Part 31.

After Haley had taken the impressions of my upper and lower teeth she took more images, these focused on my joints.  She then walked me out to my truck.  As she walked she pulled her mask down, revealing her tandem bow and elastics.  Once at my truck she said “I know you are nervous.  But I promise you it will be ok.  Thank you for doing this.  It means so much to me.  And Dr. Sanders is right, the sooner we can fix this, the easier the fix will be.”  I asked her “what all is this going to entail?  What have I gotten myself into?”  Haley wrapped her arms around me and said “I don’t know exactly; Dr. Sanders will figure that out.  It may be as simple as a splint.  We will both find out this afternoon.  But whatever it is, it will be ok.  I love you.  You doing this makes me love you even more.  I promise you that whatever the treatment plan is, I will be by your side.”  She reached up and removed the elastics from her appliance and slid it out of her mouth.  She leaned in and kissed me.  She still couldn’t get her tongue around her large tongue crib.  But I slipped mine into her mouth and pressed it up against the tongue crib.  We could at least feel each other’s tongues.  It was a pretty sorry excuse for a French kiss, but it was the best we could manage until Haley was able to get rid of the tongue crib.  However long that might be.   Once finished she said again “I love you. And all of this is going to be fine.”  She slipped the tandem bow back into her mouth, and quickly attached the elastics to it and the hooks in her mouth.  She said “I have to get back in there.  But please try not to stress over it too much.  Can I treat you to lunch in 30 minutes?  Please?  Can you hang out for about 30 minutes?  You can wait inside if you want.  And I want you to stay with me tonight; it will be my turn to baby you.”  I responded “of course, I would love that.  I should have asked you, but this appointment has me a little bit flustered I guess.”  She said “poor baby”.  She took my hand and said “come on in, I will try to slip out a few minutes early.”

Lunch was nice, but I was definitely preoccupied with worry about my appointment.  And while I didn’t have much of an appetite, I did eat.  I wasn’t sure what all I might have in my mouth in just a few hours, so I figured I better.  The rest of the afternoon crept.  I found it hard to concentrate; all I could think about is what Dr. Sanders ‘treatment plan’ might entail.  I knew she appeared to not be shy about prescribing very obtrusive appliances. 

At 4:45 I found myself back in the office.  I walked up to Lauren and said “I had so much fun this morning, I decided to come back for round 2.”   Lauren laughed, it gave me an opportunity to see the stainless rods in her mouth.  She said “Haley mentioned you would be back, so I put you on the calendar.  Even if we officially close at 5.  You must be getting the VIP treatment.  I have you signed in; somebody will call for you shortly.”

Five minutes later Haley entered the reception area.  I was the only patient there.  She didn’t call me; instead she walked over and took my hand.  She looked me in the eyes and instructed “come on sweetie.  Dr. Sanders is ready.”  I followed Haley through the treatment area and down a short hallway.  We entered Dr. Sanders office; she was seated behind the desk still wearing her Petit facemask.  She had removed her medical mask, and I could see she actually was wearing 4 elastics on her flowery Petit mask.  Two came straight out of her mouth, and two crossed in front her mouth to the opposite side.  I couldn’t help but wonder how much pressure that applied.  Surely it couldn’t be comfortable.  Once in the office she welcomed us, thanked me for coming back in, and asked me to sit.  She said she had devised a treatment plan and wanted to discuss it with me.

As I sat I noticed a few models of teeth on her desk.  Were they my teeth?  I couldn’t tell.  Because on all of them were various splints and appliances.  And to the side of her desk was a huge curved contraption.  It was a large curved bow, with padded plates on each end and straps galore hanging off each end.  It looked somewhat like the petit mask she was wearing but on steroids.  She noticed me studying it intently.  She said “that ish a Forwardonticsh protraction bow.  I will discussh it in time.  But first, let’s go over what I recommend at a high level.”  At this time, Britt came into the office.  She had removed her mask and her headgear was on full display.  She leaned over and gave me a hug and asked “how you doing stud?  I’m here to block the door in case you try to make a break for it.”  I knew it was a joke.  But that is exactly what I felt like doing.  Running for the hills.  But I couldn’t, not with Haley beside me. 

