Part 58.

Dr. Sanders came back with a big smile on her face.  She handed us each a card that had our username and password handwritten on it.  As she did she said “this is exciting!  We can all track our wear time now!  Maybe we can make a competition of it since everybody in the office now has extraoral appliances of our own.  Who ever gets the most hours in each month gets a prize.”  She seemed to be talking to herself as she continued “maybe we could do it for all patients.  That would be fun.  And we are overdue for another Facebook contest.”  She seemed to catch herself and said “anyway, I will think about it over the weekend.  So, Haley and Britt, you both know how it works.  Rob, just log in there every day and put your wear time, your true and honest wear time, round to the nearest half hour.  And yes, you can round up the half hour.  Just don’t round up from 3 hours to 10 hours.”  She found this funny and laughed then continued “it only takes a minute or two, and you can do it on your computer or phone.  And if you forget a day or two you can fill in the time afterwards.  Just don’t fall behind more than a few days.  Then you will be in trouble.  And you don’t want that do you?”  I shook my head back and forth and responded “no ma’am.”  She responded “wonderful!  If you have any questions or issues, let me know.  But you are a smart guy and will figure it out.  So now, let’s get you fixed up Haley!”

Haley nervously sat down in the chair.  I sat on the stool beside her to offer moral support.  Dr. Sanders sat down on her stool and said “so Haley, you still have a tongue thrust.  Because of upper expansion, I can’t use a tongue crib like you had before.  I am sure that breaks your heart.  But, we can use some tongue spurs.  I am going to install a spur, some people call them spikes, on each of your top front six teeth.  They will serve as a reminder if you push your tongue against them.  And I know your tongue is already beat up from the six screws.  And this will beat it up more.  But we have to correct your habit.  So, I am going to go ahead and bond those on now.  And I am going to have the lab fabricate you a rake for your lowers.  I will install spacers for that now too.  And when the rake comes in we can install it as well.  Ok?”  Seeing how sad Haley’s facial expression had become while Dr. Sanders had been explaining this I had already taken her hand.  Dr. Sanders looked expectantly at Haley.  Haley weakly uttered “ok”.  I squeezed her hand, I didn’t know what else to do.

When Dr. Sanders returned she held up one of the spurs.  She explained “so Rob, you may not have seen one of these before.  They look like brackets, but instead of a slot for an archwire they each have these two little spikes on them.  I will bond them on the backside of Haley’s teeth.  They will serve as a reminder for her not to push on her teeth.  Even at night when she sleeps.”

I asked “won’t they hurt her?”  Dr. Sanders replied “not unless she pushes on them with her tongue.  And that is the whole point of them.”  I said “Dr. Sanders, I don’t even care if you hurt me.  But seeing Haley hurting rips me apart.  Is there any other option?”  Dr. Sanders replied “you are sweet.  And if I could stop Haley’s tongue thrusting by installing these in your mouth I would.  But Haley is the one who has to do it.  The myofunctional exercises she is working on will eventually break the habit.  But until then we still need an appliance.  So, until then she will need these spurs and the rake.  She will still be able to do her exercises with them.”

Haley must have noticed the pained look on my face.  She turned her head towards me and said “it will be ok baby.  I will be ok.”  I looked at her and felt horrible.  I knew how much she had hated the tongue crib and how tough it had been on her.  I told her “honey, you are so strong.”  And then, whether Dr. Sanders liked it or not, I bent over and gently kissed her on the lips.  Once I was finished Dr. Sanders said “that was sweet.  And I wish there were a better option.  But there isn’t.  So let me go ahead and gets these and her spacers installed and then we have just one more appliance to fit.”

As I watched Dr. Sanders work in Haley’s mouth I felt horrible.  Sick to my stomach.  Because I knew that this was going to hurt my baby.  And we weren’t even done.  What other appliance could Dr. Sanders possibly fit in her mouth?  I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Dr. Sanders finished the installation of the spurs and spacers and said “so Haley, we need to intrude your top teeth.  Just like I am doing.  But I don’t want to use TADS if possible.  I have had a really tough time with mine.  And I don’t want you to have to go through the same.  There is another orthodontist that is using a different method successfully.  I would like to try that with you.  It might seem and look like a lot, but I promise you it is much more comfortable than these screws.”  She stood and walked over to the cabinets.

I couldn’t see what she was getting, her body blocked my view.  But finally she had what she wanted and closed the door.  When she turned I immediately identified a shiny facebow and black highpull headgear strap in one hand, and a blue Petit facemask in the other.  She sat down and said “instead of using screws, I am going to use a combination of headgear and a facemask.  The highpull headgear will produce a force that is up and back.  We want the up, we don’t want the back.  So to counter this we will use four elastics instead of two.  Let me get you all fixed up.” 

In just a few minutes she had the facebow fitted and the strap over her head connected to it.  It took her just a few more minutes to attach her facemask.  I noticed that Haley appeared to be on the edge of tears.  Dr. Sanders squeeled “this is sooo cool.  If this works as well as I think it is, I may ditch these screws myself.  Haley, will you be a dear, sit up and smile please?”  Before I knew what was happening Dr. Sanders took a picture of her.

https://dereferer.me/?https://imgur.io/a/Ms6Z6uL

I then realized that Dr. Sanders was planning to plaster this on facebook.  And I was not going to let that happen regardless of the consequences, or what Dr. Sanders had just earlier told me in her office, or whatever that paper I had signed said.  Hurt me? Fine.  Embarrass me?  Fine.  But Haley?  No, not fine.

