Brace yourself …

I had braces growing up. This was because of my crowded teeth. You can see this in the inset picture, which is a mold taken of my mouth waaayyyyy back in the dark ages (around 20 years ago.) Unfortunately, all of my kids have inherited my crowded-mouth syndrome so we are going to put braces on four of the five. Our youngest still doesn’t have all her permanent teeth, but she will get a retainer in preparation for braces. Man, I thought braces were expensive back in my day.

We decided to go with Drs. Jim and Tom Phalen, who practice what is known as the Damon method which sounds much better than the traditional, sadist method. It involves using a different kind of bracket, one that the wire can slide through. It requires less visits, less adjusting, less pain and shorter treatment. That sounds like a winner all around to me, even if they are a bit pricier.

Of course the total cost makes us gulp a little bit … around $15k. I think I’m going to take that night stocking job at Kroger.