After Britt had stepped out of the way, Dr. Sanders went through her recommended treatment plan.  When she got to the end, she asked what I thought.  I was honest with her.  I said “it sounds pretty daunting.  And I just don’t know.  I don’t know if I can.  I am willing to try the splints.  And I will even try to wear that thing” motioning to the bow.  “Splints, a transpalatal arch with hooks for that huge bow, and then SARPE surgery, an expander, and braces?  I mean, I just don’t know if that would be possible with my job and all.  I am in sales, in a pretty rough and tumble male dominated industry.  And I just don’t know if it would all work, facing customers with a whole mouth full of metal.”

Dr. Sander’s replied “you boys are so funny.  My husband Pete was the same way.  He is a fire fighter, so he is a manly man too.  And he was horrified by the idea of getting braces.  But after a month, it was no big deal to him.  He doesn’t appreciate them like I do, and he will be glad to get them off.  But it is no big deal now for him.  And that is the way it is with many, maybe even most patients.  Some even come to love their braces.  I think you would find after the initial period of adjustment you too would be fine.  But, there is no need to make a decision on braces right this minute.  I anticipate you will need to wear splints for at least 6 months to let your joints heal and find the equilibrium point.  So, how about I offer you a compromise.  How about we go try out these splints and see what you think about everything else in a few months?”

Once in the chair, Haley fit my temporary daytime splint in my mouth.  It fit over my lower teeth.  And while clear, as I looked in the mirror it was still noticeable.  Dr. Sanders explained that I needed to wear this splint during the day, even when eating or drinking.  As she examined it she said “the fit looks good.  We will have a more durable model for you next week.  But for the next week, wear this anytime you don’t have the night time splint in.  It will take a few days to get used to it.  And your bite may feel a little wonky as your joints get used to being in the right position.  But that means it is doing it’s job.” 

Haley removed the daytime splint from my mouth, snapping it shut in a plastic retainer case.  She then picked up a huge monstrosity of plastic and metal.  She had to stretch my mouth to get it seated on my upper and lower arches.  It felt huge.  It was huge.  And it left me effectively mute.  There was just enough room for my tongue, which was trapped between the top and bottom plates.  As Dr. Sanders examined it she explained “and this is your night time appliance.  I am sure it feels huge.  But you will get more used to it.  It has top and bottom components connected by herbst style rods.  I can adjust these as needed to advance your lower jaw.  And you notice there is very little room for your tongue.  This will ensure it will not fall back into your throat at night while you sleep.  With the appliance advancing your lower jaw, and the appliance securing your tongue, it will eliminate your snoring.  However, because the advancement of your lower jaw puts an opposite force on your upper maxilla, we need something to keep your upper maxilla from becoming retruded.  But I don’t want to put any pressure on your mandible; this will cause stress on your joints and defeat the whole purpose of this.  So, I can not use a simple facemask like Haley and I wear.  Thus we need the protraction bow.

Your temporary splint has hooks integrated into her for now.  But we will install spacers for you today, and next week we will install a transpalatal arch with protraction hooks. That will be much better to anchor to.  But until that appliance is fabricated we will just use your splint.   We will attach the forwardontics bow, and then attach powerful elastics from it to your splint.  You only have to wear it at night while you sleep.  Ladies?”  Haley held the chest plate against my upper chest while Britt adjusted the straps to fit. I noticed that the curved bow was attached to the chest plate with a ball joint, so it was able to move in any direction.   To secure it there were three straps.   One wrapped around my chest under my armpits.  Two more wrapped over my collarbones and looped around and under my armpits, connecting back to the chest plate.  Britt clicked the straps into place.  Dr. Sanders said “that is how you attach the chest plate.  They will now attached the head component.”  Haley held the padded forehead part against my head.  Again Britt adjusted the straps.  I closed my eyes and tried to wish this all away.  As Britt worked on the straps, i thought it felt similar in design to the Interlandi that Britt had to wear, minus the plastic plates.  There was a strap around the back of my head, another that ran around the base of my cranium, and one vertical strap that ran down the middle of the back of my head connecting them.  Once Britt had all the straps adjusted, she snapped it on to the large forehead plate.  I opened my eyes. 