I said forcefully “Dr. Sanders, DO NOT post that on Facebook.”  She looked up at me sharply.  I couldn’t read her eyes.  But if a fight is what she wanted, then this was the hill I was prepared to die on.

I will go ahead and apologize for any typos or grammatical errors in the last few chapters, and the next couple.  Thousand mile road trips are great for thinking.  And singing to the radio.  But they aren’t as good for actually typing and editing a story on a phone.

Part 60

The next morning found the two of us on her couch.  I had Sportscenter on, but to be honest most of my attention was on the head that was laying in my lap.  The beautiful head wearing highpull headgear and a Petit facemask.  Except for a brief break when she had brushed and flossed that morning, she had been wearing it since her appointment the previous day.  I had asked her several times if it hurt.  She said it did not, it was just a shock to see.  Now the tongue spurs where a different matter.  She said they did bother her.  Especially when she spoke.  So she was being even quieter than usual.  And she said they would make it an even bigger challenge to eat, something neither of us had even tried since our appointments due to our aching mouths.

Haley’s mouth wasn’t the only one that was hurting.  I was too.  Without having had spacers, my new lower bands were spacing my teeth out which was not pleasant.  In addition to that, the inside of my cheeks were struggling to come to terms with the big metal stops on them, as well as the new elbows on my upper molars.  And several times already I had accidentally bitten down and hit the elbows on the stops.  This was agony for my already sore teeth.  In addition, when my mouth was closed, as it usually was, the appliance held my lower jaw forward in what felt like an unnatural position.  It didn’t really hurt, but it felt like the muscles in my face and jaw were straining as they became acclimated to their new home.

But that wasn’t all.  I had been a good boy and had been wearing my facemask since the night before.  Haley had actually put it on me.  I had been powerless to stop her.  I didn’t understand why, but seeing me in it did something for her.  So it was almost a fair trade off for the discomfort it was now causing me.  So while my eyes may have been on the TV, my attention was on my mouth and the beautiful woman laying in my lap looking at her phone.

Sportscenter was on their number six play of the day when I was startled by Haley shrieking “OH MY GOSH!”.  Concerned, I looked down at her and asked “what is it baby!”  She shifted her head so she was looking at me and said “Lauren got engaged last night!”  Before I could respond she said “I hope they have a big wedding!  And they invite us.  I love weddings.  They are SO romantic.”  She reached up and ran her finger along my cheek.  She asked “speaking of romantic, are you in the mood?”  Looking down into her joyful face I answered “I am always in the mood with you.”

Since it appeared that both of us were going to be restricted to a liquid day for a few days, instead of dinner I took Haley to a movie that evening.  Before they dimmed the lights, Haley excused herself to go to the ladies room.  To pass time while she was gone, I pulled out my phone. I was looking at Lauren’s facebook post where she had announced her engagement.  I posted “Congratulations Lauren!  I am so happy for the both of you!”  After posting I scrolled through the comments.  I came to one from Haley posted earlier in the day.  It said “I am SO happy for you!  And SO jealous”. She had ended it with an alternating line of smiley face and heart emojis. 

That crystalized a thought that had already run through my mind several times.  I was going to ask Haley to marry me.  I just had to figure out how.  I was thinking about different scenarios when I was jostled back to reality.  As Haley sat back down beside me she said “you look losht in thought.  What ‘ya thinkin ‘bout?”.  I turned and answered honestly “I was thinking about you.”  She layed her head on my shoulder and cooed “awww.”  She reached over and started caressing my arm, cocking her face towards me.  I took her invitation and leaned over and kissed her.  I could sense eyes boring into the back of my head.  I finished the kiss and turned my head to find the older couple behind us both staring at us intently.  I smiled sheepishly and mouthed “sorry.”

The lights dimmed, the previews played, and then the movie started.  It was a corny romantic comedy.  It was the type of movie I would never have watched by myself.  But it was perfect for a movie date night.  As we sat there holding on to one another I wanted to kiss Haley more.  But I didn’t want to offend those around us.  I discreetly turned my head to look behind me.  To my surprise I saw the couple that was staring earlier was now oblivious to the world.  Their lips were locked together, his hand wrapped behind her head.  I took this as a sign and leaned in towards Haley.

We walked out of the theater hand in hand.  If anyone had asked us how the movie was, we would have been unable to honestly tell them.  We had been too busy working on our own real life romantic comedy.  Before helping Haley into my truck I kissed her and said “I love you.”  I so wanted to add “and will you marry me.”  But I didn’t.  I wanted everything to be perfect.  And while I personally thought the night WAS perfect, I still needed a ring.  And some advice and help.  I had recruited Leslie Sanders’ help to surprise Haley with my treatment.  I was now going to recruit her husband Pete to help me with this surprise, the biggest of my life.

Well done!  I'll miss these characters.

Congratulations for this amazing story!
There must be sequel

As you told at beginning that it is partially based on true events i wonder how much % of this happened real?

Great story.  I think this is one that I will go through again soon to get it all at once.

There may be a sequel.  I mean, what about the wedding?

I reckon they should bump into "The Story Wanderer"....

Wow, i really enjoyed this story. I really liked the emphasis on the palatal expander