Braces Bullies

Today was Maria's consultation appointment with the orthodontist to see what should be done about her missing molar.  I had called two weeks ago, talked to a receptionist for 15 minutes, who took down all my information and set up the appointment for 11:00 today, which I wrote down.  Then the office called me the next day needing more of our insurance information, which I gave them.  So it was a little shocking when we got there today and they had no record at all of our appointment.  They still took us, but labeled us "Walk-ins" which irritated me.  I mean, who did I give all that informtaion to on the phone two weeks ago?

We got in after only a 45 minute wait (but what could we expect, being walk-ins and all), and they immediately took pictures of every possible angle of Maria's mouth.  These will serve as her "before" pictures.  Except, why do we need "before" pictures before any Dr. has actually looked in her mouth or her x-ray?  All of this for one missing tooth, that hasn't even been looked at?  The entire atmosphere of the office is a foregone conclusion that you are walking out of there with braces.  When we filled out our information, there's a part where Maria writes in friends she has who also got their braces at that office (she is as defiant as me sometimes, and just put an "X" through the entire box - I'm so proud).  Then the "treatment specialist," who was very friendly - although there wasn't much competition given the welcome we received when we got there - took down some general information from us before the orthodontist came in.  That's when I broached the subject of braces having never been mentioned to us by our regular dentist, and wondered why everyone there was acting like it was a done deal.  All we have is a missing tooth.  And as expected, she danced around the question and said there were many things they could do.

Then she left and came back a few minutes later with the orthodontist.  While she was gone, Maria and I discussed any questions we needed to make sure we asked, and that I wouldn't just agree to braces without lots of information, and that we would need to discuss everything with Dad at home too.  This is a child who has been certain for years that even though everyone she knows (and I'm not sure that's an exageration) has had an experience with braces, she would be spared.  And all of a sudden they're pushing braces on us, and she was scared and unhappy.  The orthodontist reminded both of us of a less goofy Jim Carrey - tall, great smile (of course), very friendly, and a way of flipping his hair that reminded us of a Jim Carrey character.  Anyway, he looked at Maria's teeth and x-ray, and showed me a few things I was unaware of - mainly that Maria's front top teeth are worn down from something - possibly from grinding her teeth at night.  Although I've never heard her do this, I was always a grinder so she may be as well.  He also showed me the tooth in question, and explained why it needs to come out soon, before the gum grows up over it.

So we are seeing on oral surgeon in two weeks for a consult there, and then we will make an appointment for them to pull the tooth.  After that, the orthodonsist will give us a clear plastic retainer she'll wear at night to "manage the space" where the tooth was.  A side benefit of the retainer is that after a few weeks, if its scratched up, we'll know that she does grind her teeth and that will explain the wearing problem.  We'll "manage the space" until the rest of her molars come in.  The matching tooth on her other side of the problem tooth looks like it may not be fully developed, so they have to wait and see if that one will come in or not.  But he said that eventually, she'll need braces, no doubt.  So I asked if just on the bottom or on the top too, and he said both to deal with "bite issues."  I guess I'm wondering why they can't eventually put an implant there for the tooth rather than give her braces, but he said it was too early to know exactly what will be needed, other than the braces - that he's sure about. 

Don't get me wrong, if she needs braces, then we absolutely want her to have them.  But let's face it - that's how an orthodontist makes his money.  And the fact that the braces were their answer before anyone even looked in her mouth makes me uncomfortable.  Later, when Maria and I were talking about it, I asked her about her friends, and she could not think of one person in her class that she hangs out with that has not either already had braces, will be getting braces, or has braces now.  So does every single kid need braces now?  I doubt it.

So we are going to get the tooth pulled and go from there.  If we start to feel real pressure, I supposed we'll get a second opinion, although I would assume all orthodontists will tell you that you definitely need braces.  Right now Maria is really against it too, but will she look back when she's 25 and wish she had perfect teeth, instead of the not-quite-perfect teeth she'll have without braces?  Where is that line between really needing them and just perfecting her smile?  Because it seems like a lot of hassle, pain, and money if she doesn't really need them.