Dr. Sanders said “that looks good.  And sorry we didn’t offer you any color options. This is the only option.  The bow and plates are white plastic, and the straps are black.  But, if you will move your head you will see it moves with you.  The curved bow will slide in and out if you look up or down.  And because the bow is attached to the chest plate with a ball joint you can move your head side to side, up and down, whatever you want.  The only drawback is that sleeping on your stomach is out.  Now, they will attach the elastics.”

When Haley hooked up the large, thick elastics; they were much bigger and thicker than the elastics she wore with her facemask and tandem bow; I immediately felt pressure being exerted on my upper jaw.  Dr. Sanders said “and that is it.  You may feel some discomfort as you get used to it.  I do recommend taking a Tylenol PM each night until your appointment next week.”  She held up a mirror and said “here, take a look at how everything is hooked up.  You just need to repeat the process each evening.”  When I looked in the mirror my eyes went wide.  I looked ridiculous.  The bow was so big.  It made Dr. Sander’s and Haley’s facemasks look like dainty toys.  It even made Britt and Heather Fortner’s Interlandi headgears pale in comparison.  This thing was massive.  How was I going to sleep wearing this?  Dr. Sanders read my mind.  She said “it will take a few nights to adjust to everything.  I recommend you wear it in the evenings for a few hours before bedtime for the first month.  And that just about wraps us up.  Britt and Haley will go over care and hygiene of your appliances.  And they will install your spacers. They can wrap that up, and then you are free.  Any questions?”  I mumbled out “nnn”. She said “wonderful.  If you do have any questions you can always text me.  Or, I think you may know how to contact these two” and laughed.  “Thank you for starting treatment!  This is really exciting!  And now I will leave Britt and Haley to wrap up and I will see you next week.”  Dr. Sanders stood and headed back towards her office.

Haley noticed the dejected look on my face.  She hugged me, somehow managing to avoid the huge bow that dominated my upper body, and whispered “baby, you make that thing sexy.  I am so proud of you.  And I promise I will take your mind off it this evening.  Britt is going to come over too.   Now let me get this off of you and get that splint out of your mouth.  I will get your spacers installed so I can take you home.  You have earned yourself a treat.”

Part 32.

I sat on the couch in Haley’s living room while Haley and Britt worked on dinner.  Once we had arrived at Haley’s the girls told me to relax, they were going to pamper me for a change.  I had been sitting there for about 20 minutes.  I had the TV on, but I was not paying it much attention.  Instead, I was replaying the events of the day in my head and trying to process everything that Dr. Sanders had said.  How could a simple cleaning and check up have gone so sideways?

The small splint didn’t hurt, but I was definitely aware it was there. It held my bite in a position I was not used to.  It felt very strange.  The spacers that were in my mouth were starting to hurt however.  It felt like I had food stuck between my teeth and the pressure was building.  I only had 4, all on my upper teeth between my molars and premolars, two on each side.  I felt for people that needed more; four were bad enough.  I looked over towards the dining room table and saw the big bag I had carried out of the office.  In it was my huge night time splint, a variety of brushes and oral hygiene products, a big bag of elastics, and my monstrous protraction bow.  I realized that soon I was going to have to put it on.  Dreading that eventuality, I decided I needed a drink.  I stood and entered the kitchen.

