Chapter Twelve.
While everyone was in a daze, nine of the ten patients stood when Dr. Markisian asked them all to follow the assistant back to the treatment room. Liz noticed that one of the women, Janice who had taken their photo when they first had their braces installed, remained seated. As Liz walked out the door she craned her head to see Dr. Markisian sitting beside her. Liz couldn't hear what was said, but she could see Janice speaking and animatedly gesturing with her hands.
Once everyone was seated in the treatment room, one of the orthodontists told the group "we are going to wait a few minutes to see if our last patient will be joining us."
The wait seemed interminable to Liz. She kept glancing at her watch. It felt like she had been sitting there an hour, dreading the idea of getting headgear. Her watch told her it had been four minutes. Finally Liz noticed the doctors and assistants assemble around their assigned chairs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Janice sit in the empty chair in the row.
Before leaning her back, Dr. Martin looked at Liz and said "I know it sheemsh like a lot. But I promiseh you that it ish not nearly ash bad as it seemsh right this second. Isn't that right Tara?" Tara said "absolutely, and it is so worth it." Up and down the line of chairs, the other orthodontists were having similar conversations, or maybe they were pep talks, with their patients. Liz could still hear Tina whimpering and sniffling in the chair at the end.
Liz thought "why are they doing this to us? And can they not just give Tina a few minutes to compose herself?". With these thoughts in her head Liz was feeling confrontational and replied to Dr. Martin "that is easy for you to say, you don't have to wear it." Dr. Martin responded "but I do. I do wear headgear. It is a little different than what you all are getting. It may be even more conspicuous. I have a classh three bite and wear a reversh pull headgear. For shixteen to eighteen hoursh a day during the week I wear it. Every minute that I am not either in the shower or actively working on patients, I wear it. And fulltime on weekends and holidays. The grocery store, the movies, picking my son up from day care, dates with my husband; I wear it. And I alsho have two huge, bulky, intrushive expandersh in my mouth. You can hear how negatively they impact my speech. I can't take them out. They are bonded in." She pulled her mask down and opened her mouth to Liz. Between the metal braces, loops, expanders and hooks in Dr. Martin's mouth; Liz could see very little white tooth enamel or pink gum tissue in her mouth. Dr. Martin said "she? It ish a LOT. Sho I can tell you that you aren't the only one. And I can tell you that it will be ok." Liz looked at Dr. Martin. Liz said "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I didn't know." Dr. Martin patted her on the arm and said "it is perfectly ok. I get it. It wash a shock to me when I got all my gear, and I am around it everyday. So, I get it. And if you want to talk, pleash call me." She pulled her mask back up and said "this won't hurt. And it won't take long. Are you ready?" Liz took a deep breath and said "yes".
After only 10 minutes, Dr. Martin raised Liz back up to a seated position. With her right hand she felt the metal facebow protruding from her lips. When she cut her eyes down she could actually see it in her peripheral vision. From there she ran her finger up to the elastics connecting it to the head piece. And finally she felt around the straps that encircled her head and her neck. She asked "how many hours a day do I have to wear this? And how many months?" Dr. Martin answered "Dr. Markisian will address all of that with the group here shortly. For now, let me have Tara show you how to remove the elastics and straps." Tara held a mirror up in front of Liz. When she saw her reflection, Liz involuntarily gasped. The headgear completely dominated her face and head. Tara saw this and said "I know, I wore one for 9 months. You will get used to it with time. Now, watch what I do. It is simple." Tara quickly removed the eight elastics, four from each side of her face, and placed them on the tray. She then lifted off the straps. She said "that's it! Some people do like to have their hair cut shorter, the straps really make it hard to have a good hair day. But that is completely up to you." Tara handed the straps to Liz and said "now, you try it." Liz looked at her and asked "how do I remove the facebow?" Tara answered "you can't, it is permanent." Liz's eyes got wide. Tara noticed Liz's nostrils flaring, her breathing hard and rapid. Tara placed her hand on Liz's arm. Tara told her "just breath. Just breath. It will be ok. Mine was wired in too. All of us here went through or are still going through what you are right now. And look, we all made it. When it is over with, you will be so glad you did it." Liz still had an elevated heart rate, but Tara's words had calmed her some. She looked at Tara and stated "I promise I will wear it." She looked over at Dr. Martin and begged "But can you make it so I can take it out? Please?" Dr. Martin said "I am sho shorry. But I can't. That ish part of the study. You are group A. Group A hash to wear it fulltime. To ensure that we have to wire it in. The good newsh ish that preliminary resultsh are showing that patientsh in group A have to wear their headgear for monthsh lessh than those in Group B. And their total treatment time is also monthsh shorter. And compared to Group C, the differencsh in treatment time is measured in yearsh, not monthsh. Sho, I know this shucks. But, it won't shuck as long for you ash many othersh." Liz asked "is there anything I can do?" Dr. Martin said "I will just be blunt with you. You have two options. Wear it for the next year. Or write the university a check for $8,000. I am sorry to be so blunt, but those are the only two options." Liz gulped and looked straight ahead not speaking. As she did, Tara put the straps and elastics back on her. Dr. Martin said "hang on jusht a second, and then let'sh take a walk."
