Callum had his first orthodontist appointment yesterday. Neel and I both needed braces, so I suppose it was inevitable. We've been somewhat reisistant, not because we don't want Callum to have a great smile, but more due to the stories we've heard about kids getting braces in 4th grade and then again in ninth. Why rush perfection? (Or, perhaps more importantly, who wants to pay for it before they have to?)

We'd heard great things about the guy we ended up going to, most notably, when we were on our way there, we ran into the dad of Callum's BFF who said, "Jimmy's been twice, but the doc said he wasn't ready yet." Now that's what I like to hear. It may very well be that Callum is ready, but knowing that this guy is willing to wait if you could wait made us a lot more comfortable.

Everybody was so nice, even when I forgot to fill out the whole back side of the medical history form, and they got such a kick out of the fact that poor Violet needs braces. (She really does. We told her we made an appointment while we were there, and I hope she forgets.) And everyone talked to Callum, not just us, which was great too. Callum's main problem is that his bite is off a bit; he has to bite an apple or a carrot on the side of his mouth, not the front, and that's getting aggravating.

When the doctor came in, he was just charming and put us all right at ease. He leaned Callum back in the chair and poked his fingers in our boy's mouth and started calling out numbers. Callum said later, "I speak English, but clearly that guy does not. Left lower Cs; left lower Es; right upper C..."

When he said, "Oh! This is interesting." Neel and I both thought, that sounds expensive. And later when he said about the same part of Callum's mouth, "okay, that's a class C," we both thought that sounds really expensive.

Turns out, it might be okay. Callum has a cross bite and needs things spread out a bit in there. That will help the bite. He has some baby teeth that just don't want to come out either, but the alingment might end up being okay. We'll have to wait and see. Neel and I came away feeling pretty pleased, and Callum came away worried that he might not get braces. Turns out that braces are cool these days. For me, I hope no braces, and it's not just about the money. I love that boy's smile.