Tubing!

Today we went tubing at Mad River Mountain with the Smiths. This trip was really a belated Christmas gift - we decided to have a fun outing with the kids instead of getting gifts for each other this year. But the weather didn't cooperate over Christmas break, so we went today. We wanted to go on a Sunday morning so it wouldn't be crowded - last year we went on a Saturday aftenoon and it was so busy we only went down the hill 5 times in over two hours. Our plan worked - today we went down 10-12 times, and took a half hour to eat lunch during our three hour stay.

We all had a blast. There was a slight problem with Lindsey at first, who decided once she got to the top of the hill that there was no way she was going down in a tube. No way. The catch was that she had to go down in a tube at least once - its the only way to get to the bottom of the hill. Through the help of Andy and a Mad River employee who was awesome at his job, she was finally convinced to go down the hill once. And after that first trip, she decided that it was fun, and then she was fine the rest of the time.

The eight of us went down the hill in all kinds of different groups, but the most fun was when all eight of us went down together. The slopes were very fast -much faster than I remember last year. We had to be very careful to not actually put our bottoms in the tube - you had to hold your butt off the ground or it was very painful - lots of bouncing on the ice. But once you learned that, it was fine. I just can't believe how fast we went down that hill.

All in all, an awesome winter activity, but now I'm ready for our tropical cruise!

Semester One Ends....GRADE CARDS!

After delays and cancellations and all that, we finally got Maria and Sam's grade cards today.  If you glance over them, you can understand why we're such pleased parents.  Not just because of the grades (all A's), but also the comments they get from their teachers.  We feel so proud to have such great kids!

And So It Begins

Today the kids and I visited the dentist for our usual six month appointment. No one has any cavities, which is good news but pretty much expected as none of us have ever had any. But then the hygienist came out to tell me they were going to do a panoramic x-ray on Maria to see why her molars are slow to erupt. Sure enough, they found that a left bottom molar, which is still a baby tooth, has no adult tooth waiting to come in. This may not be a problem, but may cause the teeth around it to close in, since the baby tooth is much smaller then the adult tooth would be. Apparently, this is not completely uncommon, and is sometimes genetic, although neither Ben nor I have this problem. So she has to see an orthodontist, who will decide if they need to do "something" or just wait and see. I have no idea what that "something" might be - our dentist told us there are all kinds of "things" they do now.

So we have an appointment on January 31, where we are meeting with the orthodontist and his treatment assistant, and were told the appointment would take an hour. They may even start "treatment" that day, but again, I have no idea what that "treatment" might be. I also have no idea how much of this the insurance company might pay for -our family is so lucky in the dental area we never have any expenses other than getting our teeth cleaned. We really thought Maria's teeth were straight enough to not need braces, so we thought we were past having to worry about anything like this. But I'm not sure I know of any parent with a child Maria's age who has not had at least one visit to the orthodontist, though, so I guess we'll just become part of that club. I'll update after the appointment

Sam Went Snowboarding

Grandma and Grandpa Keller got Sam a gift card to Mad River Mountain since he was interested in trying snowboarding.  Today was the day we hit the bunny slope and he had his first class.  The staff was very helpful and his teachers were great.  Everything was well organized and it all went smoothly.  His boots fit, his board was nice, and even his helmet fit right.


I'm pretty sure the next time he goes, he'll want to be on his own so he can experiment some more and learn at his own pace.  The bonus with the class is that he got to cut to the front of the belt-lift every time they got to the bottom.  I think it's probably a do-over :-)

Sam's Basketball Season

This morning was Sam's 2nd basketball game of this year. There are 12 boys on his team, so there is less playing time then there has been in past years. And as in past years, Sam is doing fine. He's had one basket in each game, and touches the ball quite a bit, takes several shots, and passes to other players sometimes. (When he notices that most of the other kids don't really pass to others so they can get their own baskets, he usually quits doing it as often). It's hard to get up and ready to leave the warm house at 9:00 each Saturday morning, but he seems to enjoy playing, so it's worth it.