I stood in the entrance to the kitchen for a few moments watching Britt and Haley work side by side.  Haley was wearing her face mask and Britt had on her Interlandi headgear.  They looked gorgeous in the shorts and t-shirts they had changed into.  I walked up behind Haley and put my arms around her.  I asked “what you workin on?”  She turned and hugged me and said “we are fixshing some meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Do you remember?  That was what we brought over that firsht night.  When my life changed.  It hash a pretty shentimental place in my heart.  And it is shoft and eashy to eat.  How are you feeling?”  I answered “honeshtly a little overwhelmed.  And a little shore.  And a little embarrasshed.  I need a drink.”  As I spoke I cringed hearing my new lisp.  Several letters gave me real problems now, especially S’s. Haley said “I am shorry baby.  What do you want?  Go back and relaxsh.  I will bring it to you.”  I told her I didn’t really care, as long as it was strong.  She patted me on the rear end and said “get back in there, let mama handle it.”

A minute or two later Haley brought me a 32 oz Yeti tumbler.  She sat down beside me and handed it to me.  She said “I made you a whishkey and ginger ale.  Light on the ginger ale.”  I put the cup up to my mouth.  When I tried to drink with my new splint some dribbled down my chin onto my shirt.  My face turned red and I muttered “shit” as I put the cup down on the table.  Haley jumped up and said “don’t move” as she ran into the kitchen.  She quickly returned with a paper towel and began blotting the wet spot.   She then lay herself across me chest, resting her cheek on my chest.  She squeezed me and said “I am sho shorry about thish.  But know how much it means to me.”  As she held me Britt came over and stuck a straw into the cup.  She sat down on my other side and she wrapped her arms around me as well.  Britt said “you will get the hang of it in no time.”  The girls held me for several minutes.  I felt ridiculous and embarrassed about all of this.  Haley seemed to read my mind.

She said “this isn’t anything to be embarrassed about.  Not at all.  It is just adults having to do adult things.  It is admirable and brave.  And I have never wanted anything as much as I want you right now.  But first, we need to eat.  You will need your energy and stamina tonight.”

Hi mr_90proof, you write so fast, I can't even translate this at this pace as I don't have the time. That's why I'm only on part 24, but keep up the good work.

Part 35.

I sat in the waiting room of City Orthodontics, my bow and night splint hidden in a backpack that was in the chair beside me.  I had already checked in and briefly spoken with Lauren.  Over the past week her speech had gotten much better.  She had asked me how I was doing with my treatment and I told her the verdict was still out.  There were several other patients in the waiting room, including a couple in their 30’s.  They were dressed professionally; he in slacks and a sport coat and she in a dress and heels.  They also wore matching wedding rings, so I assumed they were married.  I didn’t stare, but as they talked amongst themselves I had noticed they both had metal braces.  It looked like they were in treatment together.  This reminded me of Haley’s comment the previous week, about how special it made her feel that her and I were going through this together. 

To be honest, if it hadn’t been for Haley I would have already made my way back here and thanked Dr. Sanders for her time, but told her that this was not working for me.  It wasn’t the day time splint.  I had gotten pretty used to it.  Eating was still strange with it in.  And at times I did remove it to eat something chewy, sticky, or crunchy that would have otherwise been off limits.  I knew today I was getting my TPA with protraction hooks permanently banded on, and these things would be off limits now.  But overall the day time splint wasn’t too bad.  My lisp was gone, and most people seemed to not even notice it.  And those that had noticed it had been polite and quickly moved on after I explained it was for my TMJ.  Actually, one of my buyers had offered his sympathy.  He had explained that his wife had battled TMJ for years; that she herself was currently in braces and awaiting a joint replacement.  He said it had been tough on her; and he said he wished he had gotten her to start treatment earlier, before it got to the point they were at now.  But that was it.  The day time splint had not been as bad as I thought. 

But the night time splint and bow?  What a nightmare it continued to be.  My thoughts were broken by Emily’s voice; and then the sight of her.  Once again she had her hair up and again she was wearing the pink headgear straps.   She had entered the waiting room and announced “Paul, Lori, you can come on back.”  As the couple stood the woman stumbled, tripping over a chair leg.  Her husband caught her, but she dropped her purse.  When it hit the floor a bright red petit face mask tumbled out of the purse.  She quickly scooped it up and stuffed it back in her bag.  She looked around with an embarrassed rosy hue on her face to see if anyone had noticed.  I averted my eyes in time I thought. But I wondered to myself whether she was embarrassed about tripping, or about the facemask that must be part of her treatment.

