Friday, August 26, 2011

It's Off! Hooray Hooray Hooray!





Well yesterday was the BBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGG day when they took my palate expander off. When they did it, the top of my mouth kind of felt a little weird because I had it on so long and I kind of forgot what it is like to have the palate expander off. My mouth feels strange without it. It took so long to get used to it and now I don't know if I miss it or not.

They used some kind of pliers to take it off. It only hurt a tiny bit and it was quick. It hurt by my teeth where they got the thing off. My Mom couldn't come with me this time because she tore a muscle in her hip while dancing with me and my brother the other day, so my Dad came and My mom told him to video it because some of you wanted to see it. I still have to get the video from my Dad and then I will put it on the blog.

So I have done it. And the dentist said it will be a couple of years before I need braces.

I will miss doing my blog and hearing all the nice things everyone has to say so I will keep writing and answer your questions and support all of you who will and are going through this. If I can do it, anyone can do it. I am proud of all of us.

Your Friend,
Colin

P.S. A message to Samantha who wrote me a very nice note. No, we are not in New York but we are on the East Coast. We will be fine. Thank you for your good wishes about the storm and the congratulations for having my palate expander off. That was so nice of you. Have a good day. Your Friend, colin

Monday, August 22, 2011

3 More Days, Popcorn, Questions, and my mom is crazy

Hi Friends,

In 3 days, I am getting my palate expander off but don't worry, I will still check on here and write and answer your questions! I am feeling a little nervous, a little confident that my mouth will be better, but I am a little scared when they take it off. Please wish me luck.

Erzsbet who is a 9th grader wrote to me about the popcorn issue. With her palate expander, she eats food like popcorn all the time, plus she has braces too! So, she asked her orthodontist who told her
"It's not about what foods you eat, it's about HOW you eat it. He said it's perfectly fine to eat foods like popcorn, as long as you're a good cleaner. Unfortunatly a thorough brushing after every meal is one of the prices you have to pay for such yummy foods (We're all *supposed* to do that anyways)..

So for this answer, I don't know what to tell you. I eat it too. Shhhh! Don't tell my dentist, but it gets stuck once in awhile. When I had my teeth cleaning, they found popcorn in it and that was bad. Well I don't know how to explain how i felt when they said that except I thought, "oops!" And you know we are kids, well some of us are grownups too who read this, and how can we resist popcorn? But today my Mom saw that I was coughing when I went to get my new glasses at the eye doctor so she said to me, "do you want a piece of gum?" and I was like "ARE YOU KIDDING? I HAVE A PALATE EXPANDER IN MY MOUTH." Maybe she was testing me. And also, I have never been allowed to ever chew gum so why did she even think that I would want some. P.S. Never had cavities...maybe not chewing gum is working for that. haha.

Another reader of my blog asked what would happen if we turned the key too many times..so I sent the question to my dentist and when I get an answer I will post that too.

3 days to go and this thing comes off.

Your Friend
Colin

Friday, August 19, 2011

Your Pictures

I forgot to ask...if any of you want to show me your pictures maybe before and after of your palate expander, I can post them on here (without names and anonymous). This way we can show everyone who checks it out more examples of what a great (even though it hurts) thing it is because we will all have beuatiful smiles. If you want to send me your picture, just send me a comment and I will send you an email address you can send them to.
Your Friend
Colin
thank you

Almost there...

Hi to all my friends,
Just less than a week and I have my palate expander taken off. I am going to see if they will let my mom video them taking it off. This way I can honestly answer everyone when they ask me i fit hurts to have it taken off. So far, my dentist has said no that it doesn't hurt but you never know so I will be able to let you know for sure.
There is a boy named Lucas who made a nice comment about my blog. He said he has the palate expander and he has braces. Good luck to him! He said that the tools his dentist uses are different than the tools I showed in one of the pictures we took at my dentist. I am sure that every dentist does things differently but my mom says even though they do things different, all the dentists just want all of us to have good teeth.

This weekend I am going to work on a page about the memories of my palate expander. School starts soon so my mom wants me to write a poem about it. We will see.
Have a good day.
your Friend,
Colin :)
P.S. Last week I went to my friend Anthony's party and I got to be in a dunk tank! It was fun!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Happy Saturday :)

Hi Friends,
I just wanted to give you some answers to some of the questions you were asking. My dentist and his assistant were nice enough to email me to let me know the answers to so thank you to them for helping us understand more.
 So, the first question we wanted to get answered was...
Do your cheekbones expand when you get a palate expander?
The answer is yes.
That kind of freaks me out a little but I guess if the palate expander is stretching out your palate then yes, your cheeks will widen a bit but its not like you are going to have an elephant face or anything. I haven't really noticed anything.
#2
One of our readers commented that they have a palate expander that you don't have to turn the key for.
So I asked the dentist about that too and he said...
it is called a QUAD HELIX but it is used for a different kind of bite.
here is a link on youtube that shows the quad helix expander:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9JvE1Npfg8

thank you for reading my blog! good luck wiht your palate expanders....i will write again soon.
have a good weekend.
your friend
Colin

p.s. I've been participating in my local theatre group. here is a picture of me with my drama buddies performing "I'm a Believer" from the Shrek Musical. (i'm in the blue). hey, thats another thing YOU CAN DO WITH A PALATE EXPANDER....haha

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Your comments!

Hi Friends,
Thank you to all of you who have been writing to me. I love to read your comments and I try to answer them the best that I can. If I don't know the answer, I send an email to my dentist and within a couple of days I get the answer and will post them then.
So, a couple of things.
One, good luck to GRADY who just a few days ago got both upper and lower palate expanders. I am really proud of you and I am sure all of your fellow palate expander friends are proud of you being so brave with having both the top and the bottom. With me, I only have the top palate expander and to answer your question about when I could eat real food, it took about a week I think to eat regular food. I am sure you love milkshakes but are probably sick of them by now! Who would have thought that someone could be sick of milkshakes! But I know too. Try some soft noodles like spaghetti. Did you do that? My mom made ramen noodles too. Pudding, and things you can just suck down instead of chewing. You will get the hang of getting the food out that gets stuck in your palate expanders too. Your tongue will automatically learn what to do.
So good luck with that.
ANONYMOUS wrote that they have a palate expander where they don't have to turn the key. I am going to email my dentist to find out more about that or ANONYMOUS if you are reading this, can you comment again and tell us more about this kind please?
Another reader was telling us that her daughter has a palate expander and has sores inside her cheeks. If I remember right, my dentist said that if I have sores in my mouth, I should come back in to see him so they can adjust whatever is causing the sores. I didn't have that but I would have the mom call the dentist and get looked it. The palate expander is already a pain, so who wants more pain.
I hope you are all having a good day. I will write again and answer the questions when I hear back from my dentist :).
Your Friend, Colin :)