3 in 100

We took Alice to the orthodontist today for a consult about her adult canines growing in sideways. It was not pretty. Alice was obedient (and eventually compliant) but appeared a seething, jaw-clenching, tensed up ball of fury. After the initial exam, when the doctor started talking about treatment options, Alice literally plugged her ears and squinched her eyes shut. She wanted none of this information.

Tooth impactions happen in 3% of the population.

This was the third canine-tooth impaction this doctor had seen this morning. He was quite surprised! Alice was a little relieved to hear her condition wasn't so uncommon after all.

As we left the office, she visibly loosened up and confessed that she had heard bits and pieces of the conversation. Enough, anyway, to realize that it wouldn't involve breaking her jaw (thanks, Uncle Mike, for scaring the crap out of her): two baby teeth extractions and eventually braces to pull an impacted canine out of her gums. Follow up in 6 months. The more people she tells about this, the better she feels. It's not a pleasant topic for her, to be sure, and actually getting her to the dentist for those extractions will be an Olympic feat in and of itself. But we can do it. She said she wanted at least 2 months before the extractions. I'm willing to wait a little so she has time to own this thing. Or deny it. Probably both.