Once they were gone, I looked down at my phone.  I had just received a Facebook message from Heather Fortner.  The day after I had run into her here last week she had sent me a friend request on Facebook.  I had accepted it.  Shortly afterwards she sent me a simple, short private message; ‘It was good to catch up!  How did your appointment go?’  Since then, we had kept in touch via messenger.  I had told Haley about it; explaining that we were just complaining to each other about our appliances and extraoral devices.  She gave me her blessing; she said it was good to talk about it; and she said “baby, I trust you.  I am not one of those girls that is going to manage your friends.  I truly believe you love me, and I know I love you.  So you don’t have to ask my permission.  But thanks for doing it.”  I had replied simply “I am madly in love with you.  Completely and totally.  But I don’t want to chase you away because I complain about my mouth so much.  No, I am going to spread my complaining around and make everybody miserable.”

And I guess that is why I did it, but after Heather’s initial message I laid out my sob story about the splints and bow, about how miserable I was at night, and how I didn’t think I could do it.  She had been nothing but supportive.  She told me how hard the headgear had beaten down her self esteem at first; but that she had eventually come to terms with it.  She did say she still had her moments of self pity.  The last bout had been last week.  She explained she had hoped that Dr. Sanders would tell her she only had to wear the headgear at night.  Instead, Dr. Sanders had tightened it and told her she needed to keep wearing it full time.  She wouldn’t even give her an estimate on how long; just that it was harder to predict in adults.  As a further indignity Dr. Sanders had fit her with two triangle rubberbands in the front of her mouth that she had to wear all the time except when eating.  So, she said, now she not only had two facebows, but it looked like she had two vampire fangs.  But she said her husband was supportive of her, he had been from the beginning.  And her kids actually thought her new ‘vampire fangs’ were cool.  She concluded by saying those opinions; the opinions of her husbands and kids; were really all that mattered.  She told me not to worry about what random strangers thought.  Instead she told me to take care of myself and only worry about those that I cared about and those that cared about me.  Over the past week my opinion of Heather had changed.  Initially I had thought of her as the ditzy blond from high school.  But I realized she was not that at all.  I was lost in thought when I heard my name. 

I looked up to see Haley standing in the doorway leading to the treatment area.  The first thing I noticed was that she was wearing her pink Petit facemask.  The one that had made such an impact on me when we first met.  I got up and went to her.  I said “hey babe! Don’t tell me Dr. Sanders is making you wear your facemask at work now.”  She answered “no, she isn’t.  I did it for you.  I know how nervous you are about the TPA.  And I know how much you hate your bow.  But I know you like seeing me in mine.  So, I am wearing it for you.  Maybe it will take your mind off things today.  Speaking of which, aren’t you forgetting something?”  It took a second until I realized I had left my backpack of shame in the chair.  I hurried over and got it.  When I returned I told her “you sometimes make my brain malfunction.”  She hugged me and said “you do the same to me.  Now, please come with me.  We will get those horrible spacers out.”  As I followed her I thought ‘yeah, to be replaced by an even more intrusive appliance.’

I am really enjoying the direction the story is going in. I wondered when he'd be getting orthodontic treatment.

That happens to me too, after sharing a burst of creative content directly after the fact (and then drinking!) and my solution is to just let what I’ve made breathe for at least a little while before I share. But I have to say I’m really loving this story so far and I definitely appreciate how fast you are updating! In the beginning the story was a bit “heavy,” no criticism at all, it’s just that as someone who’s been a little too close for comfort to more than one natural disaster, it did stir things up for me. The braces were a nice bright spot though, just like they were for your main character. And now that your characters are starting to put the storm behind them, the story has suddenly veered into that magical territory where now everyone has braces and yet it’s so real and believable… it’s a pleasure to read. Truly. Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s working

Part 36.

Haley led me over to the sink where I removed my splint and brushed my teeth.  I popped the little splint back in and followed her over to a chair.  She seated me and told me to relax for a few minutes.  She told me she was going to get my new appliances and that Dr. Sanders would be over shortly.

