Teeth

Karah went into the Orthodontist to have her braces removed on December 6th. Many people have asked why she had braces as an 8/9 year old.

During the Summer before 1st grade, she had a loose tooth and was beyond excited to have her first visit from the tooth fairy. She grew restless as she tugged and tugged without results. A neighbor friend suggested that she “bite on a rope” to get it to come out. Gotta love “friends”.

Tapping into her MacGyver instincts, she tied a rope into a tree, clamped down on it with her teeth….and jumped.

I heard screaming outside. It grew louder as she burst through the front door,  face covered in blood – and teeth sticking out horizontally towards me. Tom was out of town and I immediately called my mom.

We rushed her to the dentist, where he finished pulling the teeth that had been “partially”  removed. Karah was so brave. Much braver than her Mommy.

She had a tiny little mouth and soon, adult teeth started growing in all at once. The teeth grew agitated with their tight living quarters and began pushing, shoving, and I think I even heard some name calling.

The dentist told us that she would definitely need braces at some point, and referred us to an Ortho for a consult. He put the ball in our court, saying that braces were inevitable. We could give her braces now to help with her jaw and resolve any confidence issues she was having with her smile….but that she would still need a second round of braces once she was a little older.  He told us we could also choose to wait until she was a teenager and just do one round.

Karah had always had a huge, infectious smile – but I noticed she was starting to smile with her mouth shut in many pictures. We talked with Karah and she told us that she would feel better if her teeth weren’t messed up.

To us it was a no brainer. It was well worth the cost to be able to give her the gift of being able to smile without being self conscious. So we did it.

One short year later…they were coming off…and she was sad to see them go. I think she is actually excited to have them on again, someday.

This girl has always been beautiful…crooked teeth or not…but I must admit that her sparkly-white perfect smile just lights up a room.

Recently, she was out climbing the same tree and came running in with one of her teeth that she had knocked out on that day. All these years have passed and she actually found another one.

There is no statue of limitations for the Tooth Fairy, just so you know.

Our beauty, braced.

Our beauty, de-braced.

We love our girl. Who couldn’t?