, too, pre-braces. Took about $75 to replace and he lost it within two weeks. We gave up on those.

I hope he does better with this next one.