Mid-Summer Update

We're into July now and it's hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!

Last week, on Tuesday (6/30/09) Zachary had three teeth extracted, two bicuspids and a baby tooth. This is supposed to make room to move some other teeth around with the braces.

Meanwhile, the expander is doing its job and he goes back for a 21-day checkup this coming Wednesday, July 8. His palate is gradually widening and he says he can tell the difference because he can no longer drink through a straw - there's no way for him to get suction because of the ever-widening gap in his palate.

One of the two front points of the expander is a little irritating to the gum where one tooth had been and was removed, so we'll ask the orthodontist if there's anything they can do to distance that particular point from the gum.

Zachary went through the tooth extraction process like a real trooper. They used general anesthesia and it only took about 20 minutes; then, trying to get him to lay down at home was a bit of a challenge. He did eventually lay down, but he hasn't taken any pain reliever other than the first dose I made him take that the doctor recommended he take before the numbness wore off.

So I guess at the end of July, sometime around the 29th, we'll see whether this expander has widened his palate enough to go ahead and do the bone graft of whether they need to put in another expander in order to widen it even further.

Thank you all for your prayers. They're working! We're making it through this process with relative ease.