I looked two chairs over to see Dr. Sanders leaned over the woman from the waiting room.  I remembered that Emily had called her Lori.  Her husband Paul was sitting beside her.  Lori was wearing the red face mask that I had seen earlier.  Dr. Sanders had her back to me and I couldn’t hear what she had told the woman.  But I certainly heard Lori’s response.  She frantically said “NO!  Absolutely not.  There is no way I can wear this all the time!  There is no way I can show houses; hold open houses; handle closings looking like this! It is different for you Dr. Sanders.  You work in a dental office.  But I don’t!  My appearance is part of my job.  I CAN NOT wear this 22 hours a day!  No!  NO!” 

I saw her husband Paul grab her hand and look her in the eyes.  He told her “come on honey, it will be ok.  You are beautiful.  No piece of orthodontia can change that.  And you can take it off for really important meetings.”  He looked at Dr. Sanders and asked “isn’t that right Dr. Sanders?”  He had phrased that last statement as a question, but I could tell from his tone it was actually a statement of fact.  He continued “honey, just try it.  Please.  We are so close to the finish line now.  You can make it four more months.  What do you say?”  Her husband’s words had calmed Lori.  She looked up at Paul and said “ok, ok, I will do my best.”  She looked at Dr. Sanders and told her “I will do my best.”  Dr. Sanders had turned her body and slid back a little while Lori had her outburst.  I was able to hear her now as she responded “that is all I ask of you.  Do your best.  But try to get the 22 hours in.  The more you wear it the sooner you can ditch it and we can get those braces off of you.  So do we have a deal?”  Lori replied “ok. Yes, I will do my best.”  Her tone sounded resigned and deflated.  Dr. Sanders was not, as always she was upbeat and enthusiastic when she said “Yay!  Wonderful!  You will do great, I know you will.  And quite possibly in just four months I think we can get those braces off you!  As long as you wear the face mask as prescribed.  I know you are ready to be braces free.  Let’s make it happen!.”  She then said “we are done!  But remember, you are so close to the finish line!”  Looking at Paul she asked “do you need an escort up to the reception desk to schedule your next appointment?”  Paul said “no, after 36 months of coming here I think we can find it.  Thank you Dr. Sanders.”  He looked down at his wife and said “come on babe, I am going to take you to Cozy’s for lunch before your teeth start aching.  I know it is your favorite.”  After Lori had stood up from the chair, her husband Paul wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her towards the reception desk.  I noticed as she walked Lori had her head down, trying to hide the face mask she wore from the world.  It didn’t work, the bright red mask was a beacon that dominated her pretty face.

https://dereferer.me/?https://imgur.com/a/6ODpiuJ

I was watching them intently so I had not noticed Dr. Sanders walk over.  She startled me when she asked exuberantly “so, how did your first week go?  How are those joints feeling?”  I looked up and said “well, it was hit or miss.  The daytime splint is actually pretty easy.  But we need to talk about the night time splint and bow.  There has to be a better option.”  Dr. Sanders sat down and said “well, lets take a look at things and see what we can come up with.”  Haley arrived as Dr. Sanders reclined me back and placed several boxes on the tray beside me. 

Dr. Sanders had me open my mouth and removed my temporary splint.  She looked in my mouth and felt my TMJ joints.  She said “well, things look better and it has only been a week.  I think we are on the right track.  Let me check the fit of your new daytime splint.  I think you will like it.  The temporary splints are a little bulkier than the permanent splints the lab makes for us.”  Haley handed her this new splint and Dr. Sanders fit it in my mouth.  I noticed it did feel a little smaller.  She held up a mirror and asked “how does it feel?”  I answered “it feels fine.  And it is smaller!”  As I spoke I was studying my mouth in the mirror.  The splint was a lot less visible.  I said “this is much better!”  She removed it from my mouth and handed it to Haley, who snapped it shut in a new retainer case.

