I posted this in the stories section, but the author doesn't have access, so I am reposting it here.
I did not write this story. It was sent to me by an author who wishes to stay anonymous. I asked the author for permission to post it here. The author would like you to give suggestions for what characters to add and remove, and where you would like the story to go from here. You can suggest treatment options, treatment devices and other things that interest you.
Fixed Smiles
By Anonymous
Just my luck. I’m 16 years old and NOW is the time that it’s decided that I should get braces. Most of my friends are done already, so at this age everyone in the year is brace-less. Not only that, but everybody went to the place outside of town. Everybody always talked badly about the place I’m headed (though I never knew why, it was more something talked about by people who were going through treatment at the time), but my parents chose this one as it’s only a couple of streets away, putting it in walking distance. Plus, they said that the treatment costs at the place outside of town were far too high for getting teeth straightened, so that’s the other reason I’m now walking beside my mother to this place.
From the outside, nothing seems out of place. 'Fixed Smiles' is the name. It just looks like your average building, some steps and a ramp up for easy access for everyone, double wooden doors on the front and a window either side of them. Inside it seems pretty simple too. I went and sat down in a chair in the waiting room which seemed rather small, with only 2 chairs marked 'Patients'. Mum went through things with the receptionist, and off she went.
A few minutes passed by, when another patient entered the building, and I got an idea of why people might not have liked this place. He looked to be maybe 13 or 14, small-ish, and his mouth seemed to be constantly open a bit. A metal bar extended out from his mouth and around his cheeks, connected to some straps. I could also notice a set of braces of some kind, though I couldn’t get a good look before a girl came out of the treatment theatre. “Be sure not to go too hard on the appliance, okay?” called out a more adult voice, to which the girl replied “No problem Doctor Eletha! I’ll take good care of it!” She discussed her next appointment and happily skipped out the door. The boy took a seat next to me as my name was called.
The lady invited me to take a seat in the chair and introduced herself as Doctor Elesa (I guess something was causing a lisp for the girl). “So, are you ready to have your braces fitted Edward?” The question shook me, as that wasn’t what I had thought. “Don’t we need to do some record taking and stuff first? I didn’t think I would be getting anything today.”
“Oh, there's no need! Do you remember the x-rays your dentist took the last time you visited them? I received a copy and so I've been able to outline a plan already, so all I need is for you to lean back and we can get started!" This wasn't how I planned the day to go, but I guess it made sense, so I did as she asked.
She started by inserting a device that held my lips and cheeks far away from my teeth, and also inserted something that blocked my tongue from coming up. She gave my teeth a good polish and cleaning and then got to work. She wheeled over a table and took something off it. She coated it with a paste of sorts and I felt her place it over one of my back teeth. Once in place, she had me bite down on a stick and got the next one ready. After those two were in place, she took something that looked like what she had just placed but with something between them. These two went in at the same time, with the same stick presses. Following this, she continued on with the rest of the teeth. I wanted to feel what the brackets looked like but the tongue block made it impossible. She then began inserting the wires between all the brackets, and kept them all in place with some other wires. I had hoped to do some of those colours I'd seen people have but maybe that came at a later point. Following this, she removed the tongue block and the cheek thing and I got a chance to feel around. It was odd. It felt like the backs and front of my teeth felt different, but maybe that’s what was used to hold the brackets on? There was also something behind my front teeth, that made it hard for me to move my tongue around. “Tho are we done Doctor Eletha?” I noticed I now also had a lisp like that girl.
“Not quite yet, we've still one more thing to do." I stayed lying down, and she picked up something off the table. It looked like a big wire... kind of like that boy. She inserted a part of it into my rear brackets, then the other side. She had a look around, then took it out, made an adjustment and put it back in. She seemed happy, as she left it in there. I guess she must have forgotten to do a couple of the brackets as she went back in with some more of that tie wire. She then took some straps like the boy, one that went around my neck and one over the crown of my head. "Now we're done!" she beamed.
"Tho what'th thith?" I pointed at the bar.
“That’s your headgear, it’ll help to fix that overbite of yours, and that device behind your teeth is a tongue crib. It’ll help stop your tongue pushing on your teeth the way it does.”
“How do I take off the headgear?”
“You simply have to unhook the plastic part of each of the straps, though you shouldn’t need to do that often.”
“What about the metal part?”
“What about it?”
“How do I take that out?”
“You don’t take it out.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you don’t take it out. It stays there.”
“But it lookth ridiculouth! There mutht be thome way!”
“Didn’t you look at the website before you came? Here at Fixed Smiles, we make sure to fix your smile, so all appliances are fixed in place. That way we can be done quickly.”
“I thtill don’t really get it, but okay.”
I left the theatre and bumped into the boy as he was called.
“Wow! You got headgear too? That’s awesome!”
“Uhh... yeah, I gueth tho. Tho how do you take yourth off?”
“I just remove the straps, same as you!”
Seems nobody wanted to be much help. I booked the next appointment and left, thinking hard about what I’d heard.
