Amelia turned the light on and pointed it directly at my mouth. She placed a lip spreader in that seemed far too wide and felt like it was going to split my lips, my tongue was pushed back into a holder and 2 small blocks were placed between my molars to keep my mouth open as they cleaned my teeth.
Amelia set about scrubbing my teeth, then putting some acid etching on. Even though my mouth was kept open I could still taste it and it was awful. Finally she rinsed it all away and suctioned the water out.
The blocks between my teeth were taken out and Amelia handed John something. He placed it in my mouth and fiddled around for a bit. After a while he took it back out and told Amelia to get the cement ready and give him the bottom one. He followed the same process again before returning to the top and getting me to open wide. He had me bite down on a stick for at least 10 times each side and I felt pressure in my gums slightly around my molars. Next he moved onto the bottom, getting me to bite down countless times again. Amelia carried on suctioning my mouth regularly as my jaw began to ache. After he continued to bend wires inside I realised this was my expanders. My tongue was still pushed away and my mouth wide open so I couldn’t feel them at all. Next he moved onto placing the brackets. He put glue on my front 6 teeth, top and bottom then put the brackets on, making sure they were perfectly in place. Amelia used the light to set the glue and John asked for the archwire, I figured we were near the end and my heart began to beat quicker again – unsure of what I was going to feel in a minute.
John got me to bite down and made an unsatisfied noise. He got me to bite down a few more times and then called Jessica over to look at my teeth, I suddenly felt ridiculous laying there with the three of them peering over me and hoped this would be over with quickly “When Ellie bites down, you see how her top teeth are too close to the brackets?” Jessica hummed in agreement although I had no doubt she had no idea what he was on about. He grabbed my jaw and repositioned it “We want the top teeth in this position or they might bite off those lower brackets” I tried to swallow as I felt another adaptation was coming. “We need to add something to stop it, obviously I haven’t prepared for this today so will have to improvise a bit. I can add some turbos to the top of her back molars to change the bite or I can add some small bite blocks to the back of her front teeth. Personally, I’d rather try the front teeth until I can get something more permanent. It will mean chewing will be more difficult though?”
I looked at Jessica pleadingly, trying to convey that I didn’t want anymore difficultly than needed but she smiled slightly at me then turned back to John “Well let’s go with the front teeth then, you’re the expert – besides we want her to have the best smile and she’ll learn to adapt”.
My mouth was opened once again and John set about gluing two small blocks to the back of my front teeth. Amelia used the blue light to cure them again and then blasted all the brackets with water and suctioned it all away again. My jaw was throbbing from being open for so long, although I couldn’t tell exactly how long I had been laying there, and I was beginning to get anxious about what he had put in and how it would all affect me. After what felt like forever with them both poking around and making extra changes they finally took the lip spreader out.
I caught Jessica staring at me smugly as I attempted to keep the panic off of me face. Now I could feel everything fully I realised how full my mouth was. I had a top expander that was attached to all my back molars and pre-molars, it went across the roof of my mouth and dug into my tongue, the bottom expander also covered my molars and pre-molars and sat snugly behind my front teeth, it felt like my tongue was being pushed in an awkward place. I felt the bulky boxes behind my two front teeth and realised that because my lower teeth hit them they actually kept my jaw open by at least a cm.
I slid my tongue around my front teeth and cringed as the cold metal hit my tongue. It all felt so alien to me. All three of them were staring at me expectedly and I tried to swallow but realised the saliva was pooling in my mouth and I had to suck it back.
“I caaat cloth my moof” My cheeks were bright red and my eyes went wide as I realised how difficult it was to talk with this all. John nodded blankly “Yes, as we said – chewing will be a bit more difficult now the rest of your teeth don’t touch but it is possible – lots of people manage. Speaking is very hard at first but with more practice it’ll get a lot easier. Soon you’ll forget you even have a lisp”
I looked at Jessica, trying to get an ounce of sympathy from her but was met with patronising look instead. “Any tips for Ellie to get there quicker?” John nodded eagerly – “yes, get her to read out loud. Lots of people try and hide away so people don’t hear them but the more you practice the better it is. I know you’ll feel self conscious at first but many young people have braces and they get over that quickly. Just embrace it and remember it’ll all be worth it in the end. I’ll get Jessica over here and we can show her how to turn the expander.” He looked up briefly “I assume you’ll be the one doing it for Ellie?” Before I could respond and shoot down this suggestion she had smiled widely and nodded quickly, standing up and coming over to get her instructions. I tried to resist now, “Pleath, I can do ith mythelf, thith ith tho embarrathing”. She stood over me and patted me shoulder “it’s really not THAT bad, now open up so John can show me”.
I closed my eyes tightly and opened my jaw again – ignoring the pain that was beginning in my teeth. John took a small paperclip type key “now, this is an adaptation of the normal expander – usually people have 1 turn but I want you to do at least 2 each night – top and bottom. We need to work on getting the jaw wider ASAP then we can keep them in for retention. So, first put this in that slot right here and then we push” There was a click in my mouth and my tongue instinctively came up but John pushed it straight back down – right now Jessica, you try it”. She reached in and clicked it again and there was a small ache that began instantly. She moved onto the bottom which felt worse and pinched the skin under my tongue. They sat me up and I felt all around my mouth again, the reality kicking in as my jaw was held open by the blocks, filled with metal on the top and bottom inside my mouth then my lips puffed all over the brackets. A small dribble of saliva dripped out my lips and suddenly it all became too much and my eyes filled with tears which I tried to blink away furiously. Jessica looked at me with fake sympathy “You are being SO brave Ellie, your Dad is going to be so proud of you”. John reached behind the chair again “You are doing well Ellie, Just one more thing to fit and you can get on with you day”.
The shock that they were planning for anything else to fit into my mouth was unbelievable as the chair reclined slightly again and my heart began to skip…