Dr. Sanders said “Wonderful!  I am glad you like it.  Now let’s get those pesky spacers out and get you fixed up with your TPA.”  Haley leaned in with a pick and quickly and efficiently removed the spacers from between my teeth.  Once done she said “I bet that is a relief isn’t it!”  I looked up into her face and said “like heaven.”  Dr. Sanders then said “Wonderful! Now let’s check the fit of your TPA.”  Haley opened the box it was in and handed it to Dr. Sanders.  As soon as I saw it the blood drained from my face.  ‘What the hell is that thing?’ I thought.  It looked nothing like the discrete TPA appliances I had looked up online.  No, this thing was a lot bigger and more complicated.  It’s ok I thought to myself.  Surely the lab had mixed things up and sent me some other patient’s appliance.  Because this thing could not be mine.

Part 38.

Once Haley had finished fitting the mask to my face, Dr. Sanders held up a mirror while Haley attached my elastics.  As she did, Dr. Sanders narrated “you can do it two ways.  You can attach a rubberband to each hook first, then place the mask to your face and attach each elastic to the bar.  Or, the way I prefer and the way Haley is showing you, you place the mask to your face and while holding it attach each rubberband.  It is pretty self explanatory, and you will get the hang of it in no time.  You may want to use a mirror at first, but after a few days you will be able to do it by feel.  Now, you try it.  Remove the elastics, and reattach your facemask.”

Britt continued standing there.  With all three ladies watching, I felt pressure to do it correctly.  I also felt mortified.  I could not believe I was about to put on this ridiculous contraption in front of them.  As I did though, I thought about Heather and the fact she wore her Interlandi all the time.  In public; at the grocery store, picking her kids up from school, everywhere.  And I thought about Lori; the pretty realtor who I had seen today for the first time; and her wearing her’s while meeting clients, showing houses, and I guessed while her husband took her to lunch at this very moment.  I don’t know if the saying ‘misery loves company’ is true, but it did make me feel a little better about my plight.  And then there was my Haley.  She was so good about wearing hers.  She did it with grace and dignity, with no complaints, and she was so sexy and cute in hers.  But all three of them were women.  I mean, men just didn’t do this type of thing.  But then I thought of what Dr. Sanders said about her husband Pete wearing one.  And I thought of that Facebook picture, the one of the dentist AND her husband wearing facemasks, acting silly and sticking their tongues out at the camera.  So I guess I wasn’t alone.

Once I had the elastics on and the mask centered on my forehead and chin Dr. Sanders exclaimed “you look like a pro already!”  All I could concentrate on was my mouth.  It felt like so much was going on in there with the new TPA, nance, hooks, night time splint, and facemask.  I realized there WAS a lot going on in there. She raised my chair so I was back in a sitting position and continued “Haley choose wisely with the mask design.  It looks great!”  I thought that had to be a lie.

She said “so as far as wear time.  As before wear the day time splint all the time except for when you get ready for bed.  Then wear the night time appliance during sleep.  As for the face mask, as I said 12 hours a day.  Now with the TPA, you can wear the mask with your day time splint.  Wear it in the evenings, or anytime you have some free time.  If you fall short on your time, catch up with it the next day.  Weekends are a great time to rack up a lot of extra time.  Go ahead and take the night splint out, put your day splint in, and hook your mask up for me please.”  I did as I was told. 

And then I thought ‘I’m supposed to be the one with the braces fetish here; but these three sure seem to really be getting off on this.’  Maybe it was just because they all worked in ortho.  Dr. Sanders snapped me out of my thoughts when she asked “do you mind if I take a picture of you and Haley?  You two just look adorable together.”  I noticed Haley was still beaming, she had been the whole time.

I asked Dr. Sanders “um, why do you want a picshure of ush?”.  I thought I knew the answer already.  She responded “I want to document this.  It is SO exciting when couples go through treatment together.  Years from now, you will look back on it and cherish this picture.  And the memory of having done it together.  I would also love to put it on our Facebook page.  People will LOVE it.”

