You know you scared us to death with the title of your thread shame on you!!!

Never had them and I understand they take a little getting used to but Im'm glad he is getting them Congrats

I hope it's not too awful for him, Glenda. I glad you were able to help him get teeth to match his smile.

I remember when DD had to have braces. Not fun. Now DGD needs braces and she is only 7 1/2! She gets very nervous at the dentist so I'm sure she is going to hate the orthodontist.

Linda

Sending good thoughts!

Minnie, meant nothing drastic, but it is a BIGGIE for grandson and family.

He spent the day with me, Monday, and I gave him all the support I could give.

He's a strong person, and I know he will do well, but it is a BIGGIE for all of us for him.

Not a baby, he handles things well. He's my fella!

OMG, Glenda...my granddaughter just came out of hers....WONDERFUL outcome. She now has a smile she could sell! You're gonna agree in a couple years! I'm so glad you were there for him. They're expensive, but worth it.

Scared me, too.

A big big day for him, but he can handle it!

It's really a gift to kids to get their teeth corrected when they are young. I'm glad you worked something out.

What colors will he be getting? Many kids wear their school colors or are the invisable. Braces are not bad except cannot eat certain things, have special toothbrushes and even toothpaste. Then come the spacers etc
Good luck to him.

Glenda...it will be so worth it. All three of my kids had braces...and my grandkids also.

Kacie my oldest daughter's youngest child got her's off last year. It made a world of difference in how she looked. It was like the little duck turning into a swan.
(Notice I didn't say ugly duckling...she was always beautiful to me...)

Lots of soft foods for a few days.

Braces changed the whole look of my daughter's face because she had had a receding chin.

Glenda Kudos to you and GS Mom...you gave him a gift for a lifetime.

June

Make sure he has a water pik! Nothing worse than "stuff" stuck in the braces! I wore them for years. Only hard time was the day after they tightened them. Achy! I don't even know if they do that anymore!

Geez, she just asked for a few thoughts - is that really that scary?

Good luck to him. Braces can be quite uncomfortable at times but it will be worth it.

That's great, Glenda! Happy for him.

How did your "reunion" go with his mom? I thought it was terrific that you and she were taking a step toward a reconciliation of sorts. Very nice.

Uh oh - no gummy bears or jelly beans for a while. Maybe there's a good side to the fact that he didn't get them when he was younger. At least now he's old enough to follow all the recommendations the dentist is going to give him.

What a nice gift for him. Kudos to you and his Mom.

When daughter was about 7 or so, maybe younger, our dentist said her teeth were coming in crooked and he recommended pulling her top and bottom front 4 teeth. This was in the 60's and she must have still had her baby teeth. We had it done and her permanent teeth came in nice and straight. I don't think they do that now, but it was a lot less expensive that braces.

Good thoughts being sent your way! Tell him how great he will look when he gets them off and the fantastic smile he will be sporting!

Please keep us posted, I am very interested. DD(14) is going for a consult with a 2nd orthodontist today at 1:30. Did they say how long he would have to wear them?? I had them on upper only and I never remember even a hint of pain. What kind is he getting??? PJR is very fortunate you are able to help him out with this-a gift that lasts a lifetime!

The thing that upsets DD the most is that she has popcorn nightly with her Dad! I expect her braces to go on next month. Don't think she is a candidate for invialigns. At the first place the assistant said she might need rubber bands for a while. Ortho never mentioned that. I got distracted and forgot to ask him. Will be better prepared with questions today. Might see one more ortho, might not. I will be thinking of Parke today!

Yes, his face will be changed for the better. He has a beautifuil smile, but there was not enough room for his teeth, so the bucked teeth. Will make him look so much better.

And yes, they tighten them monthly and I too will be doing that along with 3 more months of the dermatologist monthly visits.

My daughter had a terrible overbight as a rslut of being a thunb sucker. Lucikly her Dad got dental insurance on his job and she wore braces for several years. She liked her orthodontist an awful lot. He had a kid and teen themed office, videos at the dental chair, aqnd he allowed her to pick the flavor of the anesthetic. She chose "Pina Colada." Yes, there is pain. Glenda, you are a saint for helping pay for his treatment. He will be very handsome with his new teeth.

I'm sure he'll do fine. Zillions of kids have or had braces. (They take some Tylenol for a day after the braces are tightened.) Heck, *I* had braces, back when they routinely pulled four 'corner' teeth long before the jaw had finished growing. (Stupid. By my late 20's, my teeth had pushed forward and were crooked thanks to that orthodonture.)

I'm now seeing pre-teens wearing plates at night to expand the upper jaw.

He told me yesterday, tee hee, he was getting red and green braces for Christmas! NOT!!!!

LOL! The colors are sometimes kind of shocking! But fun :)

DD had a palate expander for a while - that wasn't so fun. The braces are going great for us so far. Remarkable change in just a few months!!!

Those first couple days are kind of tender - but that goes by fast. Like others have said, have some soft food ready.

DD is 17 so she drives herself to all her appointments, and usually has a couple other younger kids with her that aren't old enough to drive off their permits. They all kind of schedule together so they can car pool. That works great! Then they hit Mc D's before returning to school - lol! Our ortho is about 25 miles away.

Your just the sweetest Grandma!!

Please please please make sure he wears his retainer after! I had mine in high school and they came off my first year of college and I was so eager to be free of it that I didn't wear the retainer like I was supposed to because it hurt, and now 10 years later my teeth are a little crooked again and they keep getting worse! I will need new braces to fix it and I had such a pretty smile. Really disappointing.

That's so wonderful of you Glenda. He's a handsome kid already, but he'll feel better about himself when he starts to see the results. He may surprise you and actually like the orthodontist--no needles or drills involved and like Jannie said, the office will probably be decorated to appeal to preteens and teens. I wish him all the luck in the world to have an easy time. There's a little pain involved when they tighten them but it never seemed to bother my daughter much. In fact, she wore them so long she said her mouth felt funny and "slick" when she had them taken off.

What a wonderful thing that you and ex-DIL are doing for PJR. I hope he appreciates it.

My baby brother is now 57 and he still says that the greatest thing our parents ever did for him was to get him braces. Not only did it dramatically improve his appearance, but it also gave him a huge dose of self-confidence and helped shape his future and career.

Thankfully, my teeth were straight because I don't think our parents could have afforded braces for both of us.

I hope his orthodontist takes "Before" and "After" pictures. That would be a life-long reminder of how much his grandma loved him! He sure is blessed to have you!!

Hope that things go well, he's not too traumatized ... or inconvenienced ...

... and tell him to give celery a wide berth throughout, O.K.?

ole joyful

Oh, celery. Can't imagine.

Don't know how long it takes, but his appointment was for 1:15 and it's almost 3.

Office did call to get my credit card number, so I know they got my money :o)

The colors on the braces can be changed--and belive me kids change them all the time. Red and green not bad!! what about school colors?

Our pedontist had all sorts of video games in his treatment room for the kids. They would play games another half hour or hour after their treatment, while the parents waited and waited in the Waiting Room!