Smooth like Heaven, it's
Chapter 7
As I'm slowly walked back towards the clinic's waiting area, one of the students introduces herself as Caroline. She stands out as one of the taller students, sporting the same polo bearing the university's logo, her strawberry blonde hair held securely in a neat ponytail. She asks how the appliances feel in my mouth, and if I've had any discomfort since getting the appliances installed. The remaining charcuterie of students join her as others parrot her questions, suddenly interested in my comfort. Not impressed with their blatantly faux concern, I turn Caroline to answer her only.
Thinking about it, my braces have only felt great since I've gotten them. I know this is because of my headgear's specific configuration, but even the newer appliances such as the springs and metal frames suspending my jaws apart, and the rows of metal and plastic lining my jaws, the way everything fit so snuggly and tightly together felt really good. The thick mess of leather straps holding my headgear to the crown of my head down to the back of my neck made me feel better. Everything felt secure, and strangely I felt safe knowing the appliances weren't removable. I felt safe knowing I couldn't take them off.
"Eehy pheel gooh. Ligh shhicyerr."
My hands motion around my bright red headgear straps.
Caroline seems to understand as she excitedly writes into a tiny notebook, seemingly a little more at ease knowing I wasn't feeling any discomfort. No doubt Dr. Sinclair had talked about how the pressure applied by the facebows welded into my mouth was helping with the pain, but Caroline probably wanted to ask me for herself to make sure. She thanks me and I give my biggest smile.
Dr. Sinclair recommends I stay in the waiting area for a bit before leaving the clinic, noticing I'm still a bit wobbly from the behavioral modification. As I enter the waiting area, I notice a large poster mounted to the wall near the entrance, facing the reception desk. It displays an outline of brightly colored red appliances, warning patients of what awaits them if they aren't compliant with what their treatments demand. Was that there last Tuesday?
As I walk towards the reception desk, I can already feel multiple eyes glued to my red headgear straps. I hear a mother whispering to her son about wearing his headgear, no doubt my appliances are inducing a healthy dose of fear into would-be-uncompliant patients. I reach the reception desk only to be greeted by the same nice girl sporting the cute purple bands and herbst scopes.
"Hi again Sweetheart! What's the name?"
I suck back saliva
"Ahyeeshhuh Shhuheshhth"
"Try again Sweety. Take your time."
More drool. I suck back once more and wipe beneath my bottom lip with the sleeve of my sweater.
"Aahyleeshhah Shhuhyleshhth"
"Very good Alecia. We'll see you again in two weeks!"
She smiles warmly and hands me a light blue slip of paper with my next appointments' date, along with my name highlighted in red. I shakily find myself a seat against one of the walls facing the inner rows of chairs. Once I'm seated, I unzip the bib pocket of my bright yellow overalls to retrieve my phone, replacing it with the appointment slip, now neatly folded. Pressing the home button, I notice a few hours have gone by, but it's still early afternoon. I guess I'll have time to walk around the shops on the inside of the mall. For some reason, even though I now have yet another new appliance, the idea of walking around that clothing store doesn't seem as scary. Or maybe scary isn't the right word. The idea of it seems exciting I guess?
I swipe to open my phone's camera to get a better look at my new appliance. As the screen finishes loading, I'm once again shocked by the new look. I only got my braces, headgear, and glasses a week ago, but they look so natural on me. I turn my attention to my newest addition. Holding my facebows apart, a set of metal framing connected to spring-wrapped scopes line the inner sections of both of my facebows. Attached at multiple clasps on each facebow, even welded on the outer sections, these metal frames almost blend in with the facebows, while the scopes look a bit like the herbst appliances further in my mouth, accept these are wrapped in tightly coiled springs, applying ample force to both of my jaws. The spring-wrapped scopes seem to be the only parts of this new appliance that aren't directly cemented to the rest of my mouth. I can spot a section of the top and bottom frames that extend past the facebows and hook onto my archwires. My archwires! I notice that instead of a rounded wire, they're now square shaped with four sharp corners stretching the length of the two archwires. Now a little more coherent, I practice closing my mouth, and with great difficulty, I can hear the springs loudly squeaking and clicking as I manage opening and closing my shiny metal bound mouth. Relaxing my jaws, I notice my mouth is held intimately open for the world to see, my assortment of hooks and even the tongue crib made painfully obvious. Putting my phone back into the bib pocket of my overalls, I notice my fellow compliance case is nowhere to be seen. No doubt he went home, still embarrassed with his novel look. I'm certain in a few appointments he'll be having a better time. I decide to try standing again now that I'm a little less loopy. Finding myself perfectly steady, I decide a stroll around the mall isn't a bad idea at all! I think that clothing store will be a nice start, though I'm bound to get plenty of looks. I suck back saliva as a stream of drool creeps down my chin. Part of me is actually excited to be seen!