And that is what I had been afraid of.  I replied “i don’t know about that.  I don’t think I am ready to show the world my new accsheshory.”  Haley pouted and said “come on sweetie.  Please???  You do look so cute.  We look so cute.”  Britt added “come on you big wimp.  You are always encouraging us to wear our headgears, telling us how cute we look in them.”  Well shit, I guess this was about to happen. 

Dr. Sanders said “it will be fun!  Let’s get you two to stand over there against the wall in front of our logo.”  Defeated by the girls once again I followed Haley over and stood in front of the logo.  Dr. Sanders got us positioned like she wanted, and Haley reached her arm around my waist.  She whispered in my ear “I am so hot for you right now.”  She then turned towards the camera.  Dr. Sanders said “CHEESE!”  I smiled, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.  Once she had taken a few snaps of me and Haley, she said “hold on!” and skipped away. 

She returned with Emily, Dr. Palmer, and an assistant I had seen in the office but not yet met.  Emily was in her pink combination headgear, and Dr. Palmer was wearing a simple cervical headgear I had not seen her in the previous week.  The new assistant was the only one without some kind of apparent metal work in her mouth.  But then she smiled widely towards me and said “Hi!  I am Bri.  Haley talks about you all the time.  Nice to meet you!”  As she spoke I thought I had noticed something in her mouth.  Yes, I was pretty sure she had a number of blue spacers in her mouth.  I tried to stay focused on being a polite, normal human and said “It isha pleashure to meet you.  Even if I can’t talk and am wearing thish crazhee thing.”  She responded “it looks good on you.  And they are pretty contagious right now.  It seems like everyone is coming down with a case of the headgears.”  When she laughed it confirmed my suspicion.  Those WERE spacers.  A lot of them.  Dr. Sanders handed her the phone she had in her hand. 

Dr. Sanders aligned everyone like she wanted and Bri took several photos.  Dr. Sanders excitedly took her phone back and flipped through the photos.  She said “aww, how sweet.  Oh this is good”. She then looked at me and said “thank you! 

She continued “As for care and hygiene, I kind of skipped over that.  But from what Haley has told me, you have your own personal hygienist to help you.  But if you want, we can sit back down and I can go over it.”  Haley answered for us “no, you are right.  He will have me to help him every night this week.”  Looking up into my eyes she said “I will take extra special care of our new patient here.”  Dr. Sanders said “Wonderful!  I will see you next week to get you fixed up with your protraction brace.  And as always, if you have any issues or questions, my phone is on.” 

Haley went over and grabbed my back pack.  She put my night splint and a big bag of elastics in it.  She came back and handed it to me.  She then took my hand and said “‘let’s go see Lauren and make your followup appointment.”  I reached up to take my facemask off.  She put her hand over mine and said “leave it on, for me.”  I gave her an incredulous look but lowered my hand.  She said “come on lover.”  Now I knew what Lori had felt.  At the front desk, Lauren said “OH MY GOSH!  Aren’t you two just the cutest.”  Haley gave her a huge smile and said “I am so lucky to have such a cute boyfriend!”  I felt anything but cute but replied “babe, I promish you that you are the pretty one in thish equation.  I way outkicked my coverage with you.”  Lauren said “well, I think you two are just perfect together!  I have you down for next Friday at 4.”  I replied “I thought you didn’t see patients on Friday afternoon?  Just staff?”  Lauren replied “Haley has her appointment at 3:30.  So I am putting you directly after her.   Is that ok?”  I said “yes, of course.”  I made a note to get to my appointment early.  I hoped they would let me back to sit with her.  I felt sure Dr. Sanders would.  And maybe Emily and Britt would have adjustments beforehand that I could observe. 

With my appointment scheduled Haley said “let me walk you to your truck.”  I asked “wearing this?”  She said “yes wearing that. I will be right beside you with mine.”  At the truck she hugged me and said “I guess we really are going to have to plan our make out sessions now.  But you know, there are other things we can do while wearing our facemasks.”  She gave me a devilish grin.   “And I am staying at your place tonight.  I have a couple of presents to give you.”