Snow!

Not too much snow, but enough for us to get out of school early on Tuesday and go to school late on Wednesday. Maria, Sam, and Mason spent two hours outside working on this fort, using their brick-makers that Maria and Sam got for Christmas. (Sam came in slightly earlier then the other two so he's not in the picture). They had intended to finish the next day, but the snow stopped, so they had to go to school instead. And Wednesday the wind picked up, so Maria spent time outside after school getting the fort put back the way it was. Sadly, the opportunity never arose for the kids to finish their snow fort as the wind kept damaging it each day.

Earlier this winter the kids also tried out their snowball makers (another Christmas gift), and they went sledding with the Wilsons on Thursday. They report that the new sleds work really well, although I have no pictures since I wasn't there. While they're getting some use out of this snow stuff, they are anxiously awaiting a much larger amount of snowfall so they can use all the new snow stuff again.

Miami/OSU Hockey

For the past few years we have made it a priority to attend the Miami/OSU hockey game when Miami travels to Columbus. Mainly because its the only time we can see Miami hockey - all of their home games sell out very quickly. Yesterday we had nothing else planned, so we were able to attend the Miami party at BW3 beforehand.

The dinner was good, the game was fun, but the outcome stunk. Miami led during the first two periods, but then fell apart during the last period. First they tied, then they pulled ahead 3-2, then Miami pulled their goalie during the last minute and I think OSU scored twice during that time (we left when it became 4-2 so I'm not exactly certain of the final score). Doug and Andrea went to Friday night's game (we couldn't because Ben had pap band), so we didn't get to see any close friends, but knew several of the people who were seated close by. Great Clips were there offering free haircuts (to encourage donations for a charity), so Ben and Sam took advantage of that during a break between the 2nd and 3rd periods, and I think they may be better haircuts then the barber usually gives them! Sam also visited Stinger, the Columbus Blue Jackets mascot, during another break between periods.

Finished!

Each winter, Maria and I complete puzzles to pass the time. This year has been so wonderful because we can leave the puzzle set up in a table in the basement, instead of setting up a card table in the living room which gets in the way of everything else. This year she got a Disney panoramic 750 piece puzzle for Christmas, and we started it that day. During break and last week, we got in the habit of working on it for a little while after dinner each night. On Wednesday, we finished it, and we're so happy about it it hasn't been taken apart yet. But soon we'll need the table to do Sam's new puzzle - although I think I may enjoy it more than him!

Special thanks to both Grandmas who helped with the princess dresses on Christmas day!

New Year's Eve 2010

During the past several years we've always done the same thing on New Year's Eve - went ice skating during the day, and then spent the evening at the Smith's. This year, we broke both of those traditions.

Friday afternoon, we accepted Rita and Darrell's invitation to go see the Harlem Globe Trotters with them in Dayton. We had great tickets - 4th row, I think - and the kids really laughed a lot. Sam's favorite part was the big inflatable "Globie" that danced around on the floor (see picture). Miami friends Rob and Pam Schulz were also there, and their son Zach was chosen to shoot a basket and received an official jersey when he made it.

After the show, we rushed home to start the evening activities. This year, the kids still celebrated next door with the Smith kids (and both sets of their grandparents), but the four of us went to an adult party at Northpointe Conference Center in Columbus. We all still had a great time. We couldn't believe the interesting collection of people at this party - and we were definitely on the younger end. And the kids had a blast too - they enjoyed spending the night next door after staying up until midnight (and I'm pretty sure never missed us!). I don't have pictures of them ringing in the new year, but some were taken so hopefully I'll have some soon.

We are thankful that 2010 was good to us, and are looking forward to a wonderful 2011!