Chapter 11
When Alex and Elly came inside, they saw their classmates had braces and some had external appliances as well.
“Good morning class,” Emily said when she came in. “Today we will take a look in each other's mouths and discuss some of the treatment plans after. Sound okay?”
The class gave a grunt of agreement.
“Great, let's start. Does someone want to go first?”
“I wioo,” Emma said with a lisp.
Emma stood up and laid down on the chair.
“This camera will assure you can see everything on the screen.”
“Emma, like every one of you, has banded braces, but unlike all of you, has a tongue crib and elastics. These boxes around her teeth will pull her teeth together. The elastics run from her top first premolar to her central incisor to the same teeth on the bottom and it's the same on the other side. Thank you for showing us, Emma.”
“Who’s next?” Emily asked.
“I will go next,” Ian said and got in the chair.
“Again, Ian has braces but his lips are pushing on his teeth a lot, so he has an upper and lower lip bumper to keep his lips out of the way. These normally are removable, but these springs keep them in and these springs on the wire will make sure I will be able to connect the wire to these two teeth soon. Thank you for showing us.”
“Who wants to go next?”
“I will,” Abigail said and got in the chair.
“Abi here has an underbite, for that, she, of course has braces with something that's called a tandem appliance. It's like a reverse pull headgear without the massive frame around the face. The inner part is just like a face-bow but the outer part has these two hooks on them. Normally we use elastics, but we want to see if it's faster to use springs. It's a lot more discrete than the frame but she still has something sticking out of her mouth, and if Abi opens up you can see the TPA and the lingual arch to hold the arch of the teeth. Thank your Abi.”
“Who’s up next?”
Julian just got up without saying anything and got in the chair.
“Julian here has a deep bite, so he has been given a bite plate and these 2 springs that go from his upper canines to his second lower molar on both sides to pull his lower jaw forward a bit and his upper jaw back. He might need headgear on the top as well, but we will see that if it doesn't really want to move. Thank you, Julian.”
“Who wants to go now?”
“I wioo,” Jack lisped.
“Right, have a seat, Jack. Jack here has a fairly narrow upper jaw, so he got an expander but he might need more appliances. We have to wait and see how his mouth responds. Thank you Jack.”
“Elly, do you want to go next?”
“Sure,” she said and got in the chair.
“Elly here has an overbite, and for that she got a Herbst appliance, and also two narrow jaws, for that she got upper and lower expanders. These expanders will turn automatically and if I'm right that happened last night, right?”
Elly nodded.
“Good! Did you notice it when they turned?”
Elly shook her head.
“Elly and Jack both got these self-turning expanders that will turn during the night to ensure the most comfort. Thank you, Elly.”
“Who wants to go next?”
“I will,” Alex said.
“Good, have a seat. Alex here needs his molars moved back so that's why he got these two face-bows. They are fixed in the tubes to ensure optimal wear time. He also got an extra pair of waterproof straps, so showering or any water-based activity can be performed with the straps in place.”
“Yeah, they worked well yesterday.”
“Oh, you already tested it?”
“Yes, Elly and I went to the pool.”
“Well, very good you used the straps. Thank you, Alex.”
“And Lily you're last, please have a seat.”
“Lily here has just got braces for now. She might need more appliances later but her teeth need to move a bit first. She's the only one that doesn't have something extra. Thank you, Lily.”
“For all of you, it's possible you need an appliance removed, replaced with a different one, or one or more that need to be added.”
“We will look more into the treatment plans next week. This “mouth showcase” has taken a long time, but I have to inform you of one thing before you go for a break and stay here for nothing. Mr. Williams called in sick so you’re out, now have a nice weekend everyone.”
Everyone got up and left, Elly grabbing Alex's hand again.
They saw Lily in the hallway.
“Hi Liooy,” Elly lisped.
“Oh, hi guys,” she said, sounding a bit down.
“Whatsth wwong?”
“Well, I'm the only one that just got braces, but I'm a bit worried about what I might get.”
“Oh, you be aowight, what I got isth sthounding wowse then it isth.”
“Thank you, Elly,” while hugging Elly.
“So you two a couple?” Lily asked.
“Yeah, we kind of awe,” Elly replied, “we oike each othew.”
“That was quick,” she laughed.
“Yeah, we know, but you know how funny love can be,” Alex said.
“Yeah, I do. My boyfriend called me Jaws,” she giggled.
They all laughed at that.
“Well, I need to go,” Lily said.
“Yeah, so do we. I need to go to Alex's place to grab my stuff and head home.”
After they said their goodbyes, Alex and Elly got on Alex's bike and headed home.
They hang out together somewhat at Alex's place and at 16:30, Alex took Elly to the train station. On the platform, they both kissed and Alex asked Elly if she wanted to be his girlfriend to make it a more official relationship. She said she would love that and kissed him some more until the train came and Elly had to go.
She waved to him from inside the train and left for home.
On the train she messaged her mom she was on her way home.
Mom: I’m already home I’ll make something soft for you to eat tonight.
When Elly made it home, she put her bike in the shed and came inside.
Elly's mother heard the tapping sound of high heels and said, “You have a pair of high heels on.”
“Yesth, I think they awe 15 or 16 cm high, but ouckioy they got a poatfowm asweoo.”
“Did you buy them in the city?”
“No, Aoex'sth mom gave them to me. They wewe too big fow hew and couodn't wetuwn them.”
“That's nice of her. Well, dinners ready in 30 minutes.”
Elly didn’t want to tell her about Alex being her boyfriend just yet.
She sat down on the couch and messaged Alex she was home. They talked a while longer on Whatsapp until dinner was ready.
After dinner, Elly took off her shoes and went upstairs to brush her teeth and remained upstairs watching some YouTube videos until 23:30 when she put her phone away and went to sleep.