Liz had such a case of tunnel vision earlier, she had been oblivious to everything around her. With Dr. Sanders temporarily gone, Liz noticed there was someone loudly bawling their eyes out. She turned her head. She first thing she noticed was that when she did the neck strap of the headgear rubbed on her neck. The second thing she noticed is that Janice had her hands to her face crying her eyes out. The headgear wearing assistant that had attended her had her arm around her while the male orthodontist tried to hand her tissues and was saying something to try to calm her. Liz's attention was focused on that spectacle when she heard Dr. Martin say "let'sh go for a walk and leave the rest of the patientsh to deal with it in a little more privacy." Liz turned her head towards Dr. Martin and saw she had a bright red plastic and metal mask on her face with elastics attached to it running into her mouth. Dr. Martin noticed Liz's stare and said "this is a Delaire facemask. Like I told you, I have to wear it a LOT. I wear thish style instead of the more common Petit shtyle because I wear glasses. Thish one is more compatible for that. I can put on and take off my glassesh without messhing with the mashk. With a Petit I would have to put on or take off the mashk too evertime I did the same with my glassesh. I really am shorry I had to wire your facebow in. I am. But look at it like thish. You have brayshes and headgear. It could be worsh. I have brayshes, expandersh, headgear, and glassesh. Please, let'sh take a walk and talk".
Dr. Martin led her back into the auditorium where the two sat talking quietly. In truth Dr. Martin did most of the talking. She was very empathetic. By the time other patients began to return to the classroom, all with varying degrees of shock visible on their face, Liz was feeling slightly better. Maggie came and sat beside Liz. Dr. Martin said "Liz, ladiesh, you will do fine. I need to get up front. Dr. Markisian wantsh us all up there." Liz looked over at Maggie, who still hadn't said a word. Maggie was staring straight ahead and had a vacant look on her face, though it was partially obscured by her headgear. Liz put her hand on her arm. This caused Maggie to jump in her seat. Maggie turned to face Liz and said "I am shorry. I am sho, sho shorry I got you into thish. What are we going to do?" Before she could answer Emily sat down on her other side of her. She asked "hey gals, did they tell you how many hours a day we have to wear this bullshit headgear?" Liz turned towards her. She said "all the time. We can't take it out." Immediately Emily reached up to the facebow and started tugging on it. It would not budge. She started saying "oh no, oh no, oh no" over and over. The last to enter the auditorium was Tina. With her head down and eyes red, she made her way to the other three. She could not have looked sadder if she were marching down death row towards the gallows. Without a word she sat down beside Emily and stared at the floor. Before anyone could say a word Dr. Markisian addressed everyone "Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen!"
All eyes turned towards him. Liz noticed that lined up on either side of him were the orthodontists and assistants that treated the group. Seven of the assistants were wearing interlandi headgear identical to their own; everyone had seen it before. But to their surprise, on the other side of him, all the orthodontists had some type of headgear on themselves. Six were wearing interlandi headgear. Dr. Martin was wearing her Delaire mask. And the remaining three were wearing Petit facemasks.
Dr. Markisian continued "Ladies and gentlemen! Well done today. While this may seem like a horrible day to some, it is in fact a wonderful day. Because you are on your way to a new smile. As you all already know, you were all lucky enough to be chosen to be part of group A for this study. That means that yes, you do have to wear your appliances fulltime for the next year, or until your bite has been corrected. But you will finish treatment quickly. If you notice to my right, three of our assistants are not wearing headgear. That is because they were dedicated like all of you. They were our first group A in this study. And in less than nine months time three are already finished with the extraoral portion of their treatment. I expect that all of the remaining participants in group A, our fine assistants, will be done within the next three months, four tops. Several of you will not have to wear your headgear for the full term of one year I am sure, just as some of them did not. Now if you look to my other side, you will notice all of our fine doctors that treated you. They are all still in treatment with their extraoral appliances. That is because initially, for the first six months, they only wore them for twelve hours a day. They were instructed to do so, no more and no less. Now, because of this study we know that headgear DOES work for adults. And we know that increased wear time DOES decrease the needed wear time duration. So many of our doctors are, voluntarily I might add, wearing their extraoral appliances much longer than the mandatory twelve hours. Some are wearing them almost full time. Again, all voluntarily. So, I say all this to get to this. THIS WILL BE WORTH IT.
Again, thank you all for being such wonderful patients. And please, take advantage of the doctors and staff here. Reach out to them, they may be able to offer you some help as you become acclimated to your headgear. And finally, congratulations!"
