My son’s getting his expanders on today. Expanders, for those of you who don’t know, are the pre-cursers to braces. Widening the mouth in order for teeth to come in straighter, naturally.*
The Orthodontist’s office is quite high-tech, and I like that. (I’m blogging on his network right now, in fact.)
When the kids arrive, there’s a computer monitor showing the photos of those with appointments today. The kids click on their pic to let the office know they’ve checked in. (Of course, my private friends can opt-out of that aspect.)
Once they’ve checked in, the kids can play video games while they wait. Sweet. Of course there’s a TV and a million magazines in the waiting room, too. And a wi-fi network, previously mentioned.
This is quite an operation: 4 chairs lined up in one big work room. The kids are moved in and out pretty quickly for check-ups. Longer for full treatments, like us today.
When we had our initial consult, the doctor told us why we’d been referred, why my son would need braces, and we of course wanted to know how long it would take (3 – 5 years) and how much it would cost.
That was not as easy an answer. I had to go sit down with a woman in an office off the main reception area, and she took out a pad of paper and a sharpie. And god help me, I thought I was either about to hear a time share sales pitch or be sold an extra warranty and service agreement on a car lease. Seriously? You guys don’t have this all printed up already? Does it really help close the deal to write things down with a sharpie and circle the numbers you want me to see?
I guess it must or they wouldn’t do it. But it’s just the first of many Orthodontic Adventures I’m sure we’ll be having over the next 3 – 5 years.
*(I would go into more detail, but I have friend who’s already so wigged out by this description due to her strained relationship with teeth, loose ones in particular, I can just tell she’s cringing in the corner, vowing never to read my blog again.)