The ride home was very quiet for the four women. All were still in shock. And for three of them, they not only had headgear, they also had appliances in their mouths that impacted their speech to some degree. Tina's was the most severe. She curled up in the fetal position in the backseat, her head awkwardly laying against the headrest, and somehow fell asleep. In the rearview mirror, Liz had noticed that Emily had wrapped herself over her. As Liz approached the school parking lot, Maggie said "girlsh, I am sho shorry for getting you all into thish." Emily looked at her and whispered "don't apologize. We are all grown ups and we all signed up for this. But, if you want to do something to help, please grab Tina's purse when we park. I text Elizabeth and explained what is going on. I told her to meet us here. She is going to take Tina home and love on her some tonight. I hope she feels a little better by Monday." When Liz came to a stop beside the other's vehicles she noticed there was one more than when they had left. From it stepped a tall dark complected woman around their age. Emily shook Tina awake and softly said "wake up sleepy head, you are almost home." Liz got out of her car to stretch her legs and watched this woman, Elizabeth she assumed, come and wrap Tina in a hug. She held her for a long time. She finally released her and said "let me get you home baby. Your mouth is hurting. Momma will try to make it better." She wrapped her arm around Tina's shoulders and helped her into the backseat of her SUV. She heard her tell Tina "I brought you a pillow baby. Try to get comfortable and I will avoid all the potholes." Maggie and Emily followed behind her. Once Tina was laying in the backseat, Maggie handing Elizabeth Tina's purse. Elizabeth told Maggie "thank you." She then turned to Emily and said "thank you for texting me. And thank you for looking after her on the way home." She then got in the drivers seat of the SUV and drove off. Emily and Maggie came back over to Liz and both thanked her for the ride. Liz looked at them and only half jokingly said "maybe I should have had a wreck on the way there. Not a bad one, but just enough to miss our appointments." Emily cracked a half smile. Maggie just looked at her sadly and said "what are we going to do Monday?" and turned and headed towards her car.
When Liz finally made it back to her apartment she found a potted flower on her doorstep. She knew it was from Tim, she didn't even need to read the note. They were supposed to have dinner at his apartment and watch a movie. She opened her door, slung her purse down on the table and immediately went into her bathroom. As she examined her headgear in the mirror she thought "this is bad; this is so very, very bad. How can I live life like this?"
She went back into the kitchen where she heard her purse ringing on the dining room table. She dug her phone out and saw it was Tim. When she answered he said "hey beautiful. I see your car out there. I thought you were going to come over? We are going to cook dinner together and watch a movie." She replied "I'm sorry, I can't." Tim replied "what's wrong?" She said "I had a rough day. I'm sorry." Tim said 'if you had a rough day, that is even more reason for you to let me spoil you tonight. I hate to beg. But please?" Liz told him again "I'm sorry, I can't. I need to go. Bye bye" and she hung up on him.
Tim had sensed something was wrong even before he spoke with Liz. Now he knew something was wrong. She was not acting like herself at all. He was worried about her. He went and knocked on her door. He heard Liz's muffled voice from behind the door say "go away Tim. Please." Tim said "please just open the door. Something is wrong. Please at least talk to me. Face to face. If you want to break up with me fine. But at least do it to my face." Liz answered "it's not that. It's just... I can't see you right now. You don't want to see me anyway." Tim said "that is not true, all I want, ALL I want is to see you. What is wrong? Please tell me. Maybe I can help."
Liz said "I thought you told me you were patient." Tim said "I am patient. I am patient about whatever speed you want to take this. I am patient about intimacy. I am even patient about cars in front of me that don't move when the light turns green because they are on their phone. I am NOT patient when I think you are hurting. And I think you are hurting. But I am patient about standing. And I am going to stand on your doorstep until you open the door and tell me what it is."
A few minutes later Liz said "are you still there?" Tim answered "yes, and I will be here until I am nothing but a dusty old skeleton if you don't open the door. So, please open the door." The knob turned and the door cracked open. But that was it. He pushed the door open the rest of the way. He found Liz facing away from him, her head down towards the floor. Even so, he could see the straps of her headgear. He went and wrapped his arms around her. He said "so you got your headgear today. Is that what this is about. Is it hurting you?" Liz answered "no, not really. But look at it." He gently spun her around, though she still had her head down. She said "I am so embarrassed. I am completely ready for your let me down easy speech." He hugged her and softly said in her ear "remember what I said when we first really met? That first night after you got your braces? And I told you that if you had to get headgear you would be a beautiful woman, just with headgear? Liz, that is what you are. A beautiful woman. Now, you just have headgear. No big deal, not to me."
He held her for several minutes until he stepped back from her. He put his index finger under her chin and lifted her face up towards his. He said "there we go, finally a better look." As he shook his head back and forth Liz nervously watching him. What could he be thinking she thought to herself. Tim said "nope, you are just as pretty as you were before you left for your appointment." He took her hands and said "baby, headgear sucks. I know. I know firsthand. But it isn't forever. How much do you have to wear it?" She looked at him and said "all the time" and burst into tears. He wrapped his arms around her as she tried to hide inside his arms. He said "you can't take it off?" Between sobs she said "no, it is wired in" and her crying intensified. He held her and stroked the back of her head, or at least the interlandi headgear straps that encircled her head, and rocked her back and forth. Finally she calmed and said "really, I understand if you don't want to see me anymore. I don't want to be seen with me anymore either." He continued to hold and pet her. He said "I am not letting you get rid of me that easy. I promise, we will get through this together. We, not you. We will get through this